001neighborhood and said, "Nina, be brave and you're going to be fine." And maybe it's me, but it all seems like a lifetime ago. What do I say to these faces I used to know? Hey, I'm home. Hey, they're not worried about me. They are all counting on me to succeed. I am the one who made it out. The one who made the grave. But maybe I should have just stayed high. When I was a child, I stayed wide awake. Climbed to the highest place on every fire escape. Restless to climb. I got every scholarship. Saved every dollar. the first to go to college. I don't write down the wine. I'm coming back home with my eyes on the horizon. Just me and the GWB asking Gina, "What'll you be?" Straighten the spine. Smile for the
002neighbors. Everything's fine. Everything's cool. The standard reply. Lots of tests. Lots of papers. Smile. Wave goodbye and pray to the sky, oh God. And what will my parents say? Can I go in there and say I know that I'm letting you down. Just breathe, Christina Bernett. I I'll call the meeting to order. That's a tough act to follow. I'd like to call ajourn instead, but I'll call it to order. Wow. Uh Christina, thank you for an amazing amazing opening. You're welcome. Uh it is what time is it? 6:01. We call the meeting to order. Uh Christina, would you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? Will stand? Yes. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,
003with liberty and justice for all. What a special treat. Uh I know that Dr. Menzel will speak uh momentarily about where else we've heard her shine. Let's have the call. Roll call, please. Matthew Patinsky, Karen Warner, Amy Carney, Mike Shy, and Donna Lewis. Uh, I'd like to make a motion to approve the agenda as presented, noting that in the consent agenda item under personnel, we have a school, it's a typo. It says the school name is Cheyenne. Cheyenne, but it should say Cherokee. So, with that with that adjustment, I need a second for the motion unless there's other items. Uh, I had emailed and asked to pull item 80. Okay. From the consent agenda, please. All right. So, the motion is to approve the agenda as presented with the Cheyenne uh Cherokee shift and 80
004pulled. Need a second? Second. All those in favor? I motion passes five to zero. And now, Dr. Mensel, will you share student and staff recognitions? Thank you, President Lewis, Vice President Shy, members of the governing board, to our community members who are here. We have a lot of celebrations tonight and as we thought about uh the number that we had, we thought it would be not correct to give short shrift to the things that really make Scotsdale Unified School District special. And one of the things that you just heard was this incredible performance by Christina Bernett, sixth grade student at Mojave. Uh I'm I was blown away. I mean, just absolutely extraordinary. Christina performed at the Artsfest this weekend and when Michelle Iran texted and said, "Hey, you you probably want to think about having
005her perform at the board meeting, um I always trust Michelle's recommendation." And uh then Christina exceeded my expectations. So, this is music in our schools month and uh this is a wonderful way to showcase the talent that we have in Scottsdale Unified. That being said, I would like to invite Assistant Superintendent Leah Mitchell to the podium to recognize two of the people who helped make sure the musical talent and the events of this weekend were celebrated throughout Scottsdale. Leah, thank you, Dr. Mensel. And good evening, President Lewis, Vice President Sharky, governing board members, um, Mrs. Wagner. Artsfest is one of our district's most vibrant celebrations of student talent, just like we saw with Miss Christina. Excellent work. While the community experiences two magical days of performances and art displays, what many may not see are
006the months of planning, the coordination, and the collaboration that it takes to make it all possible. At this time, I would like to invite our coordinator of fine arts, Michelle Irvin, and administrative support coordinator, Christina Diaz, to please join me at the podium. Tonight, we are beyond proud to recognize these two individuals whose dedication, creativity, and countless hours of work helped make this year's Artsfest an incredible success. Michelle and Christina work closely with Scottsdale Arts, the city of Scottsdale, and many community partners, while also coordinating with our incredible fine arts staff in all of our schools to bring this event to life. This year's Artsfest held this past Friday and Saturday featured incredible performances from our elementary, middle, and high schools. The event also included beautiful galleries showcasing the incredible artwork created by talented SUSD
007students from across the district. Because of Michelle and Christina's dedication and organization, our students had the opportunity to share their creativity, passion, and hard work with the entire community. Michelle and Christina, thank you guys so much for your time, for your commitment, for everything you do to invest in our teachers, for everything you do to invest in the opportunity for our students to truly thrive. We could not say thank you enough. I would like to offer you a challenge coin for your exceptional effort. Thank you for that. Next up in our celebrations, we are celebrating an incredible win for our district, the Arcadia boys basketball team that officially won the 4A state championship this last week. I'd like to invite Dr. Dansky to come in and tell us more about our state champions. Thank you,
008Dr. Mensel. And good evening, President Dr. Lewis, Vice President Shy, governing board members, and Miss Wagner. Tonight, I have the honor of recognizing an extraordinary group of student athletes who made history for Arcadia High School and for our district in a nailbiting game. This season, the Arcadia Titans captured the AIA 4A boys basketball state championship, the first boys basketball state title in the school's history. Could our state champion Titans please join me at the podium? We're really proud of these students. Their championship journey was built on determination, chemistry, and a belief in one another that only grew stronger through the season. After a year of transition, the team found something powerful in stability under head coach Greg Richards. With trust building between players and coaches in a strong showing at section 7 over the summer,
009the Titans entered the season with a clear goal written from the very beginning. Win state. But as coach Richards reminded them, writing down a goal is the easy part. Achieving it requires commitment, sacrifice, and the willingness to work for each other every single day. That commitment was on full display in the championship game at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum where the number two seated Titans faced number one Deer Valley in a thrilling battle that came down to the final moments. With poison perseverance, our Arcadia secured a 57 to 51 victory, cutting down the nets, which was a lot of fun to watch, and claiming the first title in program history. Throughout the season, the Titans showed what makes high school athletics so special. Teamwork, resilience, and the power of believing in something bigger than yourself.
010This historic championship reflects the dedication of these student athletes, the leadership of their coaches, and the incredible support of their families in the Arcadia community. Titans, on behalf of the Scottsdale Unified School District and our entire athletic community, congratulations on bringing home the 4A boys basketball state championship and making Arcadia history. At this time, I'd like to invite Coach Richards to say a few words or not. I I guess I put them on the slide. No heads up on that. Do you want to do you want to do these right here? Sure. Okay, great. All right. As a s as a symbol of this historic accomplishment and the pride you bring to Arcadia High School and the entire district, I'm honored to present each of you with a challenge coin. Congratulations, Arcadia Titans, state champions.
011Congratulations, coach and team. Is it too soon to talk about backtoback? No. All right. No, we're going back. All right. Great job. Thank you. All right. Next, we're proud to celebrate an incredible achievement across Scottsdale Unified. Three of our elementary schools have been named 2026 A+ Schools of Excellence by the Arizona Educational Foundation, and even more of our schools have received the prestigious Blue Zones uh recognition. We have a young SUSD student making waves across SUSD as well. So all of these are going to be introduced to us by assistant superintendent of elementary education Dr. Christine Bono. Dr. Bono. Thanks. Would principles Gromac and Walden would like to come join me? And anyone else from your communities who might be here to celebrate? If you're from Anastasia and Ka, come on up. Thank you, Dr.
012Mensel. And good evening, governing board president Lewis, Vice President, Mr. Shy, governing board members, Dr. Menzel and Miss Wagner. It's a party tonight. Love kicking off on a good note. We are celebrating Anastasia and KA Redfield also earned this amazing distinction that I'm going to take a moment to speak about, but we're going to celebrate them in depth next month. They had a schoolwide field trip. Um, and so Dr. Anne couldn't join, but we look forward to celebrating them again next month. So, Anastasia is up first. We are proud to celebrate Anastasia and KA both recently named as Dr. Mensel said 2026 A+ schools. This prestigious recognition through the Arizona Educational Foundation highlight schools across that demonstrate outstanding leadership, strong academic programs, a positive school culture, and meaningful engagement. And I'm speaking from experience when
013I tell you that this application process is extremely intensive. It is a team effort. that every single member of the community, classified, certified teachers, parents are involved in this process and even just finishing that process is a feat and something to be extremely proud about. The amount of reflection and many schools will say that that was the award is getting through that process and the celebration is is kind of the icing on the cake. So, I apologize I said Anastasia first. We're recognizing you twice. So, we're going to give Matt Romac a chance to celebrate here. So at KA which is part of our Sara learning community the A+ announcement was met with excitement and pride across the camp campus. Principal M was central to its successful application. Mr. Gromach would you like to take
014a moment a very brief moment to celebrate your community? Yes will be brief brief moment. Yes. Yes. Good evening President Lewis Vice President Shy governing board members Dr. Mzala and Miss Wagner. Um, this is truly a community award and there is no stronger community like the KA community and our strength does not come from the new building or the great resources we have which we are very grateful for. Our strengths comes from the people. It comes from the unwavering commitment of our parents who partner with us in their children's education. It comes from our students who bring curiosity, resilience, and a heart to school every single day. And it comes from our dedicated staff, both curry and pass, who choose day after day to show up and give their KA best. And a big thank
015to our A+ leader, Miss Fullerton, for taking on the committee who's up here today. Yes. And it is truly a community award. We are thankful and like the Buckeyes, we just reload. We don't rebuild. Awesome. At Anastasia, we have two recognitions for them along with A+. But their A+ recognition reflects a shared commitment to excellence from students, staffs, and family. Principal Waldron described this honor as belonging to the entire community. Notably, this is Redfield or Anastasy's fifth time. Sorry, old we did do our application together back in the day. This is Anna Sazi's fifth time since 1995 earning the A++++ now designation is an extraordinary accomplishment that speaks to the school's sustained dedication to excellence. Do you want to say a word about A+ before we give you your next award? Would you like to
016do both at the same time? We can. All right. So we want to congratulate you on your A+ but you got one more recognition. Just a few um just recently Anastasia which is one of our international balorate primary years program the only one in our district there they just found out that their international balora program development plan was selected as the only example to be used by IB programs worldwide. I'm going to take a minute to let that sink in. I get chilled every time I say it. This means that Anastasia, their IB development plan is now published with the International Balorate Program Resource Center and is the only model being used in more than 160 countries for all 6,000 schools worldwide. So, I was joking. If you ever know the Singer Pitbull, he's known
017as Mr. Worldwide. I've been calling Principal Waldron, she's now Mrs. Worldwide. along with her amazing team. Would you like to take a moment to celebrate your community? I would love to. Thank you. And mine is never brief, but I will be brief for me. So, um, good evening, President Lewis, Vice President Shy, members of the governing board, Dr. Mensel, and Miss Wagner. It's a privilege to stand before you tonight on behalf of our entire Anastasia School community as we celebrate receiving the A+ School of Excellence Award and the global IB recognition. During the A+ review process, the judges shared something that meant a great deal to our entire school community. They said, "Anazi has something magical happening on their campus and is an exemplar of an A+ school of distinction." That comment captured exactly what
018makes our school special. our culture of collaboration, our rigorous IB framework, our care for one another, and the joy that fills our campus each day, all grounded in a shared belief in the potential of every child. I want to recognize the incredible people who make Anosi specials. Our teachers, assistant principal, IB coordinator who led the charge and staff whose passion, distributive leadership, and dedication support every learner. You all are a staff that every principal dreams of serving students in a community with. Working alongside you is something I'm truly grateful for each day. Thank you for making excellence a habit and not just a goal. To our students who inspire us with their curiosity, determination, and kindness every day. You demonstrate the attributes of an IB learner profile. And your dedication to learning and excellence truly
019bring our mission to life and make our Anastasia campus such a special place. and to our families and community partners whose trust, involvement, and support keep us going. When schools and families work together, students thrive. Your partnership strengthens our programs, enriches our learning environment, and reminds our students that they have an entire community that's cheering them on. While we are proud of these honors and recognitions, they are not the finish line. They reflect our shared commitment to continue uh to continue to continue growing and ensuring every student experiences excellence in a campus filled with learning, connection, and joy where we enhance the highquality, rigorous, and reflective learning opportunities that rival the best programs and schools, public or private worldwide. On behalf of our entire Anastasia School community, thank you for recognizing these achievements and celebrating
020with us tonight. We are honored to represent SUSD as an A+ school of excellence for the fifth time and we look forward to continuing the work that makes Anastasia and our community so special. Thank you. Oh, I need one for my next All right. Thank you KA team. Thank you Redfield team. I mean Anastasia team. I'm you know I I'm It's been many years since I've been the principal at Redfield, but I'm just still so very proud of them and I'm proud of Anastasia. All right. Now, we've got more blue zones. As you all know, we are SUSD is deeply committed to prioritizing health and well-being across every campus. I'd like to invite the communities who are here representing Hookum and Tavon to come on up. Tonight, we are proud to celebrate Hookum and Tavon
021for receiving their prestigious Blue Zones designation. And Chris and Tara, if you guys want to come up with your representatives as well. We have principal Julie Ballard, principal Maggie Feynan, and they're coming on up. Hi, guys. Hi. Oh. All right, come on up. We'll come all the way around. At Tavon, wellness is just not a single initiative. It is a shared commitment that's embraced by the entire school community. What truly sets Tavon apart is the hands-on do-it-yourself approach rooted in a homestead culture that turns everyday learning into meaning realorld experiences. If you've been on their campus, you know they are raising chickens. They graciously share their eggs with us. They use their food scraps to reduce waste. They have become true living classrooms. Students play such an active role in every step of the way
022from harvesting the produce to even preparing garden grown salads. It really helps them build healthy habits through authentic experiences. Moving on to hookum wellness is also woven into their culture of the school and is really supported by the entire community. Over the past year, students and staff have really worked closely together to create an environment that encourages healthy choices and active lifestyles. They have a new garden that now provides hands-on opportunity for students to learn about growing fresh produce and making fresh healthy choices. Also, those healthy choices are reinforced through the campus with increased access to fresh vegetables, including twice a week, students are offered a new fruit and vegetable salad bar and encourages them to try new things. Hoocom's also expanded opportunities for students to build confidence and stay active through programs like Girls
023on the Run, which help students develop both physical and social emotional strength. Chris and Tara, would either one of you like to come up and share a few words? Sure. Thank you. Um, you stole a little bit of my limelight here, but that's okay. But no, we are very excited to celebrate Hokum Elementary for becoming a Blue Zones approved school. In addition to what uh Christine had highlighted, we love that the kindergarteners are building confidence and coordination through their learn to ride bike program. Um, as well as some of the older students are staying active with the Fit America Walk and Run Challenge. So, they're tracking laps and celebrating milestones. Um, and then also we wanted to highlight the how you support their mental and emotional health with the calm nest spaces that teach breathing,
024mindfulness, and ways to help students calm their minds and bodies. These efforts really reflect the school community that supports healthy minds, healthy bodies, and lifelong habits. And I think if it's okay, Tara might mention Tavon a few things. Good evening, Dr. Lewis, Vice President Shy, Dr. Menzel, members of the governing board. Um, so yeah, working with Tavon has been amazing. They have so many programs going on on campus that are cornerstones to their blue zones approval process. And movement is really part of their culture on campus. They got the turkey trot, the jingle bell jog. They also have a day where parents can actually come in and participate in PE once a semester. They've got pickle ball courts painted on by parents, mazes, hopscotch, and an infinity loop. They do Friday enrichment rotations where students
025get to participate in courses like cooking, culture, wellness, art, music, and movement. And since their approval, they are even working with a planner to implement and develop traffic and wayfinding upgrades on campus that they can use uh with their tricycles and when walking around campus. So, these are only a few of the highlights of wonderful things that are happening on Tavon's campus, and we're just so excited to have them as part of the Blue Zones approved school network. So congratulations. So we want to say congratulations to Tavon and Hokan. We are so proud of your hard work and the positive impact. And I love seeing how. All right. Now we get to celebrate another amazing student. I'd like to invite Luna Constant Darcy from Redfield with Mrs. Graham and assistant principal uh Luwendowski here. Hi.
026Luna is a first grade student in Mrs. Graham's class at Redfield Elementary. And this is so cool. She recently won the Scottsdale Public Libraryies design at Design a Library card contest. So there she is holding her beautiful design. Her creative design was selected as the winning entry and will soon be available at all Scottsdale Public Library locations beginning this month. This means that library visitors across the community will be able to carry Luna's artwork on their very own library card and I think I'm going to get a new replacement card just so I can have your picture in my wallet. It's a wonderful way for such a young student to share her creativity and imagination. Luna's achievement truly reminds us how important it is to encourage creativity, curiosity, and self-expression in our students from the
027very beginning of their educational journey. At this time, I would like to invite Redfield's assistant principal, Ashley Lewendowski, to say a few words. I wasn't planning to speak, but thank you, governing board, um, so much. And we're just so proud of Luna. She is a wonderful student in our community, celebrated her at our most recent awards assembly. We're all so excited to have her. And I mean, look at everyone. Go get your new library cards. Thank you. Good job, Luna. So Ash, so Luna, we'd like to give you this challenge coin, which is a really special coin to recognize your hard work and your award. Way to go. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Bono. And we're now going to turn our attention to another impressive student, one who's been named the Boys and Girls Club
028Youth of the Year, an honor that celebrates leadership, service, and a commitment to making a difference. to share more about her inspiring journey. I would like to invite Dr. Sacos to the podium. She's already there. Take it away. All right. Thank you, Dr. Mensel. And good evening, President Lewis, Vice President Shy, governing board members, Dr. Mensel, and Miss Wagner. I'd like to invite Arcadia Senior, Daniela Sanchez Morales to the podium as we honor her. And there she is. She's faster than I am. There you are. Um, Daniellea's story is one of resilience, growth, and the power of finding place where you truly belong. All landing her the incredible honor of being named the Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year. 11 years ago, when Daniela was just seven years old, she first walked through
029the doors of the Hartley and Ruth Barker Boys and Girls Club. What began as a place to go after school su became something much more meaningful. It became a place where she learned to trust herself, find her voice, and and begin to believe in what she could become. Through the support of mentors and the opportunities the club provided, Daniela discovered the strength is built through service and what and that confidence grows when you help those around you. You rise as well. For Daniela, the club became the place where her character was shaped, her goals began to take form, and her sense of purpose came into focus. Her journey reflects the very spirit of the Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year recognition, honoring young people who demonstrate leadership, service, academic excellence, and commitment to
030making a difference in their communities. At this time, I would like to invite the representatives. They're already here and they're even faster than Daniela and I um to say a few words. Uh good evening Dr. Mensel and honorable board members. I'm Ivan Gil, president CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. And uh I just wanted to tell you a little bit about what Daniela had to actually go through to uh to achieve this award. It's a grueling award. It's a program that's been around with the Boys and Girls Clubs ever since it was just the boys club. It's been around decades. It was around when I went to the clubs when I was young. But what it is is each clubhouse, and there's 5,000 club houses in America, but we have 10
031clubouses in our organization. But each clubhouse they they they determine who their youth of the year is through a grueling process of the the teens have to provide an essay. They also have to interview with business people from the community. And last but not least, each kid has to get up and give a speech in front of a crowd. That starts very small at the c at the club level. At the club level, you may give a speech in front of about 30 or 40 people. And then when you get to the organization level, what Danielle had to do was she had to do her essay, do her interviews, and she had to give her speech in front of 800 people a few weeks ago. Flawless delivery of her speech. And it's a testament to
032what we do as a partnership. You with the kids all day and us with the kids in the evening, making u kids from eight other clubs across the state. And I'm happy to report the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale has won that competition the last two years. So we're very optimistic about Dianiela going into that. And if she were to win that, then you go to the national competition. So it's a huge deal. If you win the whole national competition, large scholarships, even a Toyota Corolla. So it's a big deal. Uh and we know Daniela is positioned to do very, very well. We're very proud of her. Uh we know you're very proud of her and we're happy to honor her as 2026 Youth of the Year for Boys and Girls Clubs of
033Greater Scottsdale. One more time. I I would be remiss if I didn't point out her mother is here. She's so so proud of her daughter. And then Yes. And then Beethoven Felix here is our world-renowned team director and he's the one who coached her up to be in a position she was a couple of weeks ago. So, thank you to him as well. There's no pressure, Daniela. I know you're going to make us very, very proud. And we are not going to have you do your speech here tonight. Is that okay? Okay. Um Daniela's story reminds us that when students are given encouragement, opportunity, and a community that believes in them, incredible things happen. Thank you, Boys and Girls Club, for always opening your arms to our youth. Tonight, we are proud to celebrate Daniela
034and the remarkable example she sets for her peers and for our community. At this time, I'd like to invite Daniellea's principal, Danielle Dansky, again, very fast, uh to say a few words. Uh for this I consulted with Daniellea's AVID um teacher who she does phenomenally in this program and she said that Daniela is an exceptional student and truly represents the values of the AVID program. As a dedicated AVID student for the past three years, she has consistently demonstrated leadership, perseverance, and a strong commitment to her education and community. With well over 1,000 hours of community service, Danielle exemplifies what it means to give back and make a positive impact on others. She will be continuing her academic journey at ASU, where she's been accepted into the highly selected Barrett Honors College to pursue her passion
035for the medical and nursing field. Danielle is truly deserving of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale Scholarship Award. We are very proud of Danielle and all that she's already accomplished and we're excited to see what she will accomplish in her bright future. All right, Daniela, on behalf of the Scottsdale Unified School District uh and the governing board, congratulations on being named Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year. We are proud of you and we look forward to all the ways you'll continue to inspire others. Please accept this challenge co to commemorate this amazing achievement. Congratulations Danielle Daniela. Thank you Mr. Gilre and the Boys and Girls Club. Appreciate the partnership. And we're going to add another center soon. This summer. Very soon. So, um, last for our celebrations, but certainly not least
036this evening, uh, we have more SUSD trailblazers who took titles at state championships this week. So, to introduce these, uh, students who, uh, demonstrated their success, I'd like to introduce Jamie Fitzpatrick, our director of college and career readiness. Jamie, good evening. Thank you, Dr. Mensel. Good evening, President Lewis, Vice President Shy, governing board members, Dr. Benzel, and Mrs. Wagner. Tonight, we are proud to recognize an outstanding group of students from Chaparel High School's criminal justice career and technical education program. I would like to invite the following students to join me at the podium. Addison Scott, Charlotte Smith, Aninsley Ray, McKenzie Hanea, and Phoebe Catz, as well as their teacher Tarnishia Tilson and assistant principal Megan Bird. These students recently represented Chaparel at the region 2 Skills USA conference held at Paradise Valley Community College where
037they competed alongside students from other career and technical education programs across the region in a variety of challenging competitions focused on professional and technical skills. Though these competi through these competitions, students demonstrate real world skills including crime scene investigation techniques, professional communication, customer service, job interview skills, and hands-on demonstration of career ready abilities. While these students are in top placements in multiple competitive categories, what stood out even more were the moments that reflected their character and professionalism. Um, so here's a story. During the conference, an elderly woman became distressed after losing her wallet and eyeglasses. Without hesitation, these students stepped in, located both items, and returned them to her. In another moment, when students from another school needed pencils in order to complete their crime scene investigation event, our SHAP students immediately stepped forward, shared
038their supplies so their peers could participate. These actions reflect the values at the heart of Chaparel's criminal justice program. Integrity, leadership, and a commitment to serving others. At this time, I'd like to invite Megan Bird to say a few words. Hi. Um, we are very proud of them obviously for their skills and leadership, but just again that heart that they're the heart and leaders of our school. So, thank you guys so much. We're so proud of you. As a token of our appreciation and priding your accomplishments, we are honored to present each of you with a challenge coin. Congratulations to the Chaparel Criminal Justice students for your outstanding performance representing SUSD with excellence. Thank you. And I'm not done just yet. We have another group of outstanding CTE students from Desert Mountain High School's marketing
039and DECA program to recognize. These students recently competed at the Arizona State DECA competition where they demonstrated exceptional business, marketing, and leadership skills while competing against top students from across the state. I'd like to invite the following students to join me at the podium. Miles Prelog, Matilda Listister, Annabelle Rice, Abby Molinovitz, Joshua Roga, Grant Kelly, Matthew Lair, Sarah Davidson, Sierra Mangan, as well as their instructor, Mr. Richard Norris, and principal John Andrews. You guys are quick, too. Through DECA competition, students apply classroom learning to real world business challenges, developing skills in marketing strategy, communication, teamwork, and professional presentation. At this year's state competition, these students delivered an extraordinary performance, each earning first place finishes in their respective competitive events. An incredible accomplishment that reflects their preparation, creativity, and dedication. Their success represents not only their
040individual talent, but also the strength of Desert Mountain's marketing and DECA program and the mentorship of the educators who guide them. Students, your achievements showcase the innovation, professionalism, and leadership that CTE programs help to cultivate across our district. On behalf of SUSD and the governing board, we are incredibly proud of the way you represented Desert Mountain High School and SUSD on the state stage. At this time, I'd like to invite Principal Andrews to say a few words. Thank you, Jamie. Good evening, governing board, Dr. Menzel, President Lewis, and Glattis. Uh, students, I am so proud of your accomplishments as your principal. Uh, with DECA, I know um it's such a great organization and it's such a wonderful opportunity for you and I know that you have the national competition coming up and you're going to
041do amazing things there. I think it's in Atlanta this year. Is that right? So, I think you already have a chaperone lined up or else I'd go with you. Um, thank you, Mr. Norris, as well for your leadership. I know you love working with these students and it shows in their success. Your dedication to them um helps them do amazing things. So, just congratulations. I'm really proud of you. Thank you. And as a symbol of pride in your accomplishments tonight, we are honored to present each of you with a challenge coin. Congratulations to our desert mountain student state champion for your outstanding success and for representing SUSD with excellence. Back to you, Dr. Mensel. Congratulations to our students and that was a really nice way to end uh career and technical education month in February
042to celebrate the success of our students. And that concludes our celebrations this evening. Thank you. What a wonderful start to our meeting. It's time for governing board reports. That was a wonderful start and my daughter was in Miss Tilson's class um and it changed the trajectory of her educational interests. So I can attest to it as a parent. Um, I'll keep mine brief because we have a full agenda. I'm looking forward to participating in the Desert Mountain High School um, town hall meeting coming up. Um, and then I'm reaching out, excuse me, have a little bit of a cough. I'm reaching out to um, the principles at all the Desert Mountain Learning Community Schools to start the process of getting to visit them as their representative this year. Go ahead. I had the opportunity to
043go to the championship game last week and it was phenomenal to watch Arcadia uh beat at Deer Valley. They played a phenomenal game, but even better was the game before when they played Sarro and Arcadia at Arcadia and you know my son played at Sarro. So it was really fun to be able to watch, you know, two teams in the same district and just the probably one of the best basketball games I've ever seen and it was really fun. Um, I just wanted to say thank you. Um, I'm grateful to all the many listening sessions I've had over uh the past several weeks um that I've met with parents and teachers, staff, community members. Um, and I appreciate all that have reached out and I know I haven't gotten to everyone um but I' I've
044done my best and I um wanted to give a shout out to longtime Echo Canyon uh early learning teacher Mrs. Valarde for inviting me to check out her prek classroom at Echo Canyon um and learn more about the importance of early learning and uh had a lot of fun doing that. Um I was able to do campus visits uh here at Coronado and at Hokum. So thank you to principal Splitic and Fein for uh hosting me. I really appreciate anytime I get to visit our schools and our teachers and our kids. Um went to the athletics banquet, the winter athletics banquet last night. saw awards from uh a lot of uh talented and smart individuals uh for our our student athletes at our schools. Attended the Echo Canada Echo Canyon community meeting um which was
045good for me to hear firsthand from uh presenters and speakers and community members about um uh our Echo Canyon campus. Uh this weekend uh is the robotics tournament, high school robotics tournament at NU. So Thursday I'm heading up there um in my role as a mentor with the SHAP robotics team and the Saber Cats will be up there as well. So hopefully we'll get some good results from our SUSD robotics teams up at NAU. Uh and then lastly, uh I had the arguably the most difficult presentation of my professional career. I did career day at Engleside Middle School. Um so thank you to Miss Lucero, to Principal Michael and the team for putting that together. Um thanks to Mr. Surerach uh the science teacher who allowed me to share his class for a few periods
046and hopefully in 10 to 12 years from now there'll be a few more data analysts in this world and I'll be a happy guy. Thank you. Thank you. Uh the Arcadia Sorro game was almost college caliber. It was so nailbiting and filled with so much talent. Uh just a real pleasure to see the energy in the room. uh this weekend, this Saturday, I think it's with K12 Center, we'll be honoring our nationally board certified teachers. And you may remember a presentation recently where many were uh noted for this indepth amazing accomplishment to be called nationally board certified. It turns out Scottdale has the number one amount of certified teachers in the state of Arizona. So, it's exciting that this Saturday we'll be recognized for that. Um, I also went to the winter athletic dinner and
047celebration and hooked up with an old eighth grader student of mine who uh is is off to uh to college and uh and sees herself studying environmental sciences. So that was a pleasure just to, you know, have that personal touch, but see so many um students not just be athletic stars, but also be student stars and community stars because they all have just top-notch GPA and serve in many capacities in our in our community. I attended the Arizona School Board uh Association's finance boot camp, and as much as I do indeed know about school finance, I like to stay sharp and it was uh the third of five sessions. So I encourage anyone else who'd like to attend do so. Uh it helps kind of bring it home on the complexity and the many acronyms
048we all. Um I also um attended the Arizona schoolboard coalition's training where I learned about the financial landscape of the state, the state board of education's update, their TAP model which is a really great program for focusing in on student achievement. I heard Mesa's story with their declining enrollment and um uh just appreciated the various perspectives that we had in that room that day. Uh the uh court also recently came out with a ruling for the district additional assistance. We've we the greater we whoever we is has had a lawsuit in in in a pending um status for quite for over 10 years actually and it was settled in a judge deemed that the state must come up with adequate funding and model uh an adequate funding model for the conditions of its facility. So
049I think that will be a real needle mover for us uh across the state of Arizona. I also want to congratulate uh Dr. Patensky for being named in the American University Hall of Fame. Uh, no short himself. So, well done. Not for sports to be clear. No, no, but nonetheless, you you you have a lot of uh high achieving uh students there or you know graduates from there. All right, that brings us to the superintendent comments. Well, I'll also work to be brief this evening. Uh as you know each month there are a number of things that we celebrate. March is women's history month and the theme this year is leading the change women shaping a sustainable future. So we have opportunities to elevate and celebrate the stories of the ways in which so many
050women have contributed to shaping the future. Uh it's also reading month and at Navajo last week we celebrated read across America where they had an event uh titled Reading with Rising and a professional soccer player from the Phoenix Rising came out and read to the students. Uh last week was also National School Social Work Appreciation Week and it was a great time to thank our incredible school social workers for their unwavering support of our students and families. uh we know that they contribute so much and the board has received a number of emails and concerns because the grant that has allowed us to have social workers at every elementary is expired. We're applying for funding to provide more, but I think it's really important to acknowledge the incredible work that our social workers do. I
051appreciate the board members for pointing out the winter sports athletic banquet from last night. And in terms of team town halls, uh Saros was on Monday, Arcadia was today. Desert Mountains is tomorrow. Chaparels is on Thursday and then Coronado will be in April. But those are amazing opportunities for a panel of of individuals from district leadership, governing board members and principles to be able to engage in an open-ended uh Q&A with our students to see what's on their mind and learn from them. And so, thank you for those who participate and most importantly to our students who spend their time engaging in that conversation. Finally, uh this is the end of the third quarter and at the end of this week we will be on spring break. So I want to wish everyone a healthy
052and happy spring break as we return for the final quarter uh which is often known as testing season and uh we'll get and finish the year strong. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Venzil. All right, that brings us to public comments. Um, in compliance with open meeting law, the governing board may not discuss or take action tonight on any matters raised during public comments that are not on the agenda. However, the governing board may respond to direct criticism, ask staffs to review a matter, or that a matter be placed on a future agenda. Public comments will be conducted in accordance with board policy BEDH, which explicitly, I'll remind you, reminds us that comments must pertain to district business and not outside the scope of that to include personal attacks. As a reminder, each speaker will have
053two minutes. The screen will indicate the time. Please be prepared to close your comments and relinquish the floor at the conclusion of your time. The board asks that each speaker please introduce yourself by stating your name and whether you live within our school district for clarity of the record. And uh we thank you for your time and attendance here this evening and your cooperation in the following uh meeting to quorums and protocols. I will read the name of the seven speakers we have tonight. And when you hear your name, could you please come up to the podium? I will read the name of the next speaker to be on deck ready. Uh once you start speaking, your time will start. Our first speaker is Janelle Dansky, followed by Debbie Schumacher. Good evening, President Dr. Lewis,
054Vice President Shy, governing board members, Dr. Menel and Miss Wagner. I'm Dr. Dr. Janelle Dansky, president of the Scottsdale Administrator Association, and I am here tonight to encourage the board to approve the 2% pay increase proposed by the IBN team. We all recognize that this is a challenging financial time for the district. At the same time, it is critically important that we continue to take care of our employees. Approving the 2% increase helps us remain competitive with other districts across the valley to recruit strong educators and employees in the future and supports our ability to retain the talented staff who serve our students every day. It is also important to recognize that when employee pay does not keep up with the cost of inflation, it is effectively a pay cut. SUSD employees are feeling the
055impact of rising costs for housing, food, and everyday expenses on top of the increases to the cost of medical insurance over the past several years. In addition, the administrator association agreed in IBN to forego or our performance pay this year in recognition of the district's financial circumstances. If the board does not approve the proposed 2% pay increase tonight, this will be a pay cut for employee group in the 2627 school year. For these reasons, I respectfully encourage the board to approve the proposed 2% pay increase for all employee groups. Thank you. Thank you, Debbie Schumacher, followed by Jeff Ray. My name is Debbie Schumacher, SUSD resident and grandparent. SUSD marketing has failed and set Puma up to fail. I recently received a foam stress ball with only the SUSD logo, a star-shaped piece of foam
056that will be lost in a junk drawer and then tossed in the trash. A waste of marketing dollars. I also received a five-pack of crayons with only the district logo. Interesting choice when you think about the teachers that have to buy crayons for their classroom out of their own pockets. Another item destined for the trash. There is a coloring book promoting SUSD schools. Puma was obviously left out and set them up to fail. I received three twocolors colors like stated for 2024 promoting SUSD schools. Puma was not included. Additional proof that Puma was set up intentionally to fail. Instead of three slicks, it should be reduced to a single two-sided slick promoting all of the schools with a web address and QR code for additional details. Instead of handing them out to existing SUSD families,
057they should be in the welcome packet of every apartment complex and every realator's office in Scottsdale and 5 miles beyond our city limits. It is 2026. Heavy social media across all platforms is where it's at. Fast-paced, high-quality videos with details highlighting SUSD. Solid, entertaining, engaging, and the occasional viral video would do wonders for enrollment. Hire new marketing team and consulting firm. The majority of the team must be under the age of 30 and they must understand and aggressively apply the marketing strategy of 702010. Every millennial and Gen Z parent has a billboard in their pocket. SUSD needs to be in their feed every time they start scrolling. Thank you, Jeffrey Tay, followed by Amy Ying. Dr. Lewis, this is what Scott Manzel said when he was hired. To me, it starts with school boards and
058policy because everything flows from that. Superintendents that ignore board policy are fired. I was fired as a substitute teacher and immediately demanded to see my district personnel file. This is a direct quote from the governing board's personnel policies and procedures manual. Material which concerns an employes conduct, service, character, or personality will not be placed in a teacher's file unless he or she has had the opportunity to read such material. The teacher will acknowledge that he or she has read such material by affixing her signature to the actual copy to be filed. The appropriate district administrator will also initial copy will be issued to the teacher. The teacher will have the right to answer any material filed. This document is signed by the principal of Arcadia High School. It indicates I will be banned from the
059campus for refusing to call girls by boys names as instructed by the teacher. There's a section here for me to sign it and the substitute coordinator and it's blank. This form, by the way, was secretly placed by personnel file. Here are the letters from the transgender students that Menzel uh got, and it indicates that they were upset by my repeated refusal to call them by their preferred pronouns. These were secretly placed in my personnel file. A week before I was fired, this document showed up. It's a subealuation form. I was a substitute teacher at Koka Middle School for 13 years and was coaching their baseball and seventh grade flag football. I cannot recall a single complaint while working at that school. The principal at Cocoall went through this form and checked no on all the
060boxes indicating I was the worst person on the face of the earth. There's a section here where I'm supposed to review this comment, sign it. It's completely blank. Below that is a section for the district administrator. It's blank. This form was secretly placed in my personnel file. Days after I was fired, I was sitting at a Starbucks with the chief advocacy officer of the Scottsdale Education Association. Uh and and I when I showed these forms to her, she said the district office generally does not follow board policy. They do whatever they want. Dr. Lewis, there are literally hundreds of these forms that Menzel has been putting in teachers files and they don't even know they're there. How can they appeal? That's mandated by the state. Amy Ying, followed by Mike Bingert. Good evening. Um, good
061evening board members. My name is Amy Ing and I am currently a parent in the district. Uh, thank you for your time and your work do for the students and families. I recently reviewed the proposal regarding the potential level D program which will be reset in the current Puma elementary school and I appreciate the district's effort to expand such service for students with complex needs. In the material that was shared me public I noticed there is a detailed information about current cost of private placements for approximately 38 students project to be over $2 million. However, I was unable to find the financial analyst for the proposed level D program itself, including the anticipated cost per student or the project savings to the district. So, for the families trying to understand how this proposal may affect
062students with significant needs, having that information would be very helpful and uh important to us. I respectfully encourage district to provide additional transparency around the financial assumptions behind this proposal. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you Mike Benert followed by Mark Stanton. Dr. Menzel's stated goal is to disrupt and dismantle SUSD and he is well on his way. His emphasis on gender identity initiatives and social emotional learning at the expense of academic performance has led to serious consequences for students and parents in the district. Schools are closing. Academic performance is dismal. Enrollment is down. Non-classroom spending is at record highs. Teachers are being laid off and staff members continue to leave. Menzel has been supported by governing boards willing to rubber stamp his agenda along with backing from teachers union and some voters
063who continue to elect board members on who campaign on one message and govern differently. Patinsky, Sharky, and Lewis ran on the promises not to close schools then they close schools and say more need to be closed. Stay tuned. For the past three years, families leaving the district have cited the same concerns. a lack of academic rigor, discipline, and policy enforcement issues, inadequate special education support, and dissatisfaction with school leadership. What did Mensel and the board do? Over the past 5 years, instructional spending has dropped nearly 2% while support service has risen more than two and a half%. Security staff have been cut while more counselors, psychologists, and behavior analysts have been added. Wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on leftist curriculum, gender identity programs, and training, marketing, and travel. I could go on. Parents should
064pay close attention to what is coming next. Mensel's phase 2 proposal is aimed at closing Cheyenne Traditional School. Puma's traditional program was eliminated and the school has been closed. Moving Cheyenne to Copper Ridge could lead to the same outcome, just what Mensel wants. Although Menzel says a phase 2 design team will make recommendations by the end of the school year, it doesn't really matter. It will consist of staff aligned with his Menzel's plan, leaving little room for meaningful public input. Parents in phase 2 schools need to speak up. Email the board and superintendent. Youth Let's Talk, write opinion pieces, raise concerns at PTO meetings, and share information through newsletters and social media. Community voices matter. Challenge Sharky when he says he really values input. We'll see. Uh Mark Stanton, followed by TJ Buck. Good evening.
065Thank you so much for allowing me a few minutes to speak. First of all, uh, President Lewis, Dr. Lewis, thank you very much for your leadership. And, uh, Vice President Starky, thank you very much. Members of the governing board and of course, Dr. Mensel. Um, my name is Mark Stanton. I am a resident of an SUSD uh, school district and I am also uh, the mayor of the town of Paradise Valley and I'm very proud to be here tonight and I'm so thrilled that I could be here for the beginning of the presentations which were so heartwarming and so um, wonderful. It was a great uh great opportunity for me. U I also wanted to say that I I live in the school district, but I'm also a product of that's right, KA Cougars and
066SAR Saber Cats. And so uh I'm a champion for education. I'm a champion for SUSD. And there are two SUSD schools in Paradise Valley. That's KA and Cherokee. Uh very proud of both of those schools. uh very proud of the work that uh that the staff has done to keep them in such great condition and such driving education forces. With that said, we also have many other schools in Paradise Valley. We have BCDS, we have uh Jones Gordon School, we have uh some prochial schools and they all work well together. They're not competitive. They're um they're complimentary of each other and they work together very very well. And I know there won't be a decision made this evening regarding the future for Echo Canyon, but I wanted to come before you as a member of
067the Paradise Valley uh school district and Scottsdale School District and to let you know that Jones Gordon School has been a phenomenal partner, a phenomenal community partner and great collaborator with our public schools and our prochial schools. And I know no decision will be made tonight, but I wanted to plant that thought in your head while you face a very difficult decision on the repurposing for Echo Canyon. So with that, I wish you all the best. I thank you genuinely for your service to this whole school district and to the students that are so deserving. Thank you. Thank you. And TJ Buckley. Good evening, Madame President. Uh, members of the board, superintendent, I am TJ Buckley, president of Scottsdale Education Association. As we conclude our preparatory bud bud, uh, budget conversations for the 2026 2027
068school year, there are a few important topics that I'd like to address. First, our social workers are going through a reduction in force due to the instability of the state level grant that their positions are funded through. We value social workers as professionals and the specialized care that they offer outside of the classroom which allows our teachers to focus on student academic growth. The reduction in force process was negotiated through IBN and SEA is in support is supportive of the process. With that said, the process often feels demoralizing and we stand with social workers as they undergo this process and are hopeful for grant renewal that helps us to retain as many as we can. Secondly, we are hopeful to work with the district administration on a memor memorandum of understanding to codify the changes
069in the surplus and rift pro procedures. We negotiated this these procedures and are working with the district to ensure the procedures are followed. Without codifying these changes, they may not be grievable, which hinders our ability to assist employees and the district in finding solutions in these difficult um situations. I am confident that we will reach a memorandum of understanding in a timely manner for the good of all certified staff and the district. Finally, the recommendation of 2% raise or 2% increase for all employees is before you tonight. This was negotiated through IBN and we f we stand in full support of this recommendation. It is important that we work on budget reductions through the necessary structural and programmatic changes um which we want to keep as far away from the students as as possible and
070we believe that a commitment to an employee cost of living increase uh achieves this and we appreciate your partnership and leadership in these difficult convers uh conversations. Thanks. Thank you. That concludes our public comments for the evening. Uh board members everybody. Okay. Okay. Information discussion item 7A, the status update regarding phase one and phase two repurposing of schools. Dr. Mensel and Leah Mitchell. Well, thank you, President Lewis and members of the governing board. Uh, as we've talked about, as we're taking the next steps on phase one and moving into phase two, we would have a standing item at regular meetings to provide an update to the board and the community. Uh, Miss Mitchell will talk about the first three bullet points and then I'll take the last one. Thank you. Good evening again. Um, thank
071you for the opportunity to share a little bit about our concierge services for the Echo Canyon and Puma Elementary families. Um, an update as of uh I think this is as of Monday. Um, we currently have 189 of 266 Echo Canyon families that have made enrollment decisions for next year reflecting 71%. Uh for Puma, we are um at 85% 28 of the 244 families um are enrolled in SUSD schools for the upcoming year. We will continue to host enrollment events, do um individual parent reachouts and work through with families around those still yet to make a decision. Um, important to note that we have counted 18 um, students that have indicated, their families have indicated that they'll withdraw for the 2627 school year, which reflects three and a half% across both um, campuses. I also
072want to bring to you this evening some information on staff. We've been working really hard to support every family um, and every student, but we also are human resources team and the school teams have been working really hard to support the staff. So, now that we are in staffing season, what I can report is um at Echo Canyon, 32% of our certified staff have already received their placements for next school year. Um we have uh still 15 left on the surplus list, two resignations um and uh eight that are um good to go. So, that's 32%. Uh at Puma, our certified staff, we're at 37%. We have 32 total um teachers, 11 placed, three that have resigned and 16 surplus that we are still working through the surplus process to ensure that they will get
073a match. And um to Mr. Buckley's point, uh some of our negotiated surplus procedures do prioritize Puma and Echo at every opportunity that we can in the surplus placement process. I also have some updates on our classified staff across both campuses. We have 48 classified staff members. um 43% of those have received placements for next year. Uh we are hoping to place the remaining 27 um that are from a variety of school departments and categories on our classified list. As we get ready to head to spring break upon our return, there are many many family events um that are scheduled across all of our schools that we would call receiving or welcoming schools. We are very proud that each of those schools are taking the extra actions to include any new family that is um
074already enrolled or inviting new families who are still under consideration. For example, kindergarten roundup will do another roundup in all schools. We'll have updated dates where we'll be encouraging new families to come and check us out. There will also be celebrations of learning, movies under the stars, reading with celebrities, all of those types of things in which our receiving schools will take extra steps with families who have been displaced to make sure that they feel included, welcomed, and have a sense of belonging. Also arriving on uh our school's doorsteps just after spring break will be individual book bundles um grade appropriate for all of our students at Puma and Echo helping to support them with transitions. There will be a age appropriate note letting them know that um great adventure awaits, but also stories that
075are really meaningful and support transitions that can be tricky, going to new schools and making new friends. We want families to have access to literature that can also support students as they're making those transitions and moves. In terms of phase two, um we have been working hard. There was an application open through committee hub. Um, a huge shout out to all of our principles who also did additional layers of recruitment. We had many HOAs that also um were willing to support our including our communication in their newsletters. Um, and we received um many many many applications for the phase 2 committee about a hund over a little over 130 applications. Um, we have ensured that there's rep representation across every school. Um there was an initial blind scoring process and then a more thorough review.
076The initial process scored around collaborative and decision-making practices, perspective um and lived experience, experience on com um committees or things like this previously, their commitment and availability um and the motivation and alignment with the purpose of the team. Each school will be represented by four parents and one staff member and there will be around 70 community members that um are do not have children currently in schools but are uh either residents part of HOAs um and they will participate. Um all people are being notified um some today and some tomorrow asking each applicant who will be on the committee just to RSVP and let us know and should we need to fill additional spots there are some um there's an additional pool of eager applicants. Uh those meetings will schedule to kick off I believe
077right when we get back from spring break and phase 2 efforts will commence. Last but not least our incredible Coronado learning community. um they will also engage in a strategic growth setting focus committee effort. There is also a current committee application posted on committee hub and it will be open for a couple of weeks as well encouraging families, caregivers, um business partners, community members and alumni of the Coronado learning community to in apply and also be a part of a committee process where where we will develop a strategic growth plan um for that community after our um boundary decisions a couple weeks ago. Thank you. And that's all I have in terms of those updates. Thank you, Miss Mitchell. And the last thing on this update, uh over the last few meetings, uh Dr. Patinsky
078has made a comment with respect to the number of buildings that we're talking about in phase 2, and we've we've mentioned um two more for the 2728 school year, but we've had no additional feedback from any other governing board members. And so as the committee gets started on its work, uh I think beginning March 26th, I wanted to give other board members an opportunity to share would would you like us to uh expand the scope of the work so that as the committee's uh identifying at least three viable options? It it could potentially include more than the two schools we've talked about. Um, I'll say I don't have a preference one way or the other if it's two versus three, but I'm glad to hear we have such a wide ranging representation from the community.
079And I would think if that comes up during those conversations that community members understand and see the long-term value and they say, "Let's do three instead of two," that's great. If there's not an appetite, um I would hope that those involved with the community kind of feel that out as it goes on. So just personally as a single board member, I don't have a preference one way or there. Um I want to see how the community reacts to that during those committee those committees. Um I would personally like to see closure as our last option, last resort. I've I've voiced that many times. Um, and I stand stand true to that that closure is a last option for us. Um, but I would like information on when are the surveys going to go go out.
080I've gotten asked that several times. Um, when surveys are going to go out to these communities. So, at the at the meetings that I had with the with the families as part of this phase 2 effort. Uh, we said that the surveys would go out after we identified the three options uh to get feedback on what's possible. So that would likely be um late May, early June after the committee gets the chance to do its work. Okay. I'd like to request that um that gets done much sooner. I met with um groups of parents in these communities that are affected and they are asking to have their voice heard earlier than May. They feel May is too late. They would like uh survey be before then, like after spring break, giving them a voice to
081what the options might be. And I agree with that and would like to see that happen after spring break for them. I think it's important if we're surveying families, we're giving the committee the opportunity to do the work that will then solicit the feedback that will be useful to them. I worry that if we sort of frontr run that, we're undermining such a well- constructed inclusive committee and we're kind of asking questions in a vacuum um as opposed to having a theory of what we're trying to collect. Just to explain my position, I know it may seem unpopular. I don't believe closing schools is necessarily the last resort. I think the last resort is having 25, 30 schools all have their educational programs diluted, their staffing reduced, and the quality of the student experience for
082the vast majority of our families negatively affected because we're not willing to fully address the level of underutilization in our sites. and our opportunity to grow as a district, I personally believe, comes from being able to deliver a fantastic experience in the schools that we operate. Um, and a death by a thousand cuts in those schools will ultimately only have us come back here year after year as opposed to making a full difficult but full decision now that will allow us to resource the schools that we operate as fully and as wonderfully as they should be. So, I just wanted to be on record for that feedback. Uh so I think at at this point I do agree with board member Carney related to the surveys going out earlier uh and having that information be
083given to the committee that gets put together so they have a foundation to work off of and then they can come up with the three or two whatever the options they come up with and there can be another survey after that. But it is important that the committee has all the information and the thoughts of the communities that are affected by this and I appreciate the complexity of the committee's work and all the attributes that need to be considered. And I also agree that that the efficiency of a larger footprint to assure quality in our schools is potentially uh more impactful for children. So, uh, at this juncture, I would lean a little more the needle in the direction of going for three, but I don't know for a fact if that's the best thing,
084and I want to listen to all the nuances. Thank you for taking the time to discuss that. So, we had some more feedback. I'm sorry. Go ahead. I I do have one question. Um, Miss Mitchell on the uh phase 2 design advisory team uh was a consultant hired that's going to be leading this committee or Yes, we have secured a couple of consultants who will help facilitate facilitate and lead the committee efforts. Okay. Could you tell us about that and how much um that's costing? Sure. I can um talk a little I can tell you a little bit about the individuals. I'll have to look probably in my computer for the total costs. Um but the individuals uh Quinton Boyce who works uh solely uh currently at Arizona State University he was a facilitator and
085involved in um the Kyne committee efforts. So he has some experience working with communities um through these types of processes. Uh Dr. Karen Benson was also secured to help facilitate um the meeting structures um some of the paperwork uh those types of things. And so as a duo, those two will be helping to lead, coordinate, and facilitate the committee. Um if you'll give me just a moment, I will look double check the um the specific costs. I I was going to say that the the cost we have three proposals and uh the cost to work with the two that we selected is significantly less than the midpoint and the high point proposals that we had. Uh and I know I know one of those was at 90,000 and one was at 40,000 a month for
086the facilitation work. So it was definitely outside of the price range. Uh, and my recollection it was roughly combined around $20,000. Yes, just under 20,000 um between the two of them. Thank you. Okay, that concludes 7A. We'll move on to 7B. Uh, we're going to be looking at presentations on the proposed use of Echo Canyon, uh, which could include, uh, one of the groups that, uh, that we'll be presenting tonight. Dr. Menzel will be introducing the groups and other ideas for us. Uh and we're going to stick to a strict timeline tonight. Uh I'll give you a one minute warning when you're close to your 10 minutes if you're one of the presenters. Uh so uh thank you again, President Lewis, and and the members of the three organizations that have expressed interest in using
087uh Echo Canyon. I'm going to invite our friends from Arcadia Sports and Performance Complex to come to the podium. Uh there will be 10 minutes for each presentation. The timer should come up because that will help us stay on time. The Q&A won't be timed, but the presentation will. Uh, this will be similar to, but probably more expedited version of what was shared with the community last Tuesday. Uh, and this is again in order to allow the board to be able to ask specific questions with respect to the ideas that are being presented. Is this controllable from here? Just all right. Oops. Yeah, your time hasn't begun yet. Um, we also make sure you can move the uh advance the slides, right? All right. All right. Good evening, Dr. Manzel and the governing board members.
088Uh, and thank you for having me. My name is Eric Oconor and I'm speaking tonight on behalf of the Arcadia Sports and Learning Foundation. The Arcadia Sports and Learning Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit that was formed by a group of Arcadia residents who care deeply about the future of Echo Canyon and its ability to remain a community asset serving youth and Arcadia families. I will say that one positive that's come from this is that there's excitement in the neighborhood about um Echo Canyon as opposed to you know people upset about the school itself closing. So um I think that the community input sessions have been valuable. So as you you know pursue other you know repurposing options I definitely recommend you know community input. So, we all know Echolo Canyon is closing at the end
089of the school year and we're here to discuss a viable option for it. Um, we we do understand that we're still in the early evaluation phase and there's still a lot of decisions to be made and many moving parts, but we're here to ensure that there is some sort of focus on our community's needs and um that they're prioritized in the evaluation process. We've understand there's a decision making rubric and we've attempted to craft this plan to be compliant with that for everyone's ease. So, when we first learned that Echo Canyon was closing, the the first thing we did was solicit community input from people that used Echo and called Echo Canyon home from neighbors, parents, students, teachers, and coaches. And we received many questions such as, you know, what happens to little league? You
090know, as you know, Arcadia Little League, especially the softball has long called Echo Canyon home. And then we also received overwhelming feedback that, you know, it'd be really nice if this site was a community hub, community center, rec center, something along those lines. So those two concerns became the inspiration behind our efforts. Um, you know, if Echo Canyon must change, and we know it does, how do we preserve what matters the most to the neighborhood? And the answer became the Arcadia Sports and Performance Complex, which some people tentatively call something else, but what we call it is a multi-generational community rec center. So, the Arcadia Sports and Performance Complex is envisioned as a multi-generational hub and rec center anchored in youth athletics, academic enrichment, and family. Um and the great thing about this center is
091that the possibilities are endless with programming. Um nothing is set in stone of what has to be um programmed there and the programming decisions can be based off of community input um tailored to the community's needs. But essentially the gener the multi-generational community center is a campus for all Arcadia families. Um as you know Arcadia if you live there Arcadia is not Scottsdale. Arcadia is not Phoenix. Arcadia is not Paradise Valley. Arcadia is Arcadia. So, um, a campus for all Arcadia families, a community social gathering space with, you know, top tier athletic, uh, training facilities for our our softball, baseball, girls volleyball, field hockey, um, lacrosse, all all types of sports have complete access to it. Upgraded baseball and softball fields, indoor batting cages, a few pickle ball courts, indoor basketball gym, strength and conditioning
092spaces. These are all things that can be phased in throughout the uh duration of of the buildup here. Um film and team rooms. Not everyone is a sports person and for families that uh don't need to go there for sports. We envision a community gathering space with teen rooms, game rooms, music, multimedia rooms, dance space, gymnastic teams can be there. Uh cheer squads, a place for everybody. Um the possibilities are are truly just endless. Um we wanted to make clear what this uh facility will not be. It's not a destination sports complex that hosts large regional tournaments or games. It's the only games, you know, we envision there are essentially little league games. Um, this is primarily a practice facility and a community center that just hosts the families in and around the neighborhood. And
093these are just some of the, you know, tasteful upgrades that kind of work with what already exists at the site without having to do too much. upgraded ball fields, some pickle ball courts. There's two basketball courts currently there. One of those basketball courts can be converted to a couple pickle ball courts. Um there's a nice big grass field there that can just be made a little bit nicer and and maintained a little bit better and it would be a beautiful community asset. Um, additionally, the Arcadia Sports and Performance Complex is not just a sports facility as you as you know, it's a student development platform. So, we hope to integrate athletics, academic support um through on-site tutoring, mentoring, and social enrichment opportunities available to student athletes and non- studentent athletes and delivered by top providers.
094We have a lot of people that do really good work in the community in tutoring and afterchool programs and we feel that they'll be a great addition to the center having a place to call home for all those students. And um there in addition there'll be athletic programming for multiport development for for people of all skill levels. This isn't just for people that are extremely good at sports. This is teamwork um and and we believe that teamwork and and sports and development creates a whole child that is is a great um addition to district schools. Um I also want to point out that multi-generational centers are are not new or novel. Um, in fact, they exist successfully throughout the valley. Many through public private partnerships, you know, the North Tempy Multi-generational Center is just just
095up the street from here. You got the POS Community Center and Awatuki Red Mountain Multigenerational Center and many, many more. But each of these facilities serves as a centralized hub for youth programming, fitness, wellness, recreation, and just community connection. So, um, as you know, there's only so much space in Arcadia, and without, um, if there's ever going to be a community center, this is the spot where it's going to be at, and if it doesn't happen here, then it just likely never will. Now, we we understand the district may want early learning at Echo Canyon, and we support whatever the district wants there. we we can coexist and we do believe that um having families um activated at the campus could potentially help uh grow the enrollment numbers of the early learning program at at
096Echo Canyon. And then as we mentioned, our little league is is the inspiration behind our project. We definitely want the softball fields to remain there forever and to be prioritized and use by the the the Arcadia Little League. And we we just want to make it better. upgraded fields, safer playing conditions, and you know, indoor spaces for when it's hot. You know, you can year round practice. And and we firmly believe that, you know, we have the best student athletes in the state. And we're, as you can see by Arcadia High School's championship in basketball and their football, they were in the championship in football. So, there's just a lot of young talent and baseball is right on their heels. Softball as well. And there's just so much talent and it builds a community. And
097we we really truly believe that if the kids play sports together and do extracurricular activities together, they'll want to go to high school and middle school together, which keeps them in district at Engleside, at Arcadia, at Sora, wherever they need to go. But we do think that it is, you know, a it's it's not for nothing. They teamwork does incentivize kids to stay together. Um, as far as shared use, um, shared use is a rubric item and it's our project is built on the concept of shared use. It's it's literally a community center. Um, we we intend to have senior fitness programming in the day, you know, ch uh kids stuff in the afternoons, partnerships with local enrichment programs. There are some early child care partnerships as we talked about either with the district. Um,
098we have partnerships with local youth sports leagues and local tutoring services. We feel that there's plenty of opportunity for shared use. This is literally a community center. That that's all it does is shared use. And as far as how SUSD benefits, you know, we this plan does not negatively impact future student enrollment at all. It it it does the exact opposite. There's not one student that's going to come to this sports facility and not go to school. you know, the we also believe that, like I said, there's an opportunity to make more students want to go to district schools because of the teamwork that they're building with their neighborhood um friends. One minute. There's also lease revenue generation, no district staffing or operational costs, and you'll have a great tenant that will uh exquisitely maintain
099the premises and upgrade them. So just uh quickly as far as a community governance, you know, the the foundation that we represent, we have are interviewing professional facilities operators. We don't plan on running this thing ourselves. We're not professional facility management companies. So I know there probably be questions regarding, you know, financial viability, all those things. We are happy to engage in due diligence process, provide proper assurances that any I'm sure any landlord would want from any tenant. and we're happy to provide all those things um as we proceed down this uh path. And I think that's it. Thank you. I'm a lawyer, so I practice things. Questions or comments at this point? Well, I first want to say thank you so much for to you and all your colleagues for the hard work that's
100gone into this. I think you said it well that out of the lemons of of Echo Canyon's closing, the lemonade is kind of this as a catalyst of folks coming together and kind of imagining what they want for the community. Um, you know, there's three kind of evaluation considerations for me. uh one is financial, one is kind of neighborhood impact, and then the final is the Scottsdale school district's kind of growth strategy. And you anticipated my question on the financial. You know, one concern would be that this is just an entirely new organization. So, there's not a lot of operating history to be able to look at when it comes to evaluating kind of the ability to backs stop a multi-year commitment like this. So, I was hoping you could talk to that for a
101moment. And then the other concern, and I'm only going to talk about concerns to keep it brief. There's a lot of great things. Um the other concern is um the potential change in the pattern of the use of the site from you know typical school hours presumably now this is a much more weekday evening and weekend intensive use of the site which might have unintended consequences for the neighbors. So if you wouldn't mind speaking to those two please. Yeah. So I'll do the last one first because that's easy. Um, so Arcadia Little League pretty much uses the fields from 3:00 till 8:30, 9:00 every night. So there's there's not much difference there. And the only difference would be that we're actually allowed to use the parking lot now um instead of parking on the street.
102So I'm sure the neighbors would appreciate that the the cars are actually in the parking lot instead of on the street. But they've had a great relationship with the with the neighborhood and you know there's um no anticipated additional traffic concerns as you know these kids they are in school all day and then during the daytime is for senior wellness programming you know foot traffic walking you know it's a real true we we hope that people will use it as a neighborhood asset and walk bike and you know actually get that exercise that they need there so we we don't anticipate that and then on Saturdays there's games all day and already there. So, it's it's it's not a place for, you know, outside traffic to come. Like I said, it's not a regional draw.
103It's just kids that already use the facility. They just have more of the facility to use to their own u benefits and their families while they're waiting for their kids to use it or, you know, can do stuff on their own um so they don't have to go elsewhere. And then uh for the financial, yeah, we it's a new it's a new organization. You know, it was built specifically for this purpose, but the the operators that we're interviewing are not new. They're in the uh sport venue operation business. They're in the country club operation business, golf club operation business. We we run the gamut on operators and they all have uh many years of experience and we would hope to uh be able to hire one of them to do a great job for us
104and they're all delivering proformas to us. we'd ever had any numbers on how much this might cost until maybe today we'll get some, you know, guidance on that. So, it was hard to get the professional operators to guess on things. So, um without a lot of guesswork, it'll be a lot clearer to provide those uh financial assurances. Mr. Shy, thank you again um for sharing. I've um heard a few times and I really appreciate you guys um coming up with a a novel idea for the use of this um on the the structure of the organization. Um you and I met a couple Sundays ago. Thank you for taking the time to kind of walk the property with me and have a conversation on it. Um you talked this in the previous slide with the
105um not for-profit foundation and then the operator. Uh and as we talked about the business model, it was charging families a membership fee to be part of this. So I imagine there's not looking for details right now, but there's a number at which you guys need to have a certain number of members to make this profitable. Um is that how you I just want to make sure I'm thinking the same way you are that you've got to get enough members who are paying a monthly membership fee so that we can keep this open. Yes. Or the rent could be lower. So there's two options. Sorry. The rent could also be lower. So costs can be down or memberships could be up, you know, either way. But yeah, there'll be a break even point of what
106what needs to be made. This is not a money-making pit here. It's a it's to try to keep it a community asset. So we would hope that in your decision-m process, you'd also keep that in mind that, you know, if you're trying to maximize revenue and charge the highest lease rate possible, we're probably not the tenant. But if you want someone that's going to use it for the community and keep it a community asset and actually benefit the people that live in Arcadia that lost Echo Canyon's benefit, um, then we would be the great tenant for you and we can provide the same financial asurances that anyone could. Sure. Thanks. That's important. I just wanted to understand the business model that there is sort of when I first saw this, it sounded like a altruistic
107community need of we've got a not for-profit that's going to set this up. um which there is a piece of that which I I commend um but there's also a sort of membership structure that we need to be able to maintain things where so yes thanks appreciate that all right thank you want to introduce our next one uh so thank you for that uh next I would like to invite our friends from Polaris to come and present you might notice we're doing the reverse order of what we did on Tuesday thing. I guess that still puts us in the middle. So, we're right where we started, right? You're exactly where you were. And I can use a timer on my end if it's helpful. Am I Am I controlling the slight advancement from this side?
108Okay, perfect. Not for the video, but after that, you will. Okay, wonderful. I'll let I'll let you do that. Um, thank you for having us here tonight. Uh, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. I'm hoping a video is worth a few thousand. So, I'm going to start with just a short video presentation, then follow up after that with uh all you want to hopefully know about Polaris. Every child deserves a place where their strengths are seen, their needs are understood, and their future is filled with possibility. Understood, and their future is filled. Blaris Academy Foundation. That belief at Polaris Academy Foundation. That belief guides everything children with. We exist to empower neurodeivergent and opportunities they need to grow academically, academically, socially, emotionally, and confidently. Claris Academy blends evidence based therapy with a
109strong academic foundation. Creating creating an environment where students thrive with small classroom ratios instruction collaborative inclass therapeutic support. Every child receives what they need exactly when they need it. Our campus our campus is filled with intentional spaces designed to foster exploration and independence. The STEM discover the STEM discovery center the culinary experience room. The intent the intentional play gym envirment each environment gives students hands-on experiences that strengthen communication problem solving confidence and real life experiences learning becomes meaningful growth becomes measurable and future and future becomes brighter and the growth and the growth is undeniable. Students have students consistently show strong academic momentum in both reading and math. When behavior when behavior goals are mastered, academic academic success source proving proving with the right support children just don't improve. They excel. But education but education is
110more than classroom. It's connection. Families trust players because they feel seen supported and understood. Together we together we partner with parents. Listen compassionately and celebrate and celebrate every breakthrough big or small because every milestone is meaningful. Every voice, every voice matters and every story deserves to be honored. Our mission doesn't stop at our doors. Claris Academy reaches beyond our local community through the Players Connection podcast created for parents across the nation. This platform shares expert guidance real life experiences and strategies and resources that help families navigate the neurodeivergent journey with confidence. No matter where no matter where a parent lives, they deserve support. They deserve they deserve knowledge. They deserve they deserve to know they are not alone. Every program, every program we build, every resource, every resource we create, every life we touch is
111driven is driven by one purpose to empower children on the spectrum to shine. At Polaris Academy Foundation, we are lighting pathways, lifting families and shaping futures. When you support this mission, you are investing in hope. You're championing possibility and together we can empower every child to navigate their world, elevate elevate their potential and discover and discover their north star. So, Polaris began as a mission. Uh, I'm one of the co-founders. I'm a dad of a child on the spectrum. And Polaris is my dream as a parent of what I always wanted for my son. I have four boys, three of which go to public schools. My oldest also went to public schools, and I'm a champion for the public schools initiative. There are more and more kids that are identified on the autism spectrum, even
112though they're just a subset of the population, one in 30, even a smaller percentage that get displaced in that setting. And I will tell you that for as much as public is asked to deliver education for all, not all pegs fit into all holes. And there are children out there that are requiring more services that frankly it would be unfair to ask that public education serve. Most of the special education models to date have tried to either train teachers to in introduce therapy models or train therapists to be teachers. And what we've aimed to do at Polaris is introduce a new system of education for autistic kids where we employ both without the need or intervention of state insurance or state Medicaid programs for reimbursement. And that allows us to deliver a truly not just
113flexible but comprehensive and synergistic academic and therapy model blended in group settings in a classroom environment, not a resource or support environment. Um what that's meant for our families is less reliance on outside services, less reliance on support services, and a more traditional and warming and meaningful social experience for these children. Um, I can tell you as a parent that uh I wished this experience would come from my son's public school. It's the dream of every parent that if we just ingrain our children amongst other neurotypical peers that they will just learn to not be different. It's a sad initial wish because we all just kind of want it to go away. And that shifts around the third grade mark when the children become more self-aware. That same point where instead of learning to read,
114they read to learn. and they're becoming to know their own identity. Other kids notice differences and they notice they're different themselves. And our biggest influx of children's happen around that age. Uh when the children themselves feel displaced and that's to no fault of the public education system that's just a byproduct of the condition. So I wanted to deliver something that I couldn't find. Most private education follows the same public model where they teach but then do outside support that's antisocial in its nature. And so we wanted to instead of doing one or the other, always sacrificing one service for the other, blend both. It's difficult. It is probably the most expensive way to staff special education, but I don't care. I'm a dad with a kid on the spectrum. I'm a sixth generation Arizona and
115I'm not a chain. It's become more than just a mission for me to provide a school for my son. I want to influence how we teach this population. So, we're open. I tour schools at our campus. I show them what we're doing because frankly, I need them all to up their game. uh it's why we've attracted other school districts. So, one of the concerns at the community meeting and I was very very mindful to listen what the community wanted. This is uh this is my home as much as it's theirs. I'm I'm as native Arizonan as it gets. I I care about what happens here. Um it's why I think Mesa started this process of us pioneering this approach to collaborate with public. They don't see us as inherently competitive because we deliver a service
116that they're struggling with that most public school districts that I've talked to struggle with. Uh, it's why I have other school districts beyond Scottsdale and Mesa already reaching proactively out to us to deliver these services to their communities. It's why I have families asking me to come here. Financially, this is a hard model to duplicate. With as much as we spend on our staff, duplication is difficult. But I'm do it because the families have asked for it. I do it because the kids need it. I do it because we pioneered this in Mesa. A concern we had at that meeting was, can we pull this off? Uh, frankly, we're the only one tonight that has pulled this off. We've done it on two campuses already. We're looking at three more. Scottsdale is one of them.
117I know how to do this. We're collaborative and and and we do well at integrating in operating markets already. The other sites that we're in, Smith Junior High and Rose Junior High are able to stay open because we're infusing ourselves into it and they're able to keep other kids on the campus. So, we're not taking over. We're actually co-sharing. And that speaks to really the collaborative nature of of we're not competing. we're bringing something new that families and districts need. Um, we've gotten a lot of data as we've gone into this and the more we explored that public model, a lot of administrators asked, Nathan, can't we just do this ourselves? And I said, no, you can't. As much as I wish you could. We all want our kids to have this traditional experience. That's
118the dream. And that's why I went this route. Most of the private schools, there's a real estate game you can play, and you're aware of it, I'm sure, with the charters out there. That's not my game. Uh I want them to have a school experience and being on a public campus matters. One minute. Being able to bring families to these systems matters. So 70% of our kids don't come from public. The ADM report you're going to see on our impact on Scottsdale is probably skewed a little bit too heavily. We're going to be bringing families from outside districts to Scottsdale. And the ones that we're already going to capture haven't been in your system for a while because they're looking for other options. We're going to be infusing new capital. We're going to be sharing
119resources with the district to show you what we're doing and provide whatever supports we can in your current special ed options as well as having sibling enrollment in typical models onto campus. So, it's either going to be net neutral or positive for Scottsdale's enrollment numbers. We're certified across the board. We're accredited. We're a pathway either temporarily or in full support for those that are looking for options for their children. And above all, above all, we just want to make a difference and an impact. Uh I'm grateful for your consideration. Echo Canyon is a legacy site. It really is. I don't know if any of the presenters tonight are adequate for that spot. Um, that's for you to decide. I do know that Scott still needs this resource and I hope that either Echo or some
120other spot we can be a solution to help Scott deal with that need. Thank you. Thank you. Questions or comments? Go ahead, Miss Carney. Well, thank you for that. Um, I had been talking about Polaris, um, before I even really knew what you were, who you were, um, when I heard that Mesa, uh, was working with you and I'm looking for solutions on how we can keep our schools open, right, and partner to to try and do so. Um, so I did come out and I did tour Polaris with you. Um, and so I just really appreciate that. I really wanted to come out and see what you're doing and it is pretty special and um what you're doing with all those kids and the families there. So, I just wanted to say thank you
121and that yes, I did drive all the way out to Mesa to see I appreciate that. See what you're doing because I think it's important. Yeah. And it's it really we just want awareness. The more we can just tell the story and show what we're doing. It is different. It is new. Um it's needed frankly. Yeah. And it was a Scottsdale family that was like you you have to go see this. So, thank you. Thank you for that, Mr. Uh thank you for that. Um and you know saw your presentation previously and um my first comment is for both for you and for Jones Gordon. I want to make sure at least from the way I speak nothing that I say is a judgment of your educational model and thoughts like that's I don't take
122offense easily. Very compelling on on the schools. there's a need and I'm happy and I I I hear the stories of the families that benefit and so I sort of want to separate that is in no way a judgment of the school so hopefully we know that separate. Um just a question for you. You've got the three Mesa campuses. Um so this is a growth expansion. Not like you're a giant corporation or anything but like this is an expansion to a new location for you. Correct. Um, do you have other options, locations around the valley in addition to this that you're looking at? Uh, yes and no. None specifically. Echko was one when frankly we saw the new story. I think a community member asked that night, you know, how did this presentation come to
123be? We reached out to you. Um, I saw that once the partnership with Mesa developed, I saw that as really the pathway that was from our parent feedback where I wanted the model to go. We had designed this to be a private property expansion. I had the resources for that. This was a whole shift in our methodology and it's one that I'm glad that happened. So, we were proactive. Um, Ekko is an interesting site because as a I can tell you as an educational resource, it's a horrible location and I mean that in all sincerity. It's great real estate. I'm a recovering real estate broker, developer, and contract attorney. And I'm happy I wear this education hat now. But from a rooftop standpoint um and an access standpoint, it's a difficult site. We draw geographically,
124we know from our numbers from about a 20 mile radius. So for us, we're destination site. That's why I know we're going to be pulling from many districts. Um but the the public side of it really just allows us more resource to share with the families. So um yeah, we have had now districts look at what happened in Mesa. they they kind of put a new story out and I don't want to name the districts because we're in early dialogue, but there are several that want us to come. Um it will give them that same option to hopefully save some campuses and Scottdale for us is what I would call a central location. So whether it's Echo or something in that area, we're strategic about giving reach to as many families as we can. We
125are looking west valley and we're also looking south valley and those are the other districts we're in talks with. But Scottdale would be the only central that currently we're talking with at the moment. Were you looking at other locations in Scottsdale before the news of Echo broke? Nope. I I saw the story and I said, "Let's reach out and see if we can do in Scottsdale what we did in Mesa." And you know, when Amy came and visited, uh, I even told her again, I I I heard the community. Um, we're not bent on the idea that it just has to be echo. If there are other campuses that would offer a benefit from a shared use, I'm open to the dialogue. I started with Echo because that's the one I first saw the news
126story on. Uh but like the autism community, I can tell you we learn to pivot and we pivot fast. It's what we do. Uh so we are open to other opportunities. So I'm I guess I'm coming here tonight not just a pitch for Echo. My hopefully the presentation is that Polaris is something that Scottsdale needs. You know, there's there's services here. You do not have an autism solution like Polaris. Um, one way or another, Scottsdale families are asking us to come and we're anxious to find a solution for that. Thank you. So, thank you for a very inspiring presentation, both the video, but really, you know, your articulation here and in person, it's really moving. Um, so building on the expansion uh question, so these would all be net new enrollments to you. Um, presumably
127you're not cannibalizing from the existing sites given the distance. No, not and from anybody to be honest. There's there's a such a short supply for this demand um in soft numbers just from ones that I have knowledge of and it's private so it's hard to get these but I know them because I know the owners. So our current site accommodates about 105 kids. We're not like hundreds and hundreds at each site. This is very specialized and and it's small focus. Um, I have a waiting list of 135 and I meet 10 to 15 new applicant families every week at this stage. Um, the closest West Valley school that I've talked to has 400 on a wait list and every Scottsdale school have between 50 to 100 on a wait list. So, frankly, there's just not
128enough. Every What does that mean? Every Scottsdale school has a each Scottsdale school that specializes in autism education and they don't use this model. Scottsdale school district Scottsdale the same a private autism school. Yes, they're they're all running they're all running weight running those weight lists. So you would expect this site to have around 100 125 for that site. Echo is is unique in the way it's set up and the ar I'm an architectural nerd and so a lot of what I did in with the remodels is about sensory and autism architecture and I could bore you for an hour on that but the way that's that campus is set up is it's it's set up to be two campuses for us. The upstairs portion of the main building would be the 912. The lower
129would be the 18. So we would start as a 18 model and expand into the 912 at capacity. I don't see us more than 300 at that site. the ability to deliver our model effectively relies on those low numbers. So our target size would be 250 to 300 at capacity starting closer to 150 and then tearing up. And so you commented on the scoring system in the rubric um where the estimate was perhaps a hundred of those students. Yeah, I can tell you that would be coming from Scottsdale schools. So can you help us understand? Yeah, you know on that third criteria for me is the impact on our strategic enrollment goals. um where are those students coming from if they're not coming from the Scottsdale school? You know, I I I I'm I'm not
130a prophet and can't predict the future, but if I take a similar geographic model from what we've already seen in enrollment patterns from our other three sites, take Echo as a center point and draw a 20 mile radius circle and of that circle, it's a fair distribution. It's not like hyperfocused and then dissipating. It's actually fairly distributed. Um, I don't know what owes to that other than we just get exposure across a lot of valleywide events and it seems to be very consistent. So half of the families I would say would be within the Scottsdale school district at a high end. So of the 250 to 300 we have 150 100 and 70% of them still on track are coming to us already not in public placement. So if there's 150 and 70% of that
131don't we maybe have a net effect of 30 but that doesn't factor. We're bringing out of district families on site and a lot of them look for double placement opportunities for their neurotypical kids. So there's either a net neutral posit possibly positive but certainly not a 100. That would be three to four times skewed what our current data shows. Thank you very much. You're welcome. And then the final presentation tonight, Jones Gordon. Good evening. Happy bedtime for a lot of people. Uh good evening, SUSD governing board president Dr. Lewis, members of the governing board, and Superintendent Mensel. Nice to be here again this evening talking to all of you. Thank you. Okay. Um, my name is Dana Hzburg and I'm the founder and the head of school at the Jones Gordon School and we are
132looking as the potential possibility of Echo Canyon campus to continue our legacy of building our school. We have been looking for a new campus for five and a half years, probably a little bit more. I feel like the second we moved into our beautiful Paradise Valley campus, we outgrew it. So when um I toured the Echo Canyon campus, it had the majestic beauty of our current campus which is unpar which is I thought was unparalleled until I toured Echo Canyon. Um I will also say that we do reside in the Scottsdale School District. Uh our family does. Um I don't love that we are coming to this campus under these circumstances. So I do want to say that loud and clear. Um, but with that said, I hope that we can be a partner with
133you guys in helping possibly to bridge some of your goals and dreams for this beautiful campus as as time goes on. Um, I I always start my my uh conversations with, "Hi, I'm Dana. I'm dyslexic and so I founded a school for kids with dyslexia." Nobody's gotten that joke recently, so I'm not going to do that even though I just did it. Um, but what I have tried to do at the Jones Gordon School is to give our students the trajectory that I had because some great people believed in me and gave me a different education than I would have had to have if I didn't have the way that my path went. So, I will say that. All right. Where am I? Sorry. Technologically feeling slow. Okay. We are a nonprofit independent school currently
134serving students in grades 1 through 12 with a focus on dyslexia and related learning differences. We are a missiondriven relationship centered educational model. And people always ask me what that is. And I said I can walk around that campus at 160 kids and tell you anything that you want to know about any of them. That is what relationship centered is. Our kids know us and we know them. And everything that we do from start to finish is designed around them. Wait, sorry, my bad. We have a large community presence that I've actually had in Scottsdale and around the valley since 1999. I have had a tutoring business called OnTrack Tutoring and Family Support Services since 1999. I have provided executive function coaching before it actually came became a thing. People didn't know what executive function
135coaching was back in the day when I started executive function coaching. Um we have a robust afterchool and summer enrichment program that has largely brought our community together. We have most of the children who go to our afterchool enrichment and our summer programs are not Jones Gordon kids. So, we've been able to help the community in giving them a resource up there or in my area that they don't currently have. I also want to talk about something that I'm very very passionate about. We work with children with dyslexia. We are experts in dyslexia. We are a Wilson partner school, which for those of you who don't know, that is no easy feat. that has been years that was years in the making and continues to be uh something that we are developing over time. Most
136recently, we were granted a very huge honor and as of March 1st, we became an AIM partner school, which is the first in the country. And the reason that this means anything to Scottsdale public schools is AIM has worked with over 300 schools on the east coast. And our goal is to do public schools. And our goal is to do the same thing on the west coast where we are bridging the east coast and the west coast and providing dyslexia education to public school districts to the teachers who need that support to the students who need us to help them within their public school systems. That was how the AIM partnership came to be and it is something I have already been in contact with with ASU. I've talked to Scottsdale Unified District and it's
137something I'm pretty excited to hopefully partner with to get more kids to have access to structured literacy. We also offer a lot of uh courses or several courses through the International Dyslexia Association. We've already been putting those on. Again, those don't cater to the Jones Gordon School. Those cater to Scottsdale Public Schools is mostly where we have been getting some of these parents. It is a free course that walks parents through what is it like to have dyslexia? What does that feel like? Um, our enrollment snapshot, we are currently at 160 kids and as of right now, we have 27 students from SUSD. I need you to know that most of our students do not come from Arizona, which sounds very strange, but I have Washington, Oregon, Montana, California, uh, Michigan, and the furthest was
138Spain. So, I have kids that move to Jones Gordon, get what they need, and they go back to their they go back to their public schools or whatever school they came from. We have 10 returning from those 27 to the Scottsdale Unified School District this year. Pretty proud of that. I'm very proud of them. We actually had a meeting this afternoon, a MET meeting, and our children are ready to return, and they're going to be successful, and that's what matters. And my student today is very excited to go to Arcadia, and I'm happy for her. Um, we are looking to move to Echo Canyon so we can have more students on our campus. We can help more, get them what they need, and then put them back where they need to go. So, that is
139what we are looking for is probably what everyone else is looking for. We love our campus. If you haven't toured our campus, it's magnificent, but it is missing a few things that are essential to growth. We would be moving our whole campus. We will not be having a dual campus. We are a one campus model. I will not be replicating anywhere. Um, I do think that it is important that I'm in a unique position to say this. I have also talked to the neighbors around Echo Canyon. They want this to stay a school. I have talked to them. They are really excited about this remaining a school. Whether it's a private school, whether it's a magnet school, whatever it is, they would love it to stay a school. Having been positioned in Paradise Valley, I
140have learned to share a residential community. All of Paradise Valley is zoned residential. If you are there with a school or any other business, you are there on a special use permit. You have to learn how to be a great neighbor. We have had no issues being a neighbor. We understand what it is to be a neighbor in a residential community and making yourself part of that community. Um, we are also adept, which is very important at Echo Canyon with working with parking constraints. When I toured Echo Canyon, I said we are uniquely qualified to be here. We've been doing that for the entire time that we have lived in Paradise Valley. Um, we would love to retain the early preschool pro class, all the classrooms for the preschool program. And we would also like
141the fields to remain available to the community. I've actually had the little league uh president reach out to me. Very excited to talk with her and to welcome them and to keep the field of dreams. It's always been called the field of dreams as I've known it in Arcadia. So, I hope that gives you a an idea of what we are looking at for timelines. We are hoping that we can move in for next school year. I put all the options that we are willing to do just so that you know that we are here. We want to work with you. We will do a short-term lease if that works for you because I've heard some of those arguments as well. We can do a long-term lease. We could buy it outright. We could do
142all the things because we want to work with Scottsdale Unified to make whatever you guys need happen. Um, we also want to demonstrate our commitment. We know the district is in need of money and I have a backer who said, "Let's help secure the site. Let's give them an infusion and help them help them get started." So, thank you for having me. That's it, Dr. Pachenski. So, thank you uh also for the great work that you do. And I I don't live too far away. In fact, I teach my kids how to drive in your parking lot. So you and everybody else in the town of Paradise Valley. Yes. It may seem small to you, but when you have kids first driving, it still seems a little bit big. So, um, which is why we
143don't use Cherokees Fields. Um, so I guess my question is on exactly the metric that you provided, which is very helpful. So, you've looked at your existing enrollments, and I just want to make sure I understand that number. That is the number of families currently enrolled who live in the Scottsdale Unified Enrollment. The 27. Yes. Yes. Okay. So, it's not a question of whether they came from a Scottsdale school unified school or not. It's just looking at their address. What percentage of your No, those are kids that came to us from a Scottsdale Unified Public School. Okay. Okay. So there could be additional families who live in the Scottsdale School District but may have already left and they're coming to you from a different provider as well potentially. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Um thank you
144and just want to re reiterate again right any questions are in no way a challenge of your model. It's it's clear that you've got something special there and I commend you for that. Thank you. Um, at the community meeting last week, you someone asked, um, are you looking at any other location options? You said yes. Yes. So, there are at least one or more other options besides Echo on the table for Jones Gordon's move. Yes. Are I want to know anything private, but are they farther along at different levels? Like depending where does Echo compare to where you are with other things and how did Echo come into play? Were you looking for two years and then all a sudden this came along? just let us know where this fits, please. Um, to be honest,
145an Arcadia parent reached out to me to talk to me about Echo Canyon. That is how I found out about Echo Canyon is somebody who lives near it contacted me and said, "Uh, this school is going to close. I know that you're looking for another campus. Would you consider looking at this?" And I went out the next day and looked at it. So, um, that is how that came to be. The other campuses, I would say, are about at the same point, under consideration, under review. Like I said, it's also hard for me to leave my home. What I did not share with you guys is I have been part of the campus that I'm on for my entire adult career. I was the consultant for Tesseract when it was Tesseract. So, it's it feels
146like home there. And so, I'm I'm making sure that wherever we move it has that same feel. Thank you. Yeah. Go ahead, Karen. I want to thank all the speaker or all the presenters today. I'm very grateful that you've uh put forth interest. We do want to ensure that Echo Canyon is continues to thrive in whatever capacity that is. Now, I did have the opportunity to tour Jones Gordon and it is a magnificent campus and the kids were amazing and the things you did there were absolutely amazing. So, I want to ask uh related to well, let's go back to the Scottsdale Unified question. So, you have 27 students that came and 10 are returning. So, you said they're going to Arcadia. They're not all, but 10 of them are returning this year. So, so
147that so you take students that are having challenges and you're able to teach them in a way that they can then return to their community schools or their neighborhood schools. And that's pretty amazing. Uh when it comes to uh uh board member Shy just asked about if there was another choice. Uh my question to you is because your proposal is pretty um appears very solid is which would be your preferred. So if there was anything moving forward here um then would this be your number one choice for Canon? Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Like I said at the beginning, it felt like felt as majestic as where we are. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so very much. All right. Anything to close out? No, we'll um we'll uh review the um the final attachment when
148we get to the the action item to talk about how we outlined um potential cost implications and and uh assess the the options that are being considered and the recommendation that we have with respect to one component of that. All right, that brings us to consent agenda items. So, I'll make a motion that we approve consent agenda items 8A through N and 8P, omitting 8 O. I need a second. Second. All those in favor? I I motion passes 5 to zero. That brings us to 8. Mrs. Carney. Thank you, President Lewis. Um, yeah, I just wanted to to pull uh 80 because I don't feel that's something that should have been on listed on consent. I think it's some uh a large dollar amount asking for uh 348,567 is and I think it's something the
149board should discuss uh if if parent square is how we think we should spend uh this money. Um, when I asked the superintendent for the list of all programs and positions that have been added since 2019, um, I know that parent square is one of them as we I believe we added this in 2023. Um, and I understand that it's a product of convenience, but in a time of major budget cuts, I I don't believe that this is responsible spending. um you know when we just voted to take away printers um teacher that teachers but really want um and that have asked us not to not to do that I don't know that this is the proper use of funds that we should be maybe funding more pertinent items even though this is uh you
150know like I said an item of convenience so I also wanted to point out that this uh this amount does not include tax and so when I looked at what we paid in taxes before that adds another 27,000 plus um to that number. And then I had asked a lot of questions um of Miss Harrington which she did respond to today. Um so I'm very grateful for that and I'm sure you all have read that. that um I just have a little bit of issue with spending this type of money on on this product at this time and I want to hear from anyone else. So, we just approved by consent agenda $200,000 cold storage truck. I mean, I think at any point we can pick any expense and ask that question. I think it's
151a good question to ask, but I just would say, you know, there's an ordinary course of operating our district and I think we could pick any expense and and put it under that same spotlight. I am I share a concern about the pricing trend here. It's up 30%. Um, and I don't think the underlying cost pressures of SMS texting is fully explains that. I think this is also a vendor who is you know taking advantage not in a pjorative sense but taking advantage of how deep it becomes in the infrastructure of a district because correct me if I'm wrong this is addresses emergency communications it addresses attendance it obviously addresses kind of daily classroom communication it replaced remind if if if I'm uh remembering remind Um, so this is something that is sort of the
152communication DNA of of a district and that, you know, for better or for worse, I think for worse, puts them in a position where they can extract, you know, pricing. So I actually commend I think this is a really important part of our infrastructure. I can't imagine our families not having this kind of communication with the district. In fact, this board often asks for records that come out of this system to understand, you know, communication uh patterns. Um, and if we didn't spend this, we would still have to have we would still be spending something because this meets basic, if I'm understanding things correctly, regulatory requirements. So, I would interpret this differently, which is yes, this pricing has gotten out of control, and I am glad we're now putting in place a multi-year contract that
153will bend that increase curve. Um, uh, versus questioning whether something like this should exist because I think it's such an important part of how families engage with the district. Can I just add just want to add to that in touch? So the auto auto calling feature is one of the other things. So if you think about all of the different licenses you would have to have and then each school was doing its own thing. So some would be doing uh different kinds of communication no control you had different apps band huddle that athletic uh programs were using again with no safety measures put in place. And so to have a single platform where you can put the controls in it makes sense. And the reason why you see that the total amount is for the
154three-year contract, not the annual cost for that. And so it's it's uh trying to lock in the best rate that we can at this juncture. Uh and I think that we should continue to push on every vendor to see what's the best deal we can get in this environment. Mer. Uh yes. uh to your point uh superintendent um you know what has been explored because historically um having sat on this board and questioned softwares programs vendors repeatedly where uh both board member uh Carney and I were outvoted many times and then we loop back around a year later a year and a half later and we do end up um uh getting rid of something because it ended up being uh not cost-effective and um my my question is just and also what I hear
155from other staff members numbers is that um you know they use other things and um that this is not as great as is being purported here today and so what other options were looked at before making this decision because the cost is significant. So this is the um the third full use uh full year of use. We did a pilot in 22 23 u prior to that time there wasn't a competitor that provided a single platform. It's what they they emerged as parents. A lot of these solutions emerged this way. Frustrated that that students at different schools had different apps, different loginins, and they wanted a single platform to make that communication easier. Field trip permission slips. You can do that on parent square. Some of the other things that that uh you had multiple
156different apps for is designed to create a streamlined platform. So there are other products that that uh now have emerged in the market that will say they do the same thing. Uh I haven't seen something that that looks like it provides all of those solutions for us. But uh over time people do get in and get out of of the marketplace. And so I would suspect that at the end of this three-year contract or maybe in year two, we we work on an RFP to see is that the best value for the dollar and has the market emerged to a place where there is a competitor that could result in some cost savings. what what we can uh assure our families and even our staff is that when we've had crisis experiences and we've had
157a couple from a the um event at Arcadia when the air conditioning went out and we needed to communicate with families to the swatting incident at Chapperel a year ago. We've been able to respond in real time with consistent and predictable communication when you have tools that are all over the map and people don't even remember the login. Harder to do that. We have uh nearly 100% family coverage with this tool. And so it's one of those things that I think um we've seen the benefit in many ways. I won't I won't say that there won't ever be another product that competes with parent square and I think it's always important to make sure that we're checking to see where things have evolved over time. But given where we're at at this moment, I'm not
158aware of another product that does exactly what parent square does. Christine Harrington's in the cloud. I'm not sure uh because at at different conferences the communications people talk. So I'm not sure within the state if you've seen anyone using a different product that's comparable. Are you able to hear me? Yes. Yes. Perfect. Okay. Good evening uh President Lewis, Vice President Shy, members of the board, Dr. Mensel and Glattus. Uh thank you for allowing me the opportunity uh to share the parent square is actually more prominent in the state of Arizona. Our pricing initially was very aggressive because we were coming in early. Um and so we were able to benefit from some legacy pricing there for a while at $4 whereas now list pricing is up to six. And so that is a little bit
159of the difference. I agree with Dr. Mensel. It's always worth revisiting and I think in the next couple years we can. The feedback we've received from parents and staff members has been that this is very userfriendly and reliable. It's also equitable and that it translates to all of the families home languages. And I just wanted to clarify that that $300,000 amount is for the full three years, but we would only be paying one year at a time. That is the ask of of us tonight that you would approve us to be able to commit to three years so we could lock in the pricing. If we were to prepay, it would be at the July 1st, 2026 rate. There would not be the additional 5% increase each year. That was not the recommendation though. Mr.
160Shy um for superintendent for Miss Cron you'd mentioned other tools we had remind or what it have it what it might be um are we able to end any other contracts because we're signing this are there any offset of other licenses or were people just using random things free is it more of a convenience so initially with the roll out there were a number of things rem removed from our system. Uh we have now I believe moved past that point. We were at some point playing for Remind and for some more. Many schools were also procuring andor using the free version of different apps. For example, band was an app that um some athletic teams were using that had no district oversight. So we were unable to ever monitor any of those conversations or pull
161records. Um and that presented a dilemma at times. And so what we did was create an opportunity for one singular uniform uh communication platform so that parents with kids at multiple campuses or with multiple extracurricular activities knew that everything could be found in one place. Thank you, Miss Harrington. Um and just are there any hard dollar amounts that are offset? Um, Miss Kron, just because of what we're doing. Yes, that's okay. Uh, uh, Vice President Chucky, um, there are like like Miss Harrington shared, there are products that we have eliminated, so we're no longer using them. I would have to research to see what those costs were in the past um because we've eliminated them over the last couple of years. Um, so I I don't know off the top of my head. We'd have
162to research that. Thank you. I would I would add that that uh parent square has worked with um not only Scottsdale but other users when we've identified functionality that would be beneficial to us u they have worked to implement that and so uh there may be future opportunities to stop doing some things that get incorporated into the single platform uh and they have been a good partner with respect to those ideas hearing no other questions I have Okay, go ahead. Thank you. I just uh also wanted to to clarify that this is based on student number of 21,263 students. And I know Miss Herring did did confirm when I asked why we were paying for 21,263 students u when we have 20,196 students. So, we're overpaying. It looks like we have overpaid in the past.
163So, I just want to confirm that um moving forward that we will be paying only for the students that are we haven't enrolled or um or even under that. I'm not sure why we're paying for 21,000. Yeah. 263 students and that's what is on the the proposal for tonight as well. So, um, board member Carney, I I can confirm that we will that enrollment number is as of today. And I am not even prepared to put forth a requisition to turn into a purchase order at this time because we'll need to wait until the new fiscal year opens. That typically happens in May. This would typically be brought before you in May or June because it crosses the singular year $100,000 threshold. because the pricing was such an increase because there were three options to
164consider um as far as locking in pricing andor negotiating a prepaid rate. I thought it was worth flushing out now as we are working on our capital budgeting. Um, so apologize if if the timing has sort of confused things too because not my intention in the least, but rather to make sure that we are on track to continue with parent square um, and know what the expectation would be from a budgeting perspective moving forward. So in May, what I will do is revisit the enrollment number and then that would be what would be put forth on the purchase order in the contract for signature. Okay. Thank you. Um, I have a a couple other uh issues that we have dealt with uh in the past on parent square. And I have an issue that parents
165cannot opt out of this that their data is used whether they um want it to be or not. Uh it says parent square works with a number of thirdparty service providers and contractors to maintain and operate these subscription services. And I counted 39 third party services that parent square currently uses. um and that means our family data can be used by these other um thirdparty service providers. So I have an issue with that. And then lastly, I I'm not sure how um this works, but with secondary students, our students from 6th through 12th, they are allowed to uh use that this app to communicate with teachers or stu or other students. I'm not really sure, but there's no consent needed from parents. um a over the age of 13 is what parent square says, but
166we're using it for sixth graders. Um can you can you just speak to that on why no consent is needed for children to put this onto their phone and use uh without parental knowledge? Well, that would be between the parent and the student whether or not to put that app on their phone certainly. Um, but for why it is allowed is because it generates an email to their GA apps account. And so that's where they would get an alert from their teacher, from their principal, from their coach, um, if they were on a field trip, whatever the group is that they're associated with. It would generate an email to their SUSD GPS account. They certainly do not need the app unless they want the app and unless, you know, of course, that would be okay
167with their parent. Um, not everybody has a cell phone, so it wouldn't be an option for everyone anyway. Um, but it does generate an email. From what I've heard, not all students are super uh great about always checking their SUSDG apps email. So, I know that um coaches, arts, um um athletics, you name it. Sometimes there they've been encouraged or it's at least been provided as an option so that when there is a last minute change to an afterchool activity when students leave campus and they're able to turn on their phone because of course it was away for the day um then they would see it if they didn't already see it in their email. So my understanding of why parents can opt out is that the state requires us to have a universal communication
168method with all families in case there are emergencies or otherwise. So hopefully that addresses my colleagueu's question. Um and I think as described high school students are engaged in lots of extracurricular life and they need to know when the bus is leaving. They need to know about changes in athletic fields any number of things. One of the value propositions of this is those communications are happening within a moderated observed safe environment for that age group. The alternative presumably would be coaches are privately messaging students or messaging the parents to then message the student. I I don't see how that's a safer way to address, you know, the concerns of of families with kids. I know, you know, with my own kids, um the the product has been fantastic and streamlining. I'm not a particular champion
169of it. Again, I hope in three years we do look at an alternative because this does feel a bit extortionist in their pricing. At the same time, I think the last thing that sport should do is create a huge operational headache for the district to move every parent and every classroom and every club over to entirely new system because of, you know, concerns over this particular price increase. And I applaud the district for doing a multi-year contract to try to bend that pricing trend. Mr. Shy. Um, thank you board member Corning for bringing up the data issue um from a looking at their agreement. So they're COPA compliant for the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which means they are by law um having to protect children's data as it uh refers to their use of
170the application. They do say they collect data, but they specifically say they collect data on the use of the application. So, someone clicked on this and then set this notification and it helps them determine what features are useful or not useful. So, just to be clear, obviously it's my forte. I've written these and signed these um data as a general, yes, they do collect data, but it's not they're exposing children's private data to their vendors. So, I just want to make sure that's a very clear distinction. I would not be in favor if that were the case. And as I read the agreement, that is absolutely not the case. But, I'm really glad you brought it up because we need to be cognizant of that. Seeing no other questions, comments. All right. I'll make a
171motion to approve the use of the uh Greater Phoenix Purchasing Consortium's cooperative contract for the purchase of Mass Communication Systems up to for a multi-year contract 348,000 adjusted for the appropriate student count. I need a second. I'll second. All those in favor? I I I. All those opposed? No. Passes four to one. Thank you. Good discussion. All right. That brings us to our next action items. Our first one. A under uh item nine, section nine, approval of salary schedule for all employee groups including classified certified special service providers, guest teachers, and administration. Dr. Cruz. Good evening, President Lewis and governing board members. Thank you for having us tonight. Um, I bring before you salary schedules that represent and reflect a 2% pay increase for all of our employees in the district. Um, per the IBN
172process, all of our IBN members were in consensus with this work. It it is a little bit difficult to say we're cutting positions but also increasing salaries. However, um I do believe this aligns with our operating principles and aligns with some of the highle priorities the board also discussed earlier in the year for our employees for attracting and retaining um our staff which is so important for our students. Somebody want to make a motion? No, but I would like to go ahead make some comments. Um, so as mentioned in the November 18th presentation that if phase one and two were accelerated, then the potential cost savings of 5.5 million. Uh, and the opportunity would be there to give a 2% pay increase to staff yet we did not accelerate that timeline of phase two. So
173can you explain to me how we're still able to give a 2% raise to all when we did not accelerate? Uh, member Carney. Absolutely. And I'm going to look to my uh CFO friend uh Miss Croer as well. Um, I believe a detailed um breakdown was given of cost um implements that will get us to this landing point that will allow us to do a 2% increase. Um, we stayed within those limits when you made your decisions last board meeting during our February board meeting and made those decisions. even with those changes, we stayed within that buffer. Um, so I'm going to just turn to Shannon and see if she'd like to add anything to that. No, I that's a when we uh looked at the budget, that was one of the when we showed
174the um anticipated budget and the um savings from various budget costs that was anticipated and there was a 2% uh increase for staff. Okay. So, I know the board we had kind of discussed not giving everyone a blanket percentage. Um, but then here we are again. In 2024, the board went beyond the IBM recommendation for 1% raises for all employees and gave 2%. I voted no on that back then, saying that I didn't think it was financially responsible that our highest paid district administrators and directors receive the same raise as our lowest paid uh employees and those who are working hands-on with our students. Um and during our budget discussions with this new board, this was brought up um often how that this that boardled decisions have cost us 3.5 million in ongoing commitments to
175the M budget. So, I'm just not sure. I want to I want people to understand that when I look at the personnel report tonight, a support pair educator is making $19.78. So, a 2% raise for them is 40. Okay. So, making so they'll earn $208. When you look at the directors and cabinet salaries, and this is not personal, this is just facts. in a in a time of bud budget shortfall, the directors and cabinet will be looking at uh you know two to $3,000 raises on their already six figure salaries. And I I just have a problem with that and I don't understand how we can give a blanket 2% to all employees uh at this time when we're cutting positions. Member Carney, certainly we serve at the pleasure of the board and and how
176you would vote on this this evening. I will tell you that uh we did discuss this very item during negotiations with our IBN team. They felt strongly um they should bring forward a 2% for everybody. I will also say that principles uh gave up their performance pay this year. Uh cabinet level um personnel also gave up their performance pay which is more than a 2% pay increase. Mr. Shy uh in reference to the compensation study um so when we've talked about the compensation study both here and in the audit committee um I had asked that you know will this show where we are in line out of line with benchmarks as that's coming and I believe it's going to be shared soon um how do you envision that impacting probably not this year's pay because
177we're at the point right now, but in next year, do you envision that leading to something like board member Carney said, a more surgical approach to positions and pay based on bands? How do you envision the benchmark study hitting next year's uh salary changes? Member Shy. Um I do believe that we will be able to take a more detailed and specific approach with with things all the while looking at all of our employees for increases but maybe uh doing a bit more here, a bit more here, etc. So uh we look forward to really digging into that and bringing some expectations and some recommendations back to both the audit committee and eventually to this governing board. Thank you. I just want to reiterate, you know, I do support that same approach as opposed to a
178blanket. I know it's challenging for our associations and how they have to encompass everyone. So, I respect that, but I agree that if we can be a bit more precise on it, um that could potentially be a more fair approach. So, thank you for that, Miss Warner. Yes, this is the fourth time we're having this conversation related to um races. I support our staff getting races, particularly our site staff. They work very, very hard, the principles, the teachers. Um it is it it's amazing how much work they do and how many hours they put into a week. So I'm absolutely supportive of that. But it's always challenging when the cabinet level staff that are making $15 $160,000 a year and they're also getting a 2% versus what board member Carney said at Parah is getting
17940 cents. And it's it's very hard to to digest when there's such a big pay disparity between district staff and the people that are working in our schools. And so, um, I I hope that, um, as you work with the IBM team, TJ, I'm looking at you, that this is something that you can fix moving forward because it's absolutely unfair to our site staff. Thank you, Dr. Pensky. I just want to ask you to repeat what you said about what the cabinet is doing with their own compensation in terms of what was foregone. Um, having listened to input from our governing board earlier in the year, we did bring forward that cabinet performance pay would be eradicated moving forward into next year for Yeah. So, Annette, you agreed to a basically a cut in your
180compensation. So, I just want to say thank you for that. I value the work of the cabinet. We compete in a marketplace for talent and I think cabinet leadership really matters in executing the strategy of our district and it is true that if you apply a percentage to a larger base you get a larger number that's math. I think when it comes to someone's actual compensation, their family inflation, their level of education, expertise and impact, I think it is more than appropriate for the cabinet and our site leaders to participate in the increase this year commensurate with the rest of the district. So, thank you for all the work you do. All right. All right. I make a motion to approve the salary schedule for all employee groups, including classified, certified, special service providers, guest
181teachers, and administrators, as presented. I need a second. I'll second the motion. All those in favor? I I I. All those opposed. I'd like to explain my vote. Sure. Um, like I said, I said the past two years as well. I um am for absolutely 2% even I would love to give higher to to our staff and especially all those that are working in our schools. Um but I cannot say yes during a a season of budget cuts. We just cut social workers that we don't have money for. Um to give a 2% raise to our cabinet and our highest paid employees as hardworking as they are. I said is not personal. I just believe um is not financially responsible. Therefore, I'm a no. It passes four to one. I want to thank the IBN
182team for its many months and hours of conversation and vetting. Thank you, governing board. Thank you. Uh item 9B, approval of recommendation regarding next steps for repurposing Echo Canyon. Dr. Mensel. Uh thank you, President Lewis, members of the governing board. If we can pull up the Echo Canyon lease option slide. Uh I I want to start by framing how our recommendation tonight has shifted from what we've talked about previously. So you know that back in November and in subsequent meetings we talked about the potential for community education to relocate to Echo Canyon, maintain and expand early childhood programming on that campus. We brought that forward as an option to ensure that the maintenance and operating budget wouldn't bear the cost of maintaining the asset once the school was closed and that would still be true
183if we wanted to do that. However, in the course of the conversations, both with the three proposals you heard tonight, Jones Gordon, Polaris, and the Arcadia Sports Foundation, along with the potential conversation around an arts magnet, became pretty clear to us that it's not likely that the long-term use of Echo Canyon would be community education and the early childhood program. Uh while you heard in the presentations a willingness to keep the preschool program on the campus, there are some challenges with doing that without SUSD administration also on the campus because you've got safety considerations, you have parental notification, if you have any incident or issues that take place, it is complicated when you have uh that dual location of an early childhood preschool program without district administration. So there's additional cost to operate that as
184a standalone. Even if we maintain community ed and early childhood on that campus um as originally proposed, we would have more costs than operating at other locations because when you locate early childhood on an elementary campus, you've got a school nurse. You would not have a nurse or a health assistant on that campus unless we increased our cost by hiring someone. So the cost of operating that program would be higher than any other location because of that additional uh cost factor to maintain the support required that you automatically have in those other locations. The time-sensitive aspect of the work that we're doing is that we en encourage families to express an interest in the early childhood program at Echo Canyon uh with the the thought that it's a potential that the board could vote to
185move in that direction. uh if we're not going to do that and the review by our early childhood and community education team is that we can move those programs to Tavon still within the Arcadia learning community significant um there is capacity to be able to serve students who would be enrolled in that program and you would have the benefit of site administration the nurse security on campus all of the things that we have at every other site then it will allows us to take the additional time to complete complete our due diligence with respect to the proposals in front of us as well as to keep open the the potential for an arts magnet if that was of interest to the board. So rather than rush to fill a hole for one year and then
186potentially have to move community edar early childhood again depending on what programming goes into that space uh we would prefer to be able to move down a path where community education could move into Coronado. We have the space at the front of this campus that's already set to be able to move in access for the community. Allows us to still vacate Oak. We've got item C is the proposed lease of Oak. Uh so we can accomplish some of the things from a budget savings perspective that we proposed. We can still provide early childhood programming on an expanded level for families in the Arcadia Learning Community, but at Tavon rather than at Echo Canyon. and then it would permit us to continue to go down the road of how do we ensure what's the best long-term
187lease option for Echo Canyon. So that's the recommendation is to authorize us to move with what makes the most sense strategically for location of community ed and early childhood and to continue the due diligence process with respect to the proposals that you heard this evening. With that said, uh we did prepare and it's up on the screen here. Uh a little bit of a review of the five options that that um and when we say five, you've got the three that you heard tonight, the community education and early childhood program and vacant would be if we didn't do anything this year and kept open the possibility for something in 2728. So whether it's arts magnet or something else, you know, you have a year of no use, there's still going to be some cost. So,
188those are the five that you see on this. We don't have the the market appraisal yet for Echo Canyon. We expect that at the end of this month. We do have the market appraisal for Oak. Different different properties, different condition, and different um zip codes. So, you're going to probably see variation. But, if you took that fair market value and applied it to the 66,881 square ft, that's where you see the possible lease revenue. That's not that's the the ceiling. That's just if you were getting full market value. We do have the ability to negotiate with respect to what makes the most sense for the programming that's there. We identified numbers for ADM offset and there was some conversation tonight are those numbers accurate or not and that would be part of our ongoing due
189diligence and so those may not be accurate but you want to be able to calculate what the potential loss of students is. Uh Jones Gordon for example can serve is is serving about 160 in their current location. They could go up to 400 moving to Echo Canyon. So you double plus the the number of students uh and and uh what we heard is that there's some eb and flow some students who will go to Jones Gordon and then come back to Scottsdale Unified. So I think there are ways to be able to in any lease agreement that the board would consider um consider what that offset might be and account for it. We know that for the two special education programs, there is an obligation for us with respect to proportionate share. And so what
190you see here is the cost of another full-time psychologist for the expanded service that would be rec required. That again is a placeholder because we need to be able to identify are there other special ed education costs that we would be on the the hook for. If we go to the next slide uh on this one. Thank you. You can see a comparison of use of the fields. Everyone said yes, it could be used. Uh if it's vacant, the answer would be yes. Fields available for other use. Yes, with the exception of the uh sports foundation because that would be part of their business model is they're now um operating the the fields. U the the lease commitment uh you saw a number of variations on that. They'd prefer 5 to 10 years. From a
191statutory perspective, the board has discretion to be able to to execute a lease up to 20. If it's 20 and beyond, then it requires a a vote of the people. And so these fall within the parameters that the board has that discretion. There is a significant difference in terms of how we can use the the lease revenue. So if we lease to another school, you can use it for M or capital. If you lease to a nonprofit like the athletic proposal, that money goes into plant funds. So you have more flexibility if you're leasing to another school than if you're leasing to a nonprofit. uh the impact on the neighborhood. You can see that that with the two school options, we predict it would be close to the same as what is currently experienced. We
192don't know yet on the sports um engagement and then uh less than currently experienced with the other two uh proposals. With respect to um some of the other questions people have asked, you know, what was the process to even get these? All three of these approached us. Uh we had other organizations um traditional charter schools that asked if we were willing to sell the land or the or the school and my response to all of them is one I'm not recommending that we sell the district asset and that that the direct competition would be problematic. When Jones Gordon and Polaris in particular approached us, we had the same conversation about are you a competitor or is there some symbiotic relationship? And so you heard tonight the way in which both of those have identified how
193they're really not competing with students the same way you would be with if you had a K5 charter school that's attracting the same population that we're serving in another elementary. They serve a subset of the population with a highly specialized program. And so it does make the case for something that's a bit more complimementaryary or s symbiotic. So from that perspective, that's why these are in front of the board. The sports academy community center was just an out- of-the-box creative idea. Arts magnet, we have a subcommittee that's working on that. We've got a lot of community members addressing that. There is uh they they have they didn't start with where we locate it. They're starting with what the structure looks like for a K8 program. And and I've heard really good reports in terms of
194the energy behind that. Uh the next step would be identifying what's the right location. If it's a K8 school, ideally your target enrollment would be around 750. Uh and then the question is would you have to build or expand on the Echo Canyon campus to be able to accommodate that number of students. Uh 450 as an enrollment number works for a K5, but for a K8, you're going to be subsidizing from other sources of revenue. So for as difficult as the decision was to close Echo Canyon if you don't get enough students with an arts magnet to make it viable that that won't make a lot of sense. So the committee is doing its work and Echo Canyon is is not off the table, but it it may present some challenges in terms of a
195K8 arts magnet. And so that's something that's still being reviewed. That's sort of how we got to uh where we are now, saying there are a lot more questions that need to be answered. you raised some of them tonight. We understand, I think, what some of the additional data points need to be for the board to make a decision. Uh, and one of the things that we don't know is how long um you want to wait on the arts magnet to to keep it in the mix or not. Uh, or whether or not one of these other proposals kind of rises to the top that you'd like us to spend more time working on what a potential agreement might look like. The recommendation tonight is to allow us to move community at an early learning
196in a way that makes sense so that we do the due diligence. And if you have um ideas about prioritization of the three proposals you heard tonight, that will help us spend our time most efficiently. Happy to answer any questions and so are the team members. Madame President, members of the governing board, uh this is Jennifer McClennon. I would caution the board not to get into a debate about the merit of the proposals. Um the action item that is before you tonight is to determine whether you want to move the community programs off the campus and pursue one of these more long-term options. But I don't want this to um just framing the discussion. Don't want this to go into the merits of of uh exactly which proposal you'd like to have brought back to
197you. Thank you, Dr. Posski. So I shared earlier kind of what my evaluation criteria are. So on the financial side, you know, obviously we want to maximize the dollars. I think the flexibility is a really important point of um can we spend it as flexibly? And then of course there's just the viability of the tenant and their ability to see through their financial obligations. On the neighborhood side, I'm thinking about the usage patterns, noise and traffic. Um, and uh, and then of course continued access to the fields. And then on the SUSD growth strategy, it's trying to minimize any negative impact of a of a provider growing as well as creating space for the spark committee to come forward with a, you know, district generated use of that facility. Although I have to say, you
198know, I could be convinced that the time value of money, it it makes sense to actually move rather than wait for that, you know, process to come through. Um, I do like where we're ending up with early learning because something that always struck me as odd with Echo as the option is I would think we would want that on a site that families could graduate. um you know, you fall in love with that site and to not have that option at Echko would be kind of, you know, would would sort of be um awkward for those families when their kids, you know, learn and get that habit of going to a site. So, I'm I'm very comfortable moving forward to give us the flexibility. And then I guess uh two questions. One is and please
199if I'm you know crossing legal lines, let me know. Um, do we imagine the continued access for the community to the fields is important? Do we imagine since we are still the owner of the property that it would be us leasing the field? Yes. Or do we imagine that our tenant would handle that? Okay. So, we would still that that would that would be our plan. So, when you negotiate a lease, you identify um their their use and hours of operation. But for those the historic relationship with Arcadia Little League, for example, it wouldn't make any sense to me to have one of the other providers do a sub lease with Arcadia Little League. I think you build the lease in such a way since we're the the uh the owner of the property that
200we find some compatible use, but you make that a direct relationship, not an indirect. Got it. Um, and then, you know, I'd like us to leave this meeting with the most options on the table to create the greatest competitive tension to maximize the financial side of things. So, I assume you're not, and I guess this is consistent also with your legal advice. We don't want to send you in the direction of this one program sounds great and this other one is off the table. It's really getting a sense from us that you should doubleclick on all three proposals to maximize, you know, to to evaluate them further and to, you know, hopefully maximize the competitive pressure. Yes. The the only other thing that that uh if if there was a desire to to slow down
201even further to kind of buy that extra year if you wanted a year of vacancy that would that would be relevant as well because how much energy we put into this process. Um, I think we'd put a lot more on the front end if there's a desire to to um have a an option to consider for the 2627 school year. If if there's if that fifth column of vacant is is um really something the board would consider, then we'd slow down and do this work in the summer when we have more time. Thank you, Miss Warner. Uh, yes. So, I want to be very clear on what Miss McClennon just said. We are voting today only to whether to keep community at an early childhood education at Echko or move it to where superintendent had
202just mentioned. Madame President, Miss Warner, that's correct. That's your action item. Thank you. And and so I want to just add a little bit to the criteria which um uh board member Patinsky also just mentioned um and I won't speak specifically to the ones here but um the experience and the um historical knowledge and capabilities of the institution is very important in making these decisions and that is also one of my criterias in addition to what um Dr. Patinsky said. Mr. Shy um Mr. Mr. Clinton, thank you for clarifying that. And so what is the process or timing for deciding? You know, Jordan Jones Gordon made the comment they'd love to move in in the fall. So there's obviously a timing there. What if today is voting on community ed? What is the next step
203with these options? So we still in order to to be able to take the next steps in in the cost analysis need the the market value appraisal. while we have some flexibility once we have that. That's a starting point for the conversation. The appraiser said we should have that by the end of this month. So that's the first thing. Then uh we're going to do some work looking at the the var the various proposals. So like I'm I'm thinking about Polaris. They had some buildout options and some suggested ways that they've structured their agreement with Mesa. So we'll go down the road of how did Mesa do that? What did it look like? will will have the conversations with the other providers to identify um potential structure given what that market value is. That'll take
204some time. So, I don't believe we'll have a recommendation by April 7th. Uh at the earliest, if we wanted to have something for consideration, it would be the special meeting on April 28th or more likely May 13th. uh that still gives you time for making the decision and relocation if you want something in the fall of of uh the of 2026. So that would be the probably the fastest I think we we could be um if if the board was really interested in making a choice on one of the options in front of us now. So May 13th may be a likely uh timeline for a decision point with some preliminary information provided before then and that would be a meeting where we talked about the benefits of options and preferences. We we would agendaize
205it that way. Go ahead. Miss McLullen, the superintendent would typically present one recommendation to the governing board, the option that's best suited. So um it would be unusual for the board to hear and decide among the three options presented. So my recommendation to this governing board would be to allow uh the superintendent and and the staff to do their due diligence to bring forward what they think would be the best option for the district, the best finances received, the best use of the property. Morer, um I'm sorry, Mr. Starky. Did you you want to follow? Okay, I'll go for it. So, um I'm actually going to disagree with uh Miss McClennon on this. I think it is important that the board has um like even today looking at what the different options are. I I
206think we're all fairly savvy and and being able to make decisions like this uh instead of um just being presented one option. We've heard many times that there's uh sometimes we're just voting on predetermined outcomes. It doesn't feel good. And um I do appreciate that we're looking at all the options today and that that the presentations were put forward and would like to have continue to have those conversations so that everybody knows what's what's happening and every and we all know where each other stands. So thank you. I I'll just second that. I would love to have some sort of format. I don't want to be just presented one option in May which is already pushing the timing. This is not should we get rid of printers or not. this is something a lot more
207long-term and so I'm not sure what that forum is um that is for I'll call it debate and on the options but I would hope that there's a venue for that for us as a board before just being presented one option I I would third that and ideally we would benefit from having fleshed out proposals maybe not fully to the tapped winner and any final negotiations but to have something enough to be able to ask questions you know, in advance so that, you know, we can make that discussion as wholesome as possible. Miss Warner. Um, yeah, I think this is really important and I think that we may want to add an agenda item a little bit sooner than um May in order to have these discussions. And um we are approaching uh 2026 school
208year very quickly and I wouldn't want to be presented with something and have that not be what the board decides. And now we put a vendor in a little bit of a jeopardy and we've also put our own financial situation in jeopardy and not to mention all of the families that would be going there or not going there. So um my request is that we have a a couple of meetings before that and be able to digest the different options. Mr. Shy. Um, in the vein of trying to move on, seeing that the decision is a lot simpler. Um, I'll just put on the table. It seems clear to me to not have community ed at Echko for a few reasons that were said. There's no school there. Um, from what I understand, the that
209team would prefer it not to be there. And so, I'll just put on the table. I think that's a a decision for me if we want to move on. Can I ask just one process question before we do? Um we're are we allowed to have that discussion in executive session where we flesh out the three proposals and say this is choice number one 23 again I just want to maximize competitive tensions and it seems to do while I want to do what we just said I also don't want to be in a situation where we're then you know clearly favoring one party sending out to negotiate with that party and then all of our leverage is gone. Uh Dr. Patinsky, you are permitted under Arizona law to consider real estate proposals in executive session. You
210have one this evening that you're considering. So, I do think this could be presented to the board in executive session. You would need to go into open session and ask the superintendent to uh and legal counsel to then negotiate a lease with one of the three options chosen. And so it is going the um if the uh will of the board and it's clear that it is your direction that you not be presented with one option that you be presented with three. We are entering into a two-step process. One where you would um select which vendor you wanted to pursue uh contract with and then a second board meeting to bring that contract back to you. Miss Cardi. Um, yeah, I would agree on the executive session um that we we do that as soon
211as possible. I did have a question on uh if we did agree to move the early learning to Tavon, is there room to grow that program there? I believe yes, but I'll let Dr. Bono explain uh the space there. Thank you, governing board member Carney. Yes. Um, director Nunan, I believe, is still here and Larry Ki, operations coordinator, went to visit with principal Ballard and there are three classrooms, three additional classrooms. So, currently at Tavon, there's one prek. Our hope is we we have enough students registered today uh to bring another prek. Uh we have 17 students who have committed and then we have an additional seven toddlers and a few more preschool students that we could if if we had enough kids we could do two more classes a preschool and a toddler a
2122T or we could combine those for next year. So if the board approves this action item tonight community ed gets to work. they they've been in contact with families know telling them it's pending board approval but then tomorrow if the governing board member were to uh to vote tonight yes we would contact those families tomorrow let them know the programs would be moving uh work with HR to secure that staffing from Echo Canyon and get the ball rolling uh but yes to answer your question we have enough room to grow can I can I just ask why on the agenda item We did not uh state Coronado. We know that they would be moving to Coronado and that the early learning would be going to Tavon. Why is that not stated? Because normally u the
213relocation of programs uh is something that we would do without bringing it to the governing board. We would identify the best use of the facilities and so we've had preschool programs open and close and we don't typically bring those. So, in in part, it was a it's a it's a strange request because what we're trying to do is just get authorization not to locate at Echo Canyon, but that's a weird motion. So, it's authorizing us to move where it makes sense so that we're not creating a new precedent that every time we move a program from one site to another, it requires board approval. But in this case, because it had been proposed, at least articulated at a at a board table that it was an option, we wanted to get approval of the board
214to move in a different direction while we continue to vet the options for this location. But we also thought being transparent was appropriate. Those were the two options that have been put on the table that seemed to be the best for us so that you would know what we plan to do with that. In the clear as mud uh repurposing of schools, um we have clarified the difference between lease um agreements that will be entertained in um executive session under legal advice and uh lease use or land use. Um and I'm going to ask that you not hurry or rush. I want it done thoroughly and well. Um, and uh, I'm also going to say thank you for understanding the difference between program placement and school use. Um, I I want to then uh, make
215a motion to um, ensure appropriate due diligence with respect to repurposing of ed Echo Canyon. It is recommended that the governing board authorize the staff to proceed with plans for community education and early childhood programs at alternative locations in order to allow for additional review and consideration of long-term use of proposals at Echo Canyon. I need a second. I'll second the motion. All those in favor? I passes five to zero. Thank you for uh moving the mud. That was tough. Okay, we're ready to uh look at item C, approval of lease at 7501 East Oak Street. Oh, Dr. Yeah. So, so the the the board has seen the proposed lease agreement. We've been working with the city of Scottsdale on this. We learned of their interest as there's a significant renovation going on to some
216of their facilities. Uh, as you know, they started at $1 amount. we ended up at a higher dollar amount. Uh it it's uh I think a really good opportunity for us to generate revenue and make good use of the space at Oak. The revenue that that will be generated by that lease is more than the projected savings that we had uh in our budget line item. And so I think that this is a a a good opportunity to continue to work collaboratively with the city of Scottsdale to realize some economic benefit with one of our assets. questions or comments? Nice work. Um, and I'd like to make a recommendation to approve the lease as presented. Second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Passes five to zero. All right. Approval of one-time retirement incentive program
217for listed certified staff. So, I'd like to address this one as well. Um, this was part of a conversation uh with through IBN and it and it started as we were having the repurposing conversations. It's not uncommon to see retirement incentives in other states. It's a little uncommon in Arizona. And for us, this is a truly a one-time offering. Uh the intent is to provide a small incentive at $7,500 for those who meet the criteria if they choose to retire this year. Excuse me. Uh that would help address what we will uh experience in year two of our uh phase one and phase two repurposing and that is a real pinch point on certificated staff. We have a plan this year to be able to ensure employment from the Puma Echo Canyon teachers. uh and
218we do that through carry forward of 301 money. Won't be able to continue that beyond one year for those uh school sites. We have the potential for being able to do something similar depending on how many schools are a part of phase two. We don't know that for sure. So if you have an increase in the number of staff members who choose to retire, uh you either don't fill those positions or you have a landing spot for other people who are in the system. And so there's a there's a benefit there. Or if you do need to fill them with new teachers, the delta between a veteran teacher who is retiring and and the cost of a first year teacher is enough that in the first couple of years you realize the cost savings. So
219we we discussed this with IBM. There was interest uh in having this uh option put forward and we hope the governing board will approve it. Questions or comments? Mr. Shy. Um, are any individuals who take advantage of this still covered under our health care or are they off of our healthcare plan? Um, board member Sharky, uh, all employees are covered under our health insurance while they're employed for us. So, they would be on our insurance until June 30th. Well, until their end date. So, if they retired like May 24th through that area, that time frame, but they would not be on our in Nobody is on our insurance after they retire. Thank you. They can do Cobra, but there's no Yeah. Seeing no other, uh, I'll make a motion to approve the onetime retirement incentive
220program for listed certified staff as presented. Second the motion. All those in favor? I I passes five to zero. Uh, 9E, approval of Puma Elementary School repurposing to a level D special education program. Uh Leah is going to take the lead in outlining the proposal and I believe she can answer questions that the board has as well as uh what we heard during public comment. I sure can. Good evening again, governing board members. Um thank you for the opportunity. Myself and Dr. William Dr. Williams are here to respond to any questions you have related to the proposal to repurpose Puma Elementary as a uh level D special education school. Um I attached in the agenda for your review the facility use rubric with our uh reflections on the use of where um the facility would
221sit. Um and so that's for your consideration in response to some of the questions asked or shared at public comment this evening related to costs. Um serving some of our most vulnerable kids definitely is a high price but very worth it. We do not anticipate this move being a significant and huge cost savings. We do anticipate rendering a a couple hundred,000 in savings. What we look forward to is reducing the transportation costs, reducing the time um being transported to many of our students are transported very very far for different school locations. And we also believe because we have a really high retention rate and services um to our employees that we'll be able to attract and retain a number of staff specifically for this school. Many times um staff serving in private school environments don't
222have access to ASRS um and some of the other benefits that are provided through a local public school. Um and so I stand ready with Dr. Williams to answer any questions that you may have. Dr. Patensky, I only go first because I'm at the end of the row. I always feel bad or I'm the fastest to hit the mic. Um, so someone else can always go first. So, thank you for this. I know this is our second conversation. So to make sure I'm scoring this financially uh correctly financially, you're saying the two and a half million that we're currently spending when you factor in all the cost of spinning up this program at Puma, hiring the teachers, you know, perhaps their salaries are are different because there's special certifications. Um we're not necess we likely
223will save a few hundred,000. Um and that will likely come largely through some of these secondary costs like busing and so on. Correct. In the initial year or two. Correct. In the initial year. Y the other part of scoring it is attracting enrollments. Um by which I mean there are surrounding public school districts who are also spending their version of two and a half million. Maybe they're smaller districts. So say one and a half million. And one would hope that if they had a public district to send their kids to and we established last meeting that the district has the right to direct the family. Correct. So they can say listen we you know we know you're going to this private option or this other option but we have decided now that Scottsdale has a
224program that's the program we want to go to. Um any update on conversations with neighboring districts on kind of forecasting? Sure. Sort of additional enrollments outside of our own population that this will attract. I can share just a little bit about what I know and then I'll invite Dr. Williams who's um very deeply involved in special education across the state. We have already received a little bit of outreach from um local bordered uh communities and school districts. Many are looking for a different solution. Part of our bringing this uh recommendation forward is also the ability to control costs. Um in the presentation previously, you may have noticed that some of our costs for individual services have gone up 200% 300% even in the past 5 years. And so being able to control those costs is
225one reason to bring them in. but also in partnering with other school districts through public IGAs of those types of um agreements, we are able to collectively serve each other's children and potentially help control against some of the costs that we are incurring as public school districts when our private um school partners also are increasing the cost. But um Dr. Williams, if you want to share some additional information. Sure. Um, similar to what Miss Mitchell said, we I have been in talks with different directors across the valley, both in neighboring districts and non- neighboring districts. Um, most valley public districts are looking to find options that aren't the our private day options. Our private day options have varying tuitions that change every single year. Um there is another valley district deer valley is also doing
226they have their own uh public level dchool and they already do IGAs with some of the surrounding districts. So they've shown that that is something that districts are looking for. Um again in having conversations with my colleagues they would like other options. And if I last last question if I remember the last presentation correctly we don't anticipate that in the first year. First year we just want to get ourselves up and running for our own population. Y and it would be during the next academic year that the board would start to learn about interest being signed and get a little bit of a sense of the growth impact of the year after. Yeah. It gives us an opportunity to establish what we're doing and to kind of ensure that the program is running the way
227that we want it to with our own students. Um, and then during that year, we can look at IGAS, have conversations with other districts, and kind of figure out that whole partnership. Thank you. All right. Not seeing any other there. Okay, Miss Carney, I was waiting to see if there's anybody else. Um, thank you. I am concerned about um parents not having the choice. If their student has been in a program and they're successful and they have relationships there, I'm concerned that they are no longer going to be given that option, right? They're going to have to come to this new level D school at Puma. Is that So, our plan is to have conversations with all of the families. We've already sent communication to every one of our families. They've received a letter letting
228them know about the board meeting today and the plans moving forward. Um, anyone who's requested, I've sent information for all of the board docs so they have all of the presentations themselves. After that, our goal is to sit down with families and find out what it is that they need. What is it that they like or don't like about the schools that they're at? What would they be looking for in our on our school? Um, and how can we provide what they need here? Um, after that, families, we would need to have conversations about where are they best served. The location of services is at the discretion of the district. Um, and so where those location of services are is up to us. What those services are is up to the IEP team. And so
229that's already been determined. That's why they're at those private day schools, but where that location of services is up to us. That being said, we want to partner with our families. Uh, but they also have other options as well. should this not be the right fit for them. Okay. And then could you remind us of um didn't Scottsdale Unified try and do a level D program at one point and it was not successful? I do not have a ton of information on that. I was not sitting in this role when we did those things. Um there was not an establishment, my understanding is there was not an establishment of a school. Instead, it was a program that was housed at a campus and was not run like a school. Our proposal is to run this
230level D like a school with a building administrator, a nurse, a a specialist classes, all of the things that come with a school. Um the what they did before was just programming and didn't have all the other components which is was a challenge. Okay. And then what's going to what's the plan with the current nutritional services facilities at Yavapai that they will be moving over to Puma? What's the plan? I'm gonna defer to Shannon Croer just because she's over overseas nutrition services and I keep saying the wrong name for the department so I'll make sure that I defer to her. Um so at this time we would like to move the catering services which are at the Oak campus. We would like to get them moved over first to the Puma campus. It would be
231my desire if there's space allows. I think it would be great to have the entire nutritional services team together versus having them broken up between two different sites. Um, but the desire would be to at least get the catering part over to that uh to the Puma location. That opens up some opportunities for some other distribution that we do. Um, and then if space allows, we would then work to move the rest of the department over. So just kind of dependent on space and timing. So, when it's saying the food nutrition services, that does not apply to the team at Yavapai. No, they it's all nutritional services, but right now they're split um with the catering part being at Oak and um and then the other like the I don't operational side being at um
232Yavapai. My goal and desire would be to have them all together. I think that's a more cohesive department that way. Um it's just dependent on like I said space. I think we can make it all fit. We just need to um make sure and of course the number one desire would be to get um if approved the level D school up and going and then shift it over you know kind of do it in phases um realizing that Dennis's team is one and um they're you know we want to do that in phases where it's a priority but it would it would totally be dependent on space. Okay. So we're not voting tonight on the Yavapai no piece. Okay. It's not the full department. It's just from Oak. Okay. Yeah, that was my question. Thank
233you, Mr. Warner. So, you know, I appreciate the sentiment and the intention behind this. Um, but we also know historically this has been a challenging area even at Puma before the special department was challenged. There was high turnover. Uh, this is unchartered territory for SUSD. So, I am gravely concerned that um we're going to be able to do that successfully. And also, the concern is that you're waiting for a board approval to go in a direction before you've met with parents. And we're kind of back to that putting the cart before the horse. And um uh we don't have any proven data that that this district will do this well. And just based upon the uh conver conversations and the information I've had um over the last um three and a half years when it
234comes to these type of specialized services, it has not been something that we have been very successful with. And I know you just moved success the success program over to Cherokee, which it will also be interesting to see see how that you know bodess there. Uh we're not hearing great information about that either. So, I I struggle with this and I'm not sure this is the right direction for Puma for us to take this on at this time. Thank you for your input or comments by the board. Great. All right. I'd like to make a motion to appro Sorry, I'm not talking closely. I'd like to make a motion to approve the Puma County, excuse me, the Puma Elementary School repurposing to a level D special education program. I need a second. I'll second. Thank
235you, Dr. Patensky. All those in favor? I I. All those opposed? No. No. All right. The motion passes three to two. Thank you for your hard work and working closely with our families for an effective transition. Thank you. And we will also provide regular updates and should you have any questions or want to meet with any conversations, we are at your disposal for for that as we proceed through the next steps. All right. Thank you. that if you can that'll we're on uh F second read and approval of uh K11 and upper level math adoption. Yes, for your consideration as final approval. I did want to take just a moment upfront before I turn it over to Dr. Jay to talk a little bit about some conversations we had during our last meeting um related
236to financial literacy. Um, and so we have done some great work. Dr. Jay and her team have really done some in-depth work looking at and identifying where financial literacy standards sit in math and where they sit in social studies. But what we also know is the state standards aren't nearly enough for financial literacy for our children. And so I wanted just to reassure and let everybody know that we will continue to work on building out a very large and comprehensive K preK12 financial literacy plan that does braid and embed the standards from mathematics and social studies at each grade level, but also affords our children practical opportunities to understand what is financial literacy. When you're in second grade, the opportunity to go to a mini society and understand and spend and uh supply and demand
237and those types of real life experiences will be part of the overarching financial literacy plan so that we too can strengthen the services um to our children but also mostly for all of our community that we can strengthen and graduate children who have really strong financial skills and decision-making. And so we just wanted to elevate that. While we have done a deeper study around every grade level, every standard, where those financial literacy lessons sit in mathematics, it is also part of a much larger plan to really elevate financial literacy for all of our students in SUSD. Thank you for the addressing the concern that I brought forward. And I just didn't want 50 books to be placating the uh the intent. Uh I do believe it'll be a 18-month plus process for us to really
238get that thorough. And I appreciate that you're moving forward with it seriously both in mathematics and social studies. Thank you. Absolutely. And thank you for the encouragement. And with that, I any uh additional questions that you have, Dr. Jay and her team are more than happy to provide any answers or uh feedback that you may need. Board members. All right. I'd like to make a motion to uh approve the uh K1 upper level math adoption as presented in its second read. I'll second the motion. It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor? I I It passes five to zero. Thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you to the many committee members who work so hard on it. We're moving to G. Approval of Lagona Elementary School name change to Lagona Prep. So,
239Principal Kelly from Lagona and Assistant Superintendent of Early or Elementary Education, Dr. Bono, will present the uh proposal. Good evening again, governing board members, President Lewis, Vice President Shy, governing board members, Dr. Mensel, Miss Wagner. I have with me phenomenal principal Chrissy Kelly from Lagona. And late last summer, we started the conversation and I think it actually probably started even in the spring where Chrissy and her team were really talking on how do we leverage uh what we are doing as a steam school? How do we differentiate ourselves from the other schools in the neighborhood? There was another Lagona and Chrissy will talk a little bit more about this, but setting the stage, there's another Lagona in Tucson and believe it or not, the front office was getting calls saying, "Wait, this is not the
240Laguna in the Catalina or wherever in Tucson." Um, and so the ball started, you know, they started thinking about what would it look like if we changed our name to be Laguna Preparatory to really highlight what we are doing as an outstanding steam school to highlight uh all the great things we're doing. And to be quite frank, many of our families who may choose basis may choose great hearts. There's a lot in a name. So we started working on this um according to board policy FF regarding name change regarding the committee members that we would have to have on the committee very delineated the survey that would go out to the community and Chrissy will talk a little bit about about that thank you so much good evening board members I'm proud principal Kelly thank
241you so much Dr. Bono. In an effort to increase enrollment, differentiate ourselves from other schools in the area and especially Laguna Elementary School in Tucson, and compete with Basis and Greatards Academy, we respectfully request that we change our name to Laguna Preparatory, effective immediately, with your permission, of course. We are proud to be uh known as an A-rated steam school in Scottsdale with high academic st standards. We are simply relaunching ourselves. When families enter our school and tour our classrooms, they choose to enroll their children. Most families tell us that they didn't know about us before the tour. So, we'd like to reintroduce ourselves to Scottsdale and the surrounding area. Fortunately, our generous PTO has agreed to pay for the updated marquee and the lettering on the outside of our school. As a phase 2
242school, we are working very hard to differentiate ourselves, market our school, and grow enrollment. We get phone calls, mail, and inquiries about Lagon Elementary School in Tucson on a weekly basis. Changing our name would differentiate ourselves, which also would maybe separate us from this other school uh and lessen the confusion. And unfortunately, it's had a little bit of a difficult history this other school has. Many families are looking for the best school in the area, and adding preparatory to our name not only makes us different and stand out, but it also describes what we do at Lagona. As an A-rated steam school, we are prepping students for a successful future in science, technology, and the arts. We use inquiry based instruction, teamwork, hands-on curriculum, and group projects on a routine basis. We have a rout
243we have a world-class maker space, science lab, robust arts program, and media lab. And we also have students who write, produce, and star live on our schoolwide news. At Lagona, we have something for everyone, but we also hold our students to high academic standards. With your permission, we would like to rename our school and demonstrate to our community why we are such an important place for students to grow and flourish. Might one might ask, why are we bothering to change our name and we are a phase 2 school? Well, I'd say that's exactly why we should do it. We are ready, willing, and able to do everything to grow our school and increase enrollment. So, we'd like to respectfully request your support and we thank you in advance for your cooperation and your thought on
244this process. Do you have any questions for us? Thank you for being here. Thank you. Would someone like to lead a motion? I'll just bring up the comment. I know you mentioned about the phase two discussions. Um I mean I it seems like if part of the phase two discussions are a plan that includes the name change, I fully supported. I think that's a a great outcome. It just does seem I know it's a smaller dollar amount. I know parents are uh in favor of it, which I I'm glad we got good response on that, but it just seems like with the discussions happening as the committee is being formed, it just seems like the the order is a bit out of order. And um you know, it's hard to say that there aren't good
245reasons for it, but it's the reasons now and given what's happening. And so, it's just challenging for me to know that we are so imminently going to be discussing and that could be part of the discussion. Um, I'm just I'm glad you brought it up, but I still find it hard to square to make that change. Um, and what I don't want to sound like is we're preventing you from improving. Um, it just seems like it's the timing is so short between what we're discussing, what you're doing that it it's hard for make sense for that, you know. No, I understand. It's a dilemma for sure. I and I know you do. It's it's an obvious question. Yeah, good good question. I would add to the CTE allocation at the State Department. Is that gonna
246be a bureaucratic nightmare? The CTDS. CTDS. Sorry. There's some paperwork involved. Paperwork, but it's doable. I I know it is. I just wonder if that's where you want to put your energy presumably. We're also, you know, there's all the digital profiles, all the school review niche, you know, all of that. Does that happen at the district marketing level? kind of the outreach to promulgate the brand update from from the the website perspective. We've got a web administrator who would be able to help with that. I think someone like Niche which has you know school reviews. Yeah. We we'd have to we'd have to um process with them how that would work. Yes. Yeah. I mean I'm supportive of this. My response to my colleague would be we are what we are until we're not. And
247so we're Lagona. we're running Lagona, you know, and if this is part of the ordinary course that was happening at Lagona, then, you know, I support it. I would just flag, I think a rebrand is more than just the physical site in this day and age. Obviously, it's correct. There would be more than happy to do that. There's a lot going on. Yeah, definitely some effort that we'd have to put forth on our part. We'd have to market our schools and we're happy and willing to do that, Miss Carney. Yeah, I I appreciate that you're doing this and you're you know, you're going to fight for it and and uh and I can appreciate that. So, thank you. Thank you. Do we have a motion? I'll motion to approve. Second. It's been motioned and seconded.
248All those in favor say I. I. It's passing 50. Thank you. That brings us to the approval of the award of request for proposal RFP 2602, the learning management system. We had quite a few questions on this and Leah Mitchell will take the lead in fielding additional questions you may have this evening. But as she's coming to the podium, I just want to point out that Scottdale Unified School District really doesn't have a learning management system in the classical sense. Google is not that. when you looked at the RFP responses and the rating, you'll see that Google was not an applicant because they don't really provide that full um LMS uh services that we were were looking for with this proposal. And so um that that's part of why there's some confusion. People assume that
249Google was the learning management system and it provided a a portion of an LMS but not the full uh suite of and continuum of services. So Leah can answer specific questions, but that's the reason why we were pursuing this RFP. Yeah, happy to provide uh answer any questions that you may have. I can just give a little background on uh a multi-year implementation plan that we would move forward with this learning management system. Year one would be focused on Scottsdale online learning and our e-learning courses. Um we currently use a product called Buzz um and another product called Genius. Both of these would be replaced with the implementation of a learning management system. Um the reason to do this with Scottsdale still online learning is really to elevate that experience for the students in that
250ecosystem. Um right now the content that we are using isn't able to be integrated into Google classroom and used in that sort of course development way. Um and what we know about Scottsdale online learning is that it's ready for sort of a new ecosystem and a new look. If you're a student there, you're getting great quality education from the teachers. However, your actual vis visual view um is not as 21st century. It's a little bit more early 90s in some ways if you were to ask the kids. It also prevents um the current system implementation for Scottsdale online and e-learn e-learning prevents our teachers from being able to add um subtract and really do a lot of course modifications, course content modifications. And so an upgraded learning management system would really elevate this experience. After
251the initial implementation, we would be building a multi-year plan to over time um replace all of Google Classroom with this LMS. Um and it would allow us the opportunity to fully integrate our high-quality instructional materials. All of the materials that we bring forward offer a wide variety of integrations with learning management systems. Those are not the capabilities we have in Google Classroom. And so I can think about um even last year we were having discussions about different lesson assets and how could we or how was Poria maybe able to accomplish some things with their materials that we weren't yet able to accomplish. And some of that is related to the digital lessons um that when you have your own learning management system you can integrate that content and really provide for some more controls but
252also um in quality asurances with your high-quality instructional materials. And so it is a multi-year roadmap starting first next year with Soul um and our e-learning courses. Also important to note this would serve in time as a replacement for some of our fundamentals. Um you guys probably hear a lot about those at the beginning of the year. It's all of the um courses, videos, things that we are statutoily or by policy obligated for every staff to review. Um we currently use different platforms in order to accomplish those tasks. for instance, bloodborne pathogens, um, restraint and seclusion. Those are just the ones that came top of mind. Um, and a learning management system would allow us to embed that adult learning content also in that platform. So, our teachers would be able to use it for
253both instruction in the future, but also their professional learning. Um, so that's my highle overview, but should you have any questions, um, I'm happy to answer anything that I can. for procurement questions. I'll do my best and then I'll also enlist my friend Shannon who can assist too. Mr. Shy, so a similar question that I had about parent square. Are we going to discontinue any other tools by implementing this? Yep. So the initial discontinuation would be Buzz Genius Vector Solutions um in year one. And so that renders um a healthy savings of I think about 60 to 70,000 of of current product usage. Over time you would also likely see um a potential reduction of Google Workspace. Um we currently access what will I think for in the future be known as Google+ which allows
254for the synergy SIS connection um and some additional storage. But if we have an LMS, those would not be the Google um access suite that we would need. We would need more of their standard offering. Um and there's a significant cost savings um to that which I would have to look more deeply at my notes in years two and three what that would mean for Google Workspace. It also would likely mean some of the supplementary materials that people use or ways in which we are going out to find other um ways to differentiate instruction, have mastery based learning. Those are things that you can build and would exist inside this learning management system. Also thinking about um all of the learning management systems reviewed many of them had new AI implementations and so we are
255currently exploring different platforms some which are free from the state some which we are investing in that do offer AI supports for students and also for teachers through grading through conversations um and those types of things. So I would anticipate over the course of the 2 to three year we would probably generate an overall list of 10 to 15 different individual items. Some small dollar amounts, some provided to us for free, some heavy heavier um dollar amounts that would be eliminated with this as a single solution. Thanks. Um a follow-up question or secondary question. Um instructional support. Um I'm very familiar with Canvas. It is one of the easier to use LMS's out there, but it's still not a zero uh cost. And I mean that in effort, not in dollars. Where does the instructional
256support fall? Who is going to have to pick that up and add more? Really appreciate that. So, in two ways, part of our partnership with Canvas would be to have a team of their instructional supports providing professional development training um and get all of our instructional staff up to speed. In terms of additional teacher-based instructional support, we do have a digital innovation coach who would lead that sidebyside teacher level support. Um, and then we would leverage some of the staff in Scottsdale online learning to serve more as the administrator of the learning management system implementation. I think one of the benefits of Canvas to your point is many of our teachers also are working um either at dual enrollment through SEC. Many of the teachers who also participated in the RFP process are already users
257whether it was um in their side jobs through dual enrollment or also as students themselves. And so part of the implementation would include a very large professional development and training plan um and getting some of those instructional resources and supports. So you mentioned the coaches. So more specifically I'm at SHAP and I'm having a horrible time trying to build my class and add content to it. Who do I call? Is there one person per site? Am I calling central? Like what is the actual who are the individ the the bodies that are doing this and how many are they? Currently it's structured exactly the same of how we're supporting Google classroom and it's a digital innovation coach through a help desk ticket. And so we triage the type of help that teachers need based on
258what's reported through help desk and then they're offered that. Often our technicians will help. Generally um you could say in a high school our department chairs they had a heavy interest in Canvas. That might be a group that we um invest additional exposure and experience in, but we do not currently employ any additional staff that would support with instructional design efforts. How many FTEEs are the digital innovation coaches? One. Um we have reduced that. Uh over the past two years, we uh originally had three. Uh last year we had two and this year we have one. Those are some of the district office cuts um that you that we have experienced over the past few years. Thank you. I just wanted to say that a little surprising to me, but at the Sarro student advisory
259uh committee uh or teen town hall, this question came up. Why doesn't the district have an LMS? All colleges are using a certain platform and I told him it's on the agenda tonight. So, I don't think they're up watching, but they'll find out what you decide to do. Uh, thank you. I'm just wondering um if Dr. Patinsky would want to speak to his involvement with this company. Yes, thank you for the question. That's why I've stayed quiet. So, folks may know um 30 years ago I started the first LMS and so I've worked in the LMS market. Paradoxically, being an expert in the LMS market means that I have absolutely no opportunity to be useful to the district lest people start to insinuate that somehow I'm trying to direct the contract in a particular commercial
260way. I wish it wasn't the case because I would have loved to have given you insights into the different vendors that I know, helped influence the rubric, think about AI. I I think immodestly I know I could have added value since this has been my entire career. Um but rest assured I have not lent my expertise to the district at all. So that there's no insinuation that somehow um I have no relationship with instructure financial or otherwise. In fact it was announced last week that I'm going to be returning as CEO of Blackboard which is Instructure's competitor uh later this year. And then Instructure got really legally mad at me. So if there's any incentive it would be for me to have a negative view towards instructure but I have no view and uh unless
261it's necessary to approve things tonight you know my my inclination that would still be to abstain so that there's no insinuation of you know any improper involvement but to be clear I have absolutely no commercial financial emotional relationship with the structure. Miss Mlennon, is there a conflict or Madame President, members of the governing board, uh Dr. Patinsky has updated his conflict of interest form. He is does not have a proprietary or pecuniary interest in investature, so he may vote on this matter if he chooses. He may also recuse himself if he wishes. Miss Carney, nothing. Okay. Sorry. Motion I'll make a motion to approve the um RFP for a learning management system as proposed. Give me a second. I second the motion. All right. All those in favor? I I. All those opposed. I'm going
262to explain my vote. Once again, in a season of budget cuts when we're having to get rid of printers, I just don't see this being um financially responsible at this time. So therefore, I'm a no. Thank you. And and then anything any other type of vote? Yes. Even though I have no relationship with instructure as mentioned and I've had absolutely no involvement in this process and learned about the recommendation at the same time, just to avoid any, you know, appearances or insinuations, I'm going to abstain. Thank you. The motion passes 3 one and one abstension. Thank you for your consideration. All right, we are at uh I second read and approval of governing board policy IKF graduation requirements. Madame President, members of the governing board, before you tonight is governing board policy IKF for a
263second read. This is with respect to the graduation requirements for Scottsdale Unified School Districts. Um, as you are aware, it was in substantial need of updating and I present it for your consideration this evening. Is our second read, correct? Yes, ma'am. This is our second read. Any questions? All right. I'll make a motion to approve the governing board policy IKF as presented from second read for approval. I'll second. All those in favor? I I passes 50. Let's go to Jay. Second read and approval for JLDAB referral to other agencies. Madame President, members of the governing board, this is a second read for governing board policy JLDAB. This would be a new policy for Scottsdale Unified. It allows your uh your school-based staff to make referrals to behavioral health students or behavioral health services. It would
264require parent permission. Questions, comments? Need a motion? I'll make a motion to approve uh policy JLDAB as per item 9J. I'll second. All those in favor? I I passes 5 Z. Thank you. You're welcome. And Madame President, we need motions to go into executive session. So, I'll stay up here to assist. Okay. And I I believe that uh staff is going to ask the public to leave and we will stay in this room. All right. So, at this juncture uh we're going to pause for our executive session transition and we need a motion first. You want a motion first? Okay. Make a motion to enter into executive session pursuant to statutory citations listed in the agenda and for the purposes stated uh I will read A and B. The governing board may recess into executive
265session pursuant to ARS 38-431.02A3 O2A3 and A7 for the purposes of obtaining legal advice and instructing its representative regarding the potential use of 7575 East Main Street, Scottsdale and B. The governing board may recess into executive session pursuant to ARS 38431.03A3 and A4 may recess into executive session pursuant to ARS, excuse me, I did that one already. for the purposes of obtaining legal advice and providing direction to the attorney for the public body regarding resolution of notice of claim and related external complaints pertaining to a student at Copper Ridge Elementary. I need a second. I'll second the motion. All those in favor? I I thank you. At this time, we're going to ask our members not associated with the executive session to depart. Thank you. to Dr. Manzel and Glattus for me. Any go ahead.
266Yeah. Um I would like to amend policy JFB on open enrollment and then I would like a presentation on capturing kids hearts programming at Yabapai and Tanalia and plans for further expansion and implementation through the entire learning community. Dr. Pensky, just repeat my request from last time that we do a district office expense deep dive. Good. That's a special meeting. Yep. Okay, I've got Go ahead, Mr. Shy. Um when I was uh at Hokum um principal mentioned that the principles of the Coronado community were getting together to talk about planning and what they need. And I really love that approach because I think as a community the schools know what's best. Should they invest in the middle school and the high school where? And so what I'd like to suggest if possible that each of
267the communities puts a plan together. Ideally, I would love like a presentation during a study session to let us know because we've said we're right sizing. We want to invest in our schools. And so, to me, the principles of each of the five learning communities know what's best. So, I would have love to have some way that we as a board could hear from them what they need to have their communities grow and succeed. So, I don't want to put onus on them, but whatever the format is, a presentation, a memo, or something, I think that would help us as we talk about investment. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay. Dates of upcoming meetings, April 7th at 6 PM here at Coronado High School and April 28th, a special governing board meeting at MDA. Uh I
268will make a motion to adjourn the meeting. Need a second? Second. All those in favor? I I I passes 50 and we are adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Thank you all.