SUSD Governing Board Regular Meeting with Executive Session 12/9/2025

001[clears throat] I'd like to call the meeting to order and ask everyone to please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> And might we have roll call, please? Matthew Patinsky, >> Karen Warner, Amy Carney, >> Mike Shy, >> Donna Lewis. Uh, I would like to ask for an approval of the agenda. Are there any amendments? I make a motion that we approve the agenda as presented. I need a second. >> I'll second. >> All those in favor? I >> I motion passes by Z. Regarding meeting decorum, citizens attending and are participating in Scottsdale Unified School District meetings either in person, virtually, or telephonically are

002required to observe the same rules of order and decorum applicable to members of the governing board and staff. Unauthorized remarks or demonstrations from members of the audience, yells, outbursts, and or other disruptions are not permitted. Thank you. We'll begin with governing board reports and I'll ask Dr. Patensky please to start. >> Thank you. It's been a busy time with the holidays. Um so it was a pleasure to be part of the um winter bank well fall banquet sports banquet last night and to hear the amazing work of our student athletes who are both amazing athletes and incredible academics. And then I've had the opportunity to visit with a few or more of the schools in the Chapel Learning Community. So I want to say thank you to the principles and families who I had a

003chance to meet in all of those schools. And I will leave it there. >> Thank you, Miss Warner. >> Well, I want to congratulate Arcadia High School and Desert Mountain High School for making it to the state championships. Um, it was a fantastic experience. I've had the opportunity to do that before and um it's just a very fun and exciting time and congratulations to Principal Dansky. This was her first one. So hopefully we'll see many many more. And um I want to thank the parents and staff that reached out and had meetings with me. I know that this is a very difficult time and a time of angst and um probably u should have taken a different path to um you know calm that a little bit. But anyways, thank you again. and I appreciate

004all of you and I've listened to each and every one of you and taken that into consideration in my vote tonight. So, thank you. Good evening everybody. It has been a bus busy few weeks, months. Uh, I also went to the fall sports banquet last night and I had a lot of fun attending the Puma flag ceremony and uh, the best part was I got to bring my son um, who is a sen senior at Sarro and he uh, attended Puma and so he loves seeing the kids and just being back on the campus and seeing teachers and um, he's still talking about seeing his beloved librarian who I see here tonight. Um, so I uh, had a lot of fun doing that. that I actually walked the Puma campus again with principal Hodto yesterday

005and I did walkthroughs of Yavapai and Navajo and really appreciate the time given to me on those campuses uh with the principles. I also did a tour of Eagle Ridge Enrichment Academy and Mesa Public Schools to learn what they're doing in their district to keep their schools open and I feel we should be doing similar and uh and instead of talking about closing schools that should be the ultimate last resort. I just wanted to say that I'm proud of all of you who continually keep showing up, who have reached out by email, um by phone, that I've met with in person. I know we all have families and you're taking time away from them um to do that. And I just um want you to know I see you. I hear you and I'm taking

006uh all that I've learned and all I've heard from you into consideration tonight. Um I just appreciate your advocacy and your wisdom and your proposed solutions. And um that's it for me. >> Thank you. Um lots of time spent um for me as well. Spent time with families from Puma, Cheyenne, Desert Canyon the last few weeks. So thank you for reaching out to me and taking your time um to share with me. I was at the flag ceremony, second time the flag ceremony at Thank you, Principal Odo, for uh inviting us and hosting us for that and being able to speak with families while we were there. Um I went to Yavapai. Princess Perry invited me to attend the um staff meeting and I got to see the grounds and talk with her staff and

007so thank you very much for having me. Uh I last weekend I was at the Lego robotics tournament at Sarro. That's not a school sanctioned event, but there were many of our schools that were there. Um and including many Sarro alums and current robotics kids who were hosting. Um and I actually ran into principal Pat laugh with the Navajo team that was there. So it was really good to see him. Uh and then the football was a great weekend as well. Um was able to be on the sidelines and watching the Desert Mountain game uh at ASU Stadium and really happy there for the team. It was just wonderful to see the state championship and then to see them all uh bask in glory at the athletic banquet. So wonderful celebrations there. Thank you. I

008too was very appreciative of the amazing talent at the coral festival where all the middle school and high school students who are in choir performed beautifully and then all got up on stage together and sang. And there they were listening to each other, hearing one another, harmonizing with one another. And while they were in very different schools, the growth in the music program was just evident. As you can see, the evolution between high school complexity of sound. Uh, I also enjoyed musical at Chapperel High School, the high school version of uh, Ride the Cyclone. I thought I was at a professional performance. I cannot get over again the talent, the level of stage direction, the quality of the uh choreography and the the dramatic talent as well as comedic talent and just absolutely fantastic. I

009too want to thank everybody for one showing up here in person tonight. I want to thank the hundreds of people who have written uh various points of view as it comes to tonight's big discussion. I want to thank people for sharing strategic ideas, phased ideas, possible solutions at the state that might over time become approved that could help us with some flexibility. Uh this level of community engagement has been outstanding and makes me very proud to be a part of the Scottsdale Unified School District. Thank you. That brings us to superintendent comments. Dr. Menzel. Well, good evening, President Lewis, Vice President Shy, members of the governing board, members of our community who are here this evening. Uh, you may have noticed a change in the agenda this evening. Uh, we do not have our student

010and staff celebrations. Uh, we recognize that the agenda for this evening is a pretty serious one and we will be doing double celebrations in January. You've heard many of the celebrations tonight athletically, the performing arts. We have amazing things that are happening every day in our Scottsdale Unified School District schools. And we also have some challenges that we're facing. Uh the next two weeks will be filled with a number of activities. We have performances on virtually every campus. Uh and for our students, we also have end of semester testing. Uh we're working to finish the semester strong as we head into the holiday break. But tonight, we wanted to make sure that we give ample time for the final conversation around the recommendations that are on our agenda this evening. And so with that, I

011will conclude my report. >> Thank you, Dr. Venzel. Move to public comment. I'll be making the following statements. 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 members may respond to direct criticism, ask staff to review a matter, or that a matter be placed on a future agenda. Public comments will be conducted in accordance with policy BEDH. As a reminder, each speaker will have two 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 on

012the record. We thank you for your time and attendance here this evening and your cooperation in following the meeting decorum and protocols. I will read the name of the speaker. When you hear your name, could you please come up to the podium? I will read the name of the next speaker to be ready on deck. Once you start speaking, your time will start. And we will begin with Haley Forney from Copper Ridge. 21 24 I was asked how many speakers we have. We have 24 speakers this evening. Okay, you're you can begin, Haley. Thank you. >> Good evening, Dr. Menel and Governor Moore members. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm here because Copper Ridge is being directly affected by issues that should have been addressed long before now. Enrollment has

013been declining for the past 5 years. If we knew this, why are we only discussing solutions now? Declining numbers didn't happen overnight, and neither should our response. We need proactive planning, not reactive scrambling. Despite recent support and communications, families at Copper Ridge got scared after our last board meeting and enrolled their children elsewhere. These are families who love our school. They don't want to leave. They know the quality of education their students are getting, but they are worried about their children's educational stability and future. We are doing our best to reassure families, but that level of reassurance needs to come from you. On a hopeful note, Copper Ridge has not stopped fighting for its community, and we are happy to report that 58 new students have enrolled since November. 22 of them coming out of

014district. This is what happens when people feel informed, [snorts] supported, and valued. I want to make you aware, if you didn't get a chance to read my email, that our school staff, families, and community members still have not been surveyed on what they want to see for the future of Copper Ridge. This is a critical missing step that must be addressed. I also want to highlight the significant gap in district marketing infrastructure. Scottsdale Unified has no dedicated marketing committee and our district communications team currently does not allow schools to purchase online ads. This severely limits our visibility. When new families search best schools in North Scottsdale, Copperidge barely appears. Not because it isn't an excellent school, but because private and charter schools dominate the online platforms through paid advertisements on Google Niche and Instagram. We

015simply aren't in the game, and it's costing us. Imagine what we could accomplish with real marketing strategies, transparency, and timely decision-making. Our schools deserve to be seen, our families deserve stability, and our district deserves a plan that reflects the excellence we know is possible. Finally, I want to thank the two um board members who made the time to come see our staff and our families. Um your presence brought reassurance in a period of uncertainty and our families truly valued being heard. That level of engagement matters [snorts] and it does not go unnoticed. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh Debbie Schumacher followed by Cat Ingelo. My name is Debbie Schumacher. I'm the first of three generations of Puma students and a Scottsdale homeowner. Board members, I am here to remind you that Superintendent Menzel is a

016hired hand. He reports to the board. He is your subordinate and takes directions from you. It is the superintendent's job to oversee the dayto-day operations of [clears throat] the district. Board members, you were elected to represent your constituents. We are your constituents and we are here tonight and have been for the last several weeks meeting with you and telling you what we want. Due to the everchanging numbers being discussed by the superintendent, board and district staff, we want a forensic audit of the district. Real numbers, not forecast guesses. We want the board to stop superintendent's uh train of thought of closing schools without a committee made up of community members and stakeholders including parents and school staff to discuss and review options and find the best solution. We have an $18.1 million investment that we

017want to be used for its intended purpose. We are asking for a two-year stop on phases of the superintendent's proposal. as it is currently written, you will destroy South Scottsdale and leaving no elementary schools that will feed into this very high school and no reason for young families to relocate to the area. It will lower property values and existing homeowners will be further exerbated by the decline of not having local and public schools open and readily available. For long range goals, I propose that drafting a 15 to 20year strategic plan for SUSD in partnership with the city of Scottdale and the Salt River Puma Maricopa community aimed at attracting major employers whose workforce consists of middle-class families essential for revitalizing our city. If you vote to move forward with closures tonight, you will destroy the

018faith in your leadership and the entire south end of Scottsdale, creating urban decay and blight. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Kate Engelo, and followed by Whitney Keeler. >> Good evening. My name is Cat Ingalo, and I'm here tonight because of the fundamental process driving this closure proposal is absolutely flawed. You are considering closing our A-rated schools for minimal financial gain without exhausting reasonable alternatives or engaging in true stakeholder collaboration. First, let's talk about trust and transparency. Trust in SUSD leadership has frankly tanked. The district is pursuing a massive decision, the closure of several schools without even forming a community budget committee. How can we expect the community to trust this process when we haven't even allowed all stakeholders to look at all ways to cut our current administrative costs or increase the district

019income? We need a forensic audit and a full budget review by a dedicated committee before we sacrifice our educational assets. Second, let's discuss solutions and marketing failure. Why is closing a school, particularly our new high-erforming school, the first choice? The district's attempt to grow with SUSD. Though generalized marketing has clearly failed, it is not reaching parents or the community with the specific unique strengths of schools like Puma. This is an administrative failure, not a school failure. Instead of closing schools, we must invest in targeted specific growth programs and boundary equity as I suggested. Finally, we must look at the total cost of closure. You are focused solely on pro potential monetary savings, which we've already established is less than 1/5if of the percentage of the total budget. But the real cost is the educational and

020community impact. You are ripping apart established learning environments. You are ripping apart programs like the success program in the K2ABC. You are forcing families to scramble for the 2026 2027 school year. You are destroying community hubs that took decades to build. Board members, I urge you to pause this vote. Fulfill your responsibility to the community. Halt the closures. Get a budget community and review. [music] Thank you. Cat Whitney Keeler followed by Scott Clark. >> Good evening, Governing Board and Dr. Manzel. Um, I'm Whitney Keeler. I'm a fourth grade teacher and the vice president of the Scottsdale Education Association. We are requesting you make the difficult decision on site repurposing tonight without further delay. I want to be clear that we are not for or against repurposing PMAN Echo Canyon as the either one of those

021decisions will affect our members immensely. We are simply asking that decisions be made in a timely manner out of respect for the staff and families at those school communities. As we have heard from parents, students, and community members over the last few months, we have heard of the great relationships that have been built and cultivated at these schools. We've heard of students feeling seen, heard, and cared for. And that is the result of the amazing staff members that have put in the time, effort, and heart into these schools. Let's be mindful of the position we are putting them in with this continued uncertainty. As the dis as the district prepares to look at phase two of repurposing for the 202728 school year, we are joining the community calls for a committee to be formed and

022demand representation on the committee. We have tough decisions ahead and we must make them together. Thank you. >> Thank you, Scott Clark followed by Lisa Deninger. Good evening. My name is Scott Clark. I'm a resident of Scottsdale. Uh, in fact, it was just five months ago that me and my wife decided to move to Scottsdale specifically for Lagona Elementary School. We toured public schools, private schools, charter schools, and Principal Kelly and the entire staff there certainly won us over with their vision, and I'm still proud of the decision that we made. But if that school closes, I can assure you that me and my wife will go shop around again. Public schools, charter schools, private schools. I can't guarantee that we're going to end up um back in Scottsdale Unified School District. But my disappointment

023and my concern falls into two major categories. Number one, we're missing a lot of critical information. There hasn't been a lot of data shared besides just demographic information. We still haven't seen any clarity on student impact, financial and operational impact, staffing and administrative efficiencies, community economic impact. And that leaves us with only two possibilities. Either you have all that information and you're not sharing it or you don't have it. Either way, neither of those things are acceptable in order to make a decision of this magnitude. Number two, there's been a complete absence of growth strategies. Last month, we sat through 35 pages proposing closures. Where's the 35page PowerPoint deck that talks us through all the different growth strategies that we can invest in? I don't know why we're we're running away from a school like

024Lagona with a great staff, a great principal, great programs. Why wouldn't we double down on a school like that and go compete against the other schools? 40% of the kids in Scottsdale go to charter schools. They go to private schools. Just a small percentage of those kids moving to a public school takes care of a lot of problems. I'm not sure why we don't do that. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you. Lisa Danglinger, followed by Ryan Schultz. Good evening. I'm Lisa Deninger and I'm in the Scottsdale School District. Closing schools is like putting a band-aid on a more systemic and serious issue. We're well aware that enrollment is declining, but we're only focusing on a small part of the problem. What the board needs to focus on is addressing the larger issue that private schools

025and charter schools are increasing enrollment. Families are leaving for choice, rigor, and innovation. What can we do differently? There's there is not any sort of um you know any sort of marketing to to strengthen what we're doing here at Scottsdale Schools Schools District. We need a more robust strategic long-term strategy. Start asking how we can compete with other schools and stop focusing on low birth rates. Stop focusing on the aging population. Consider strategies that increase enrollment or parents have brought before the board at previous meetings. And we've talked about a small school model that focuses on incorporating a K to2 level D school. These are going to be bring back more students. We need to start incre and to increase the budget, not close schools. Bring us the parents and the community to the table

026to come up with real solutions, not a band-aid fix. Please do not close our schools. Thank you. Ryan Schultz, followed by Jake Davis. Good evening and thank you. My name is Dr. Ryan Schultz. I live outside of the Scottsdale district, but I have two students that go to Sawarro. What brings me here tonight is the troubling messages that are circulating online from the previous athletic director at Sawarro. I would I would ask for a full investigation into this matter and not allowing this individual to just resign. As I'm reading online, what it says there is neutral letter of resignation. I'm unaccept that's unacceptable to have a neutral letter of recommendation. What I'm seeing online is only hearsay. I would like to see some data. It appears that this behavior has happened in the past and

027with a neutral letter of resignation has been allowed to happen again. Like I said, I've been practicing in the Scottsdale area for 20 years. If I practice with negligence or malpractice, there are consequences. There have to be consequences for this type of behavior and it needs to be investigated. Thank you for your time. [applause] >> Thank you. [applause] Adrien Bass. Did No, I'm sorry. Jake Davis. Thank you. And then followed by Adrienne Bass. >> Good evening, board members. We're here tonight again because this district is operating under a cloud of mistrust. And that mistrust did not appear overnight. It is the district result of of repeated failures of transparency, accountability, and leadership. Ironically, all campaign promises. The community deserves clarity and the only way to real clarity is through an independent forensic audit of SUSD's

028finances, budgets, and all spending tied to school closures, consultants, administrative decisions. This district has not released detailed financial breakdowns, cost models, or long-range operational analysis that justify these decisions. Menzel's leadership has shown a constant pattern of with of withholding information until the last possible moment. Whether it's a budget projections, proposed boundary changes, staffing in impacts, doxing of parents, or protecting pedophiles, the community is always playing catch-up because this this district won't discuss disclose anything proactively that erodess trust because it tells parents and taxpayers this [snorts] district is making decisions first and explaining them after, if at all. There is widespread belief that decisions are being made behind closed doors with more attention paid to the narrative of control than actual accountability. When families, teachers, and even board members are blindsided by information they should have

029months they should have had months earlier, that signals a breakdown in governance. The handling of these school processes expose credibility gaps. The district failed to provide community ready financials. The district cannot move forward until until trust is built rebuilt and trust will not be rebuilt through moot podcasts, press releases for house parties or intimidating emails to parents and staff. It starts with transparency. It starts with accountability and it starts with a forensic audit and hopefully it ends in Menzel's trans uh termination. Sharky, is that enough summarization for you? Thank you. [applause] Adrien Bass followed by Sabrina Messinger Aivo. >> Good evening um me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me members of the board, school board

030and Dr. Menzel. Uh my name is Adrienne Bass. I am an SUSD alumni, parent and employee. Thank you uh for each of you, everybody up there has um attended in-person meetings with us, the parents of uh Puma students, as well as phone conversations um regarding keeping Puma open for the students of South Scottsdale. I am troubled by the number of times in those meetings that board members or the superintendent answered I don't know to various questions and issues that we brought up. So as my fellow Puma parent said a few weeks back, we need to slow this crazy train down. I stand before you again to demand a community budget committee to make wellthoughtout, informed budget decisions without closing schools. Puma parents and advocates have presented many well-thoughtout solutions to all of you. When the

031news first broke, it was $4 million deficit and then it became a $6 million deficit. And now I hear that it's an $8 million deficit with a pay freeze and $1 million deficit if we offer our staff their 2% uh pay raise. When the numbers change this drastically um over that short period of time, we need to pause. Please put together a community budget committee. The SUSD just invested seven years ago $18 million to rebuild the Puma campus. To suggest that you would repurpose that campus while collecting data for an M override next fall is an absolute insult to the voter. Puma is a minority majority um title one success campus A-rated by the state and rebuilt for the South Scottsdale community. We are doing everything right. The staff and the kids deserve better. Please

032keep your campaign promise to keep schools open. Keep Puma and Ekko open. You have been given the solution in our many proposals to you. Closing schools is the most extreme but not the most conservative. Thank you. Sabrina Messenger Aso followed by Jeff Rete. Hi, my name is Sabrina and I'm a Puma parent and alumni. The lack of transparency throughout this process has been deafening. Superintendent Menzel may have spoken with administrators, but families, students, and the community were left in the dark. The cost savings from closing puma keep shifting. And even board members admit that these are only estimates. We're talking about uprooting nearly 300 families based on guesswork. In October, the estimate was 900,000 and then suddenly jumped to 1.2 million. And that doesn't include the costs of relocating programs and students. and that reloc

033and the relocation of these programs are critical seeing as some of them are only found at puma throughout the district. When we look at other districts and independent research closers closures like this rarely save anywhere near a million dollars and discussions about repurposing Puma as a level D school would erase even those minimal savings. It's not mathing. I understand that changes need to be made but our community deserves honesty, transparency, and decisions based on facts. It appears as though you are refusing to explore any other options other than school closures. Provide us a growth plan and if Puma can't deliver, then that's a different story. But closing school should not uh closing school should be a last resort and not a starting point. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jeffrey Tay, followed by Kevin uh Jimroy.

034I'm going to address my comments uh to Mr. Shy since you're in line to be president of the school board. Three years ago, Scott Menzel dragged the district through a national scandal as he is the king of diversity, equity, inclusion. Both Scottsdale representatives, Senator Kavanaaugh, and the state superintendent all called for Menzel to be fired. He's at it again. I was a classroom teacher fired for refusing to call girls by boys names without the parents permission. Imagine this. In the state of Florida, a teacher was charged recently with violating a state law that forbids a teacher from calling girls by boys names without the parents permission. When I appealed to the Scottsdale district office, Amy Goff told me to stay away from the school in which those transgender students attended. A federal judge ruled that

035school districts cannot force teachers to call girls by boys names. If they do, they are violating that teacher's first amendment right to free speech and there cannot be free speech retaliation. Two lawsuits were settled immediately after that ruling. Both involved teachers who resigned rather than call girls by boys names. They settled for $540,000 and $480,000. Miselle expects the Democrat board members to keep their mouth shut and go along with his illegal behavior. You hire a law firm to settle disputes, not to drag out a contested issue for years. The law firm of Gus Rosenfeld has recommended in two executive board meetings that you simply ignore me, which allows them to fleece the Scastel taxpayers of more fees and send threatening letters. Mr. Sharky, do not accept the presidency of this school board unless you know

036exactly how my situation's going to be resolved. President Trump and Pam Bundy are determined to withhold federal funds from school districts that violate their directives. I would welcome my situation becoming an agenda item. Board members, students are leaving in droves. Don't talk about birth rates, charter schools, empowerment monies, or aging populations. Closing the schools is the outcome. The cause is sitting right over there. The buck stops at the top. [applause] >> Thank you, Kevin Groy, followed by Kristen Girian. Giran. [clears throat] >> Uh, Dr. Menzel and members of the board. Good evening. My name is Kevin Groy. I'm the father of a second grader in the CGP program at Redfield. I also have a twice exceptional sixth grader at a local private school on an ESA scholarship. I oppose the administration school closure plan and

037I would urge the board to vote no. I believe it's short-sighted and short-term and needs to be rejected and replaced with a comprehensive vision for the future. My day job is as the CEO of a tech company and I watched the last board meeting through that lens. What I observed was an administration stuck in the mindset of a public school only market that is struggling to compete effectively in Arizona's school choice environment. In business terms, the district is losing market share and needs to evolve its model to compete. I can clearly see that two major problems exist. An expense problem and a revenue problem. Dr. Menzel's plan solves less than onethird of the expense problem and it completely fails to address the revenue problem. The revenue problem is the first one that needs to be

038addressed and the expenses can come next. The K through8 student population is projected to drop about 30% from 2015 to 2035. To keep facility costs proportional to 2015 levels, SUSD would need to close seven elementary and middle schools, not two. The reality that reality should be discussed openly with the community now. If not, we'll be dealing with incremental closures for the next 10 years. Arizona is a school choice state and parents want options, not bigger schools that are further away from their home. SUSD needs to innovate by creating specialized schools that will attract and retain families in the district. There are many creative entrepreneurial people in our community. The board should form a commission of parents and business leaders to identify and recommend opportunities to solve the revenue problem first. All financial options, including selling

039and redeveloping real estate, need to be on the table. We need to keep the money and the focus on the kids and their education for the next 20 years of our community. Thank you. >> Thank you, [applause] Kristen Garner. Followed by Samantha Filipe. >> Hi, I'm Kristen Garren. I'm with Echo Canyon. 270. That's Echo Canyon's enrollment. It is also the number of families who specifically chose our school. Echo Canyon is 100% a school of choice. It doesn't have attendance boundaries. Every family who attends ECS specifically chose that school over their neighborhood school, a charter, or a private school. 49% of our school population comes from outside SUSD. Our families come from as far away as Higgley, Peoria, and Deer Valley. We represent 18 other school districts. We don't have a fancy signature program. We don't

040even have athletics, but we consistently have an A rating, and we've been nationally recognized for our academics. No one has asked us, but some of us have told you how we found this school. We stumbled upon it or someone we know recommended it. And yet, you have hundreds of families who found Arcadia's bestkept secret and have stayed there for years. Now, imagine what you could do if you actually told someone outside about our school. If you reached out to people where they are and invited them in to see the positive environment our close-knit and diverse community has created. Imagine what you could do if instead of turning prospective families away, our neighboring schools directed those families to us. You are being asked not to imagine, but to simply close a school that any other district

041would be envious of without any plan for its future or the students, families, and staff that have called it home for years. 270 families specifically chose Echo Canyon. Will they stay in SUSD if the school closes, or have you made the problem worse? SUSD enrollment may be declining, but neighborhoods like mine are booming with children that aren't attending SUSD. Closing schools doesn't solve that problem. It is only a response. It is unacceptable to simply accept the decline and maintain the status quo in this everchanging educational environment. I urge you to dig deeper, press for answers, and demand a strategic and innovative approach to grow the district. You can build a vibrant community, but not by closing schools and pushing your greatest allies away. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Samantha Filipe. And followed by Kathy Brie

042Tomkins. Um, good evening. Uh, my daughter was actually hoping to talk before me, but I guess I'll go first. Uh, my name is Samantha Filthy. Um, I'm a third generation artist and I was hoping to speak to you about the repurposement of Echo Canyon's potential instead of just outright closing the school. Um, [snorts] I'm here tonight because I've lived the reality of what happens when our district doesn't provide educational options for young artists, especially working ones in the [snorts] elementary and middle school ages. And I'm asking you to prevent other families from having to face impossible choices we have faced. Where [snorts] charter or private schools look like a better option. Let me paint you a picture of what's possible. Imagine Echo Canyon repurposed as an arts magnet school. Where education and artistry aren't competing,

043they're collaborating. [snorts] kindergarteners learning to read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus in their academic classroom while staging uh that same show in their theater class, reinforcing literacy through performance. [snorts] Middle schoolers reading Diary of Anne Frank in English, discussing it in history, and then bringing it to life on stage, learning amplified three-fold. This [snorts] isn't theoretical for me. My middle child, sitting right behind me, is a working actor. He had to leave SUSD for ASU prep because traditional structure couldn't accommodate a young working professional. He now has a 4.97 GPA, but he's away from his friends. Um, and not despite his artistry, but because his school integrates it. It has a flexible schedule. It understands that his art is how he learns best. My youngest, Rachel, who you'll hear speak eventually, [snorts] um,

044she has dyslexia and learns better kinetically. Song has taught her so much. She memorizes monologues better than [snorts] [applause] Thank you, Kathy Brie Tommpkins, followed by Rachel Felipe. >> [snorts] >> Hello, I'm Kathy Brie Tommpkins and I live within SUSD's boundaries. I'm a Scottsdale native, homeowner, and SUSD alumni out of Puma, Supai, and Coronado with three kids who have gone through or are currently attending SUSD schools through Puma, Mojave, and Sarro. While we can all recognize and appreciate that a decision like this is not a simple one, I hope that when you vote, you consider the whole picture. Yes, enrollment at Puma is currently down, as has happened to several schools in the past, but I'm confident that with a two-year growth plan like those other schools were given, which includes targeted marketing strategies, that

045we could boost our enrollments at our excelling A-rated school. Please, before voting to repurpose Puma, exhaust every other viable option out there. Closures are harmful to children and communities, and there will undoubtedly be a loss of students to SUSD if you vote yes. There [snorts] are twice as many school-aged children in the area around the Coronado Learning Complex than there are in and around the Desert Mountain Learning Complex. [snorts] We need to market to the surrounding parents and start to pull those kids in. We do not need to close three of the five South Scottsdale schools. Who would want to send their children to an area that doesn't even have an a middle school? The community has rallied and provided several alternative options that can be explored, and we're calling for a proper procedure for

046this process. Create the budget committee that we were promised. Conduct an independent forensic audit of the budget to help restore the community's broken trust in the district. Give us real numbers and data to base decisions on, not guesstimates. Run targeted marketing campaigns that include mailers, not podcasts and general social media posts. Don't shove a concier service as a bandit to this proposed closure in our faces. How would that even be viable? [sighs] And what would the cost of something like that entail? Frankly, it's an insult to our intelligence. And at the end of the day, school closures should not be the first option. Do what you were voted in by us to do and protect our schools from closure. Thank you. >> Thank you, Rachel Felipe, followed by Emily Boni Beno. Hi everyone, my name

047is Rachel Philippy and I am 10 years old student at Anastasia Elementary. I drive down the hill every morning from Mountain Hills because Anastasia had the support I needed when I started school. Some mornings I get up extra early for choir because singing is my passion. Some of you might have seen me in shows around the valley like Little Girl in Ragtime, Nala and Lion King or in A Christmas Carol. [snorts] I have dyslexia and hearing impairment. Reading is hard. The letters jump all around like they're doing gymnastics. For a long time, school made me feel small, like I wasn't smart enough. But when I'm on stage singing, dancing, or becoming a character, everything clicks. I've learned kiddance and tone so words don't don't jump around when I say out loud when I say them

048out loud. My My body knows how to tell stories through movement. I am a kinetic learner. Cedar, dance, and choir are are where I'm smart at where I shine. Here are here's the problem. In my youth theater group, only five of us out of 26 kids are still in SUSD schools. My friends are leaving because the current schedule doesn't work for >> Thank you. [applause] Emily Bono followed by David Redkkey. Good evening board. My name is Emily Beno. I am a Scottsdale School District alumni as well of a Scottsdale resident. I just want to remind you first and foremost that the mental well-being of students uh directly impacts academic success. So, please do not tear apart their friendships and their families. One concern is the demographic numbers you guys keep mentioning when speaking to these.

049The city of Scottsdale does not project the same pro population numbers as you. They project that South Scottsdale is going to boom. So closing the schools in South Scottsdale is not going to help anybody, including the South Scottsdale families that are moving to the area. Also, the USPS doesn't show the same numbers as you. They show 3200 children in Echo Canyon zip code. Where are these kids? Why are we not marketing to them? Why are we not showing the wonderful things Echo Canyon has to offer to try and recruit them? It's also important that we get current numbers so that we know them. Just because mo you say North Scottsdale has the most South Scottsdale and Tempe counts too. Don't force these families to leave the district. Echo Canyon provides pre excuse me preschool through

050K or preschool through 8th grade keeping families together keeping siblings together which gives more support for those families as well as convenience for the parents to not have to drive them around and commute everywhere. I really feel that Scottsdale School District has ve done very little to nothing from marketing to get information about Echo Canyon. We also found it by happen stance. On the internet websites, it says it's a middle school. Get the IT department to say it's an elementary school. So when families search for elementary schools, they find it. Also take ALC brand off because it is clearly not that. Correctly portray the schools. We need to figure out a gate way to get the preschool pre-K numbers programs to count for state funding. This would mean the schools that have these programs on

051their cap, excuse me, campus would get more funding and their enrollment numbers would accurately reflect the bodies of of the school. Thank you. >> Thank you, [applause] David Redkey. Followed by Ellie Mcnite. >> Okay. Hey, I'm David Redkey, Democratic candidate for Arizona's first congressional district. And what we're dealing with right now is a person on this board is actually running to close down schools, Karine Wernern, and the fact that uh she's accomplishing their goal right now that we're discussing the closures of Echo Canyon as well as Puma Elementary School. I should give you a round of we should give you a round of applause for accomplishment. our accomplishment or accomplishment I can't speak right now what you want to do you want to close schools and now we're here and families are being harmed across

052the Scottsdale Unified School District eventually it's just going to get worse more schools are going to close more people are going to move out and it's just going to make it worse and worse and eventually this board is going to be useless because there will be no schools to actually oversee so I am I just find it reprehensible that we've even discussing the closing of schools as opposed ways as opposed to trying to attract more students, build them up and actually make them better and more attractive to families so they will come to Scottsdale Unified School District. But unfortunately, we have people that are actually working against this interest. And I do not I do not stand by this. And I hopefully a number of people will uh support trying to stop this from happening

053and we will have uh we will actually keep these schools open for those families when they actually start to grow in the future. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh Ellie Mcnite followed by Grace Stambris. Hi, my name is Ellie Mcnite. I live in the South SC or the Scottsdale Unified School District. I'm a homeowner and I have two kids that currently are enrolled in the district. I've learned a lot in the last two to three months that Puma and South Scottsdale have a community that is very strong and very driven. But I've also known that the governing board, you oversee the superintendency. Tonight, your vote is going to be our voice. What you vote is what we want or what we need. You must do your due diligence. Have you done your research? Talk to

054people, people that elected you, and be sure that you're not neglectful of your duties. Have you looked at all the options available? What are the consequences of closing a school? Have you listened to your community? Do you have all the information and every option? Has that been seen? I have done research and I've looked at peer-reviewed articles and it may seem logical that closing a school will save money. It does not. Closing Puma would save per published research less than 400 to 570,000. And closing just Echo Canyon would save between 370 to $550,000. Closing both schools together will only save about $500 to $860,000. That's less than a half a percentage of the overall budget. You're closing a school for a half a percentage of the budget, not a fabricated estimates that have been given

055and estimates that have changed from month to month or meeting to meeting. I'm asking the governing board to do your due diligence. Listen to your constituents. Protect our schools. show that you want us and you are doing the research and you're there for us in the background. All research shows that closing schools do not work. It does not save the money that they want and that it actually causes more harm to the community and to the students. Thank you. >> Thank you, [applause] Grace Stores, followed by East Mullen. >> Good evening. I'm Grace Stmbre, a retired SUSD administrator and uh SUSD alumni. Superintendent Mensel rejected a goodfaith Puma community proposal to colllocate a level D special education school at Puma that would keep Puma Elementary fully operational. He wrote, "Our team did consider the potential

056of colllocation at Puma. However, that would significantly restrict the number of private placement students who could be served on that campus. If we are unable to serve all 38, the financial impact is such that the proposal does not contribute toward towards addressing the structural deficit. This statement raises serious concerns. First, it treats 38 highly vulnerable students as a single budgetary unit rather than as individuals whose special education placement and location must be based on need, safety, and appropriateness. When finances become a primary factor, it suggests the outcome may have already been decided before placement analysis and family engagement occur. Second, it is unclear whether these 38 students are all elementaryaged or include middle and high school students. Colllocating teenage students with elementary children raises significant risks. More broadly, displacing over 600 students to address today's

057financial deficit does not solve the underlying problem. SUSD must promote our excellence and bring innovative programs into the district. we will grow enrollment. I urge the board to pause school closures and commit to an informed, transparent, and community-engaged process before taking irreversible action. Taking the time to get this right is responsible governance. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you, Eastston Mullen. Followed by Martha Graves. Hello. Uh, [clears throat] my name is Eastston Mullen. I, uh, I'm here to make a statement, well, two statements to the board. One from my daughter and, uh, one from myself and my wife and our supporting friends and family. Um, there's a there's a lot of stuff going around Soro High School right now. Um, that deals with our daughter and, uh, the exathletic director and vice president, um, Lucas Aerson.

058Um, I am here to make a statement about whether or not you should accept his resignation. First, I just want to read a statement from my daughter that she gave me to read. I want everyone to know that I wasn't entertaining anything in the messages. I was responding to the messages because I was scared of him being upset. and when I didn't respond, he would still call me out of class and into his office. I want everyone to know that I am very grateful for everyone that has been there for me during this hard situation. Um trying to make this try to make this time here. Um the situation with Aerson um you know we thought was a mentor type situation. Mojave has a everybody has a counselor policy which is great but it turned

059out to be a predatory type thing. Um we uh it starts to makes you think you know at first that that the system's broken but we know that the system isn't um because this we walked into the Soral office unannounced and within an hour Aerson was led off campus. Um we met directly with Dr. Lisa um [clears throat] Lisa Hirs and Dr. Melissa um Sakos was called in and Dr. Heather Cruz. Everything was taken care of very swiftly and very professionally. So it makes you realize the system does work. And uh I uh I'm here today to >> right now to say that I want you to accept his resation. keeps him only returning to school because he's at first I thought I wanted but after learning how the system works I know it works

060good so I accept his keeps him gone. Not afraid to go back to school. We know he's not going to return. We understand there's some people here that want to go after, you know, let's fire. That's what we first there's lots of other consequences. It can take months and months to rein there's lawyers involved and it drags through the whole process instead of just letting go and this guy's gone. Don't be mistaken's repercussions. >> Thank you, Mr. Mullen. [applause] Martha Graves, followed by Lenny Coington. As all of us parents work to educate ourselves about the inner workings of a school district budget, frankly starting from a place where I distrust your process or lack thereof and minimal communication, I still fail to see the actual bottom line. There's been no meaningful, concise, and clearly articulated

061financial gain in closing puma. What is the district actually getting? The savings for puma for closing puma as others have noted noted continues to change based on misleading data or just rough estimates. When you dig into the numbers that you all provided the savings is significantly offset by additional costs. The actual savings become dimminimous and there's silence absolute silence regarding the impact to our children. I'm at a loss when my third grader asked if you've decided to close puma yet. when he asked where school his friends are going to go to next year and whether he can go to that school too and I have no answers for him. Somehow we're being told that there will be a concierge level support system for the families displaced during your decision. How with what money? What's the

062plan? How much is that going to cost? No answers. While the students of this community are having their education nickel and dimed, the community works for alternatives and solutions. We have an item on the agenda tonight to address Menzel's 20% performance-based pay increase up to $45,000. That's offensive. With each board meeting, more and more constituents from schools other than Puma and Echo are seen coming in as they as they see the writing on the wall. You have no solutions. You're just closing schools and hoping that the numbers end up working out. Pause the closures to invest your energy and time into finding solutions and fixing the underlying issues. That is what our children deserve. >> Thank you [applause] Lenel Coington followed by Shea Nafi. Um good evening. My name is Lenny Coington. I am a

063Sora alum and currently a coach for the track and football programs. Um the Soro campus uh shaped me which makes what I'm saying tonight deeply personal. Um when I was a student there I never questioned whether the adults around me were safe. That trust allowed me to grow to learn and feel protected. It's the same trust every student deserves. The trust that was broken in the student was that was put in that situation is something no child should ever endure. Allowing an adult in authority to simply resign quietly instead of facing true accountability is not just a poor decision. It's a failure to protect our students and a failure to uphold the standards this community expects. They deserve a school that stands up for them, not one that shelters adults who cross lines. As a

064female coach, that responsibility carries a different weight. I've gotten the opportunity to connect with many athletes across girls sports. So many of these athletes look to me for guidance, confidence, and for safety. I owe it to them and to every single athlete and student to speak up when something threatens that safety. Protecting them is not just a part of my job. It's a duty I take to heart. We owe our students more than silence or quiet exits. We owe them accountability and action that makes it clear their safety is non-negotiable negotiable. I'm asking the board to take real, visible, accountable action to show every student, every parent, and every staff member that this board chooses transparency over convenience and that the protection of children over the comfort of adults. Because if we cannot guarantee that,

065then we have failed them in the most fundamental way. And that kind of failure is something these kids should never have to pay the price for and something I refuse to overlook. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] And our last speaker is Shay Nafi. The irony that the two governing board members who are pretending to care about Ekko and Puma families are Carne and Warner is not lost on me. These ladies have supported the privatization of schools and policies that have led to these closures. I know all too well the importance of our neighborhood schools, which is why I co-chared the past two budget overrides to make up for the lack of state funding, which have consequently kept these closures at bay until now. But sadly, at no point did board members Warner or Carney

066publicly support the additional funding to our schools. In fact, at times they worked against our campaign efforts, directly supporting the extremist organizations that spread lies and flamed culture wars in an attempt to get voters to reject the funding. These women are wolves in sheep's clothing. They have supported the expansion of vouchers that further drained enrollment and resources, leaving our taxpayers holding a billion dollar bill. They have supported the needless proliferation of charter schools and endangering our schools. In fact, the very week that Amy Carney was elected, she took to national Fox News, yes, national Fox News, to denigrate our schools, calling them failing and saying that families are leaving in droves for better education as she praised the billion dollar private school voucher scams. Do you know how hard it is to increase enrollment when

067your own board members are spreading lies about your schools? It makes it really hard. Really hard. Regardless of the fact that our test scores are are good, some of the highest in the state. When you have board members out there spreading lies, it's really hard to enroll. Warner actually pushed for us to fire our marketing department. Tell me how that was going to help us. Now, Warner sits in this state legislature, and at no point in her role as senator has she attempted to help increase our funding. But she will make it look like she's here to help you guys because she is counting on you to be gullible. She's counting on that. [applause and cheering] >> Thank you. That concludes our public comment section. Uh we now move into our information discussion items. Our

068first item on 6A is discussion on the formation of advisory. I'm sorry, I forgot to ask if board members had responses, >> please. Yeah, go ahead. >> Thank you, President Lewis. Um, I would like to actually instruct you to put together something related to getting a forensic uh uh accounting done related to our budget. We've um I had a meeting with the superintendent yesterday. I think that'd be really good. Thank you. >> Anyone else want to respond? Thank you. Okay, we will now move on to item six. Item 6, A, discussion on formation of advisory committee, Miss Carney. All right. Thank you, President Lewis. So on October 7th, I voted no to scheduling the public hearing regarding the potential closure repurposing of Echo and Puma because I believe that one of the things we should

069have done first before going down that road or this road of closures and repurposing was create a board advisory oversight committee to gather data, have community input, and weigh in on solutions. I asked for that to be on the October 28th agenda. And finally, it's on tonight's agenda. I'd like to say the policy KCA states that the district shall pursue the following school community relations goals and I'm only going to read a few of them. There's many. Uh B. Determine how the community feels about the district and what it wishes the district to accomplish. D. Help citizens become involved in improving the quality of education the district provides. E. Earn the respect and confidence of the community. G. Involve citizens in the work of the district in solving its educational problems. Policy BA says that

070the board should consider amongst other matters the following. A the likely consequences of any decision in the long term. B the interests of the district's students. C the interests of the district's employees. E the impact of the district's operations on the community and the environment. On October 7th, I had asked for the board to create a proactive planning and boundary design advisory committee, a PADDAC, because we should look at what has worked and has been proven successful in other districts who are facing enrollment challenges, yet they are not closing schools. Since this discussion discussion did not make it on the last two board meeting agendas, we're now discussing creating an advisory committee on the same night we're supposed to vote on closing schools. This committee discussion and formation should have been done first. In our

071board memo we received on December 7th. Dr. Mensel confirmed that we need a boundary committee. Yet, we as a board need to proactively create this committee and not reactively based on the two schools that we're being asked to vote on tonight. Several community members have also urged us to create a budget advisory committee. I've heard several times during public comment that uh that board members committed to a budget committee while they were on the campaign trail. So, I'd like a discussion as a board on what everyone feels is needed to properly move forward uh according to the policies that I read off tonight. The development of a more comprehensive community informed plan is needed, including a long range facilities plan. So, I would like to hear from my fellow board members if they see this

072as valuable or what they've been thinking since they knew this agenda item was going to be on tonight. >> Any other discussion? Miss Warner? >> Yeah. Uh, this is a common sense approach ensuring equity, transparency, and trust in the decision- making moving forward. And like our neighboring districts, the board should and must be able to appoint and choose a specific amount of individuals based on the size of the committee so that there are individuals from every corner of our community as sitting at that table and making these decisions. >> Thank you. >> Um the comment you just made, the board must choose the committee. So, is the preference here to have a board centered committee as opposed to a superintendent committee? >> Uh, typically in our neighboring districts, the board can choose one or two

073individuals depending on the size of that committee. So, um, if there's an advisory committee, you would be able to choose two qualified people to be on that committee and all of us would have that. So, that it would be a diverse committee. That's that's what I'm saying. the as it's my understanding and correct me if I'm wrong if this is a board committee that really limits the communication it's subject to open meeting law the same as we are as opposed to a much more interactive committee so I just want to make sure what I'm hearing uh you're suggesting because Miss Carney you brought up uh a few board meetings ago the difference between a board committee and a superintendent committee is that an issue here or is it just the topic of should we form

074a committee period I'm not understanding of the level of detail so >> um you you should be understanding because I'm asking for a board advisory committee, not a superintendent. We've had we've had super superintendent committees that came >> to this conclusion tonight and we don't even know who was on them, what what ex the work was done on them. I'm asking for a board advisory committee um that the public is also asking for so that everyone can be involved, everyone has input and we can come to solutions together. This should have been done first. I'm having it bring it tonight because it's been my only option to get it here. So um superintendent help me to understand again the difference between a board committee and a superintendent a superintendent committee especially as it regards to

075these are good ideas on the the committee uh subject but I'm just want to make sure we're not misstepping based on the structural formation of it. >> So any any committee established by the board subject to open meeting law which means all of the agendas have to be posted 24 hours in advance. uh it's got to follow all of those uh rules in terms of the the reporting of the minutes and that process. Uh so it's there it's perfectly acceptable as an alternative, but it slows the process down in part. You can be more nimble with the superintendent appointed committee. We do that on on any number of of occasions and superintendent committees and we can go back to the boundary committee that met on every single campus in South Scottsdale when the decision was

076made to decouple Tonalia K8 and make it a standalone middle school and reopen Yavapai. Every single school had meetings in their cafeteria or on their campus in order to have conversations. That was not a board committee and so we were able to move pretty quickly with those things. So it it's from a functional standpoint, it slows things down a little bit. Uh but you can do it either way in order to get the input from the community and it's important to have community input. >> What about from a transparency standpoint? Is there any difference between the two from a transparency? >> So all of the information that's collected is still subject to public records request and so that would be available to the public. We work um if you were to go to our curriculum

077committee uh information. The minutes get posted on the website that's subject to open meeting law. But we do provide regular updates on those kinds of efforts that we know are important to the community to have the information on. >> Thank you. >> So in the name of flexibility and expediency and being able to work uh as a superintendent's committee, keeping minutes and and expressing those minutes more transparently might be the solution. I think uh that would be a board decision. Uh and and I will support whatever the decision the board makes. Our commitment as an administrative team is to engage the community in conversations as we move forward. >> And if we were to suggest members for the committee, that would be something we could honor. >> I think Jennifer McClennon is going to weigh

078in on that. >> Okay. Madame President, Dr. Menzel, if the governing board suggests members for a superintendent committee, we start to blur the lines between what is a board committee and what is the superintendent committee. So, if it is a superintendent committee, Scottsdale Unified should follow its typical process, which is the posting um accepting applications for that committee. It's a wellestablished process in your district. Um, on the other hand, the board may choose to form a board advisory committee under the policy listed in tonight's agenda item, in which case you would be able to approve the slate of the committee. An example of that is your audit committee. Your current audit committee functions as a board advisory committee and the governing board approves the members. So from a practical standpoint, if you choose uh to

079further discussions about having a board-appointed committee, which is not up for a decision tonight, just an information item, uh we would need to come back in January with that proposed committee or at a future date. And [clears throat] so if if committees are formed at our suggestion for the work to be vetted and we say it's a superintendent's committee and there's a posting of welcome to the please try and get on this committee with us, we could help advocate for committee members without it blurring the lines. Madame President, members of the board, if the the more involvement the governing board has in the formation of the superintendent committee, the more likely it is that that is actually a board committee. So you have to look at the the not just the form of the committee,

080but the substance of how it was created. So we've had instances in which a governing board member has said to directed the superintendent from the dis form this committee and and that has been an indication enough for the attorney general's office to create an adverse finding. So yeah it would be my suggestion that it either follows the typical process or the board furthers the discussion and has a board of board advisory committee and you have both legal options. >> Thank you. Go ahead. Um, just could I could I ask you to speak on what we've heard several times about the budget committee? You had said not I'm talking to the board members. This is a board discussion. Um, [clears throat] can you tell me is that true or is that not true? Was that ever

081said to the public that you were going to create a budget committee? Anyone that was new to the board? In my past, I've advocated for a superintendent's budget advisory committee and had one in the past and it was thorough and filled with many diverse ideas and, you know, large uh and creative. Okay. So, this is a discussion. I could have made this an action item, but I'm I was trying to be respectful so I could hear from everyone and their opinions. So, I'm I'm looking for that. Um, I had asked for a PADDAC committee. That's what I felt was best for us. Uh, but now this late in the game, I I I'm not Sure. And that's why I would like your opinions on what do you think is best moving forward so we can

082stop being re reactive so we can be proactive. We have many things ahead. So doing these superintendent committees reactively is is not working and the board has the authority to create an oversight advisory committee and that is what I'm asking and I'm asking for your opinion on what type do you see. Is it a budget committee? Is it a boundary planning committee? Does no one have opinions on this? >> I I mean I have opinions. I think those are good suggestions. I think um there's discussion of um repurposing and special programs and how that fits uh across our district. So what options do we offer to make Scottsdale a good choice? That to me is a good committee to get community input from. Um financially I think that's a good suggestion. It's good to hear

083that. Um uh our board president has experience with budget committees. Um I want to make sure I've heard the word forensic and that has a very different meaning to me than a budget committee. So I want to make sure that the goal of the committee is very clear. Um but you know I would support that from a committee standpoint. So I think they're good suggestions. >> Right. The point is we're discussing so that we can bring something to the next agenda to vote on. So that's this is the only time we can do this is in public. We can't talk outside of this. Um, so I'm trying to get feedback here. Otherwise, I'll bring something to the agenda without feedback. I'm trying to get your feedback. >> I believe we should have a advisory committee

084that is a board committee. Uh, and we should vote on that on at the next meeting in January. >> On which topic? >> Sorry. >> [laughter] >> The advisory committee would be related to the things that have been going on for the last couple of months related to what we're looking at voting at today of closing of schools. Clearly, our community and families and staff have been blindsided and this process not has not been effective and we need to have an advisory committee so we can get the right people around the table to look at the right information and make the right bring forward to the board the right decisions for Scottsdale Unified. Currently the people who made the decision to put forward what is on the agenda tonight was the superintendent and the cabinet

085which is sitting over there. So we do need an advisory committee with the people that are sitting out there and experts out in the community who have expertise in this area. So, I personally [clears throat] don't think it's strange that our district leadership and our district administration would prepare our annual budgets and as part of preparing our annual budgets, make recommendations on structural changes that are really difficult. I think that's what we hire them to do. And I want to be careful we're not shooting the messenger um just because we don't like the message and reasonable people can disagree about the message. Um, I think tonight's vote is the beginning, not the end. And I'm generally for more participation and more community engagement than not. So, I would generally be very supportive of including the

086community and having more mechanisms to do that. I cannot pretend right at this moment that I fully understand all of the distinctions between a superintendent committee and a board of committee, but do I believe that we should have more mechanisms for the community to be involved in the decisions that will follow tonight's vote? Uh, whichever direction it goes in as well as the decisions that are ahead. Absolutely. >> Go ahead. I'm I'm going to um just make it very simple. the board committee is that we sit here right now and say yes we do think we do need a committee and that's all it is that the board decides we want a committee and that we are going to form a an advisory committee we have policy around that >> I know you keep saying

087it but like and I know in one sense it's plain English and obvious but committees have charters what's the scope what are the topics yeah >> what are we asking them to do because I think we do have to be careful we do have district leadership and district admin administration who have the responsibility for managing the budget and managing our financial affairs. We have a day-to-day district to run. So, I just want to be thoughtful. Again, as I said, I will fully admit and shame on me at this point. I'm coming at the end of my first year. I don't fully understand the distinction between a superintendent committee and a board committee. So, I'd like to understand that distinction before I can, you know, intelligently tell you which one I would support. And then I

088would want from you as the person proposing it a little bit more of a specific charter. What is this committee being asked to do? Is it being asked to study the budget? That is different from is it being asked to develop and propose alternatives to school closings? That's different from is it being asked to study our properties that should be sold and what should be done with those proceeds. that's different from which is different from which is different from. So I'm saying I support the idea. I'd like to understand a little bit more the differences so I know which committee form works best because we are under pressure um as a district given our financial profile. And then I what I would just ask of you is a little bit more clarity of what the

089scope and the charter of the committee would be before I could honestly vote on whether I support it or not. But again, I'm generally very positively predisposed. >> Well, that's what the discussion is about is what do we want to see? >> So, can I ask you, can you define the committee? >> Yeah, that's why I had asked for the PAB PADAC. That's because it's already running in other districts. Mesa successfully has this standing committee. It's like the audit committee, you know, they they have a standing committee. And so, that's what I had asked that we looked into. It never happened. >> What's the scope? I'm not asking this in aational way. asking it to understand >> proactive planning and boundary design advisory committee. So it's talking about exactly what we're going through right now.

090I mean you can find that easily on their website. I've I've talked about it. >> So is it a committee or a boundary committee? >> It's a planning and boundary committee. That's why I'm asking. That's why I didn't put it on the agenda. Originally I had asked for that to be on the agenda, but I was being respectful on bringing it to all of us. So if someone had a different idea, then we could bring we could discuss it right now and bring it forward. Like I said, we've heard many times from the community that they would like a budget advisory committee. >> Yeah. >> So if that's something that you were speaking to on the campaign trail or that people were expecting from us, then that is maybe what we need to be doing.

091I don't want to bring forward something that is not the right that committee and that that's why I brought it as a discussion when I easily could have brought it as an agenda item but I was trying to be respectful and let you bring your ideas to the table. The topics within some scope of what I've seemed to understand so far is perhaps the superintendent would broaden the community budget committee so that it was more filled with microcosms and voices across the community that there might be a growth plan and revenue focus. I heard that throughout the evening. Uh I heard forensic audit. I heard boundary committee and I've heard the new phrase for me PabDAC uh in terms of an advisory. So what I might cons consider asking for is perhaps if you would

092work with Dr. Menzel on an idea of how to craft the scope of of a superintendent committee to broaden the budget discussions that would help uh perhaps layer the best sequence for what the board would entertain that would be brought forward. >> Yeah, I'm asking for a board committee. I'm not asking for a superintendent. I heard you. [applause] >> I mean, I'm happy for you to bring it to the table and and if we need to wordsmith the details here, that's great. So if you bring like if there are three different committees that you think need to be put together and put that I I mean this is the only chance we have to kind of get to the details more than happy to do that and we could discuss in wordsmith but we got

093to have something to go off of. So, you know, the ones you've mentioned, you know, I'm absolutely in support of bringing those to the table and then if we could then just guess down the details of the goals, the charter, that sort of thing. >> And if you have in the back of your mind what Mesa has done with the proactive planning and boundary committee, I'll certainly commit between now and the next board meeting to learn about that committee, what its scope is, if it's structured as board or superintendent. It sounds like it's a board committee. Um, so I'll certainly commit between now and then to learn more about that model in particular. >> It's it's a board committee because it's standing like the audit committee. It's it's constant. It's proactive. It's not reactive. Right.

094We're we create committees here reactively. Um, I do have all that information. I don't know if I can >> Yes. >> pass it down to Glattis and she can copy it for everyone or I don't know how how you want >> that works. >> Uh, this is the PAB deck from Mesa. >> Thank you. But we obviously work. >> Thank you. Obviously, we want to make it our own, but this is something that's been successful and is being used in their district and they are not closing schools. They are are have other solutions in place and that is where I'm what I'm interested in. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments? All right, that brings us to 6B, next steps, supporting families and staff following repurposed decision. Uh, Dr. Mensel, >> thank you, President Lewis,

095uh, Vice President Shy, members of the governing board. Hopefully the PowerPoint slide deck will um not that one. That one. Good. So, uh and I'm just going to have to I don't have a clicker, so we'll have to um ask someone to assist in advancing the slides. Thank you. >> So, uh, one of the things that we had talked about with the governing board, uh, during the conversation of repurposing phase one is is what happens after the board makes the decision. And on our slide deck, we include our our district vision and mission and our values. All of which undergur all of the work that we do as a leadership team working to bring recommendations to the governing board. And so those are going to continue to be shown here as a part of our

096reinforcement of the things that we're committed to. But should the governing board take action tonight to approve the recommendation that's before you, uh there are a lot of uh factors that come into play in terms of what's next. There are a number of things that were said during public comment that are not um accurate with respect to some of the timelines and conversations. We've provided information going back to the last study session in April of of 2025 where we looked at enrollment trends. We had a deep dive on the budget work study. We had um meaningful information provided on November 18th. We've covered a lot of the factual information that undergirds the recommendation that's in front of the governing board in terms of the structural budget deficit, the decisions that the board has to make

097and what the costs are. But what we know in the transition is that it's first and foremost about the people. Then we have policy that we have to follow and the process. And so we've talked about and you've heard people say uh and reference the concierge service. when I met with staff and families at both Puma and Echo Canyon, we talked about concierge level service and that came up as a reflection on what we as a leadership team are committing to our families should the board move in this direction. I want to say very clearly and unequivocally, there is not a superintendent who wants to close a single school. That is not what we get in this job for. But we do have an obligation to look at the facts, the data with respect to

098enrollment trends, building capacity, and budget constraints and make recommendations that are fiscally conservative and responsible uses of taxpayer resources. Those things undergurted the recommendation that's before the board this evening. But with respect to concierge level services, we also know that there are families that are impacted by the decision that the board may make. And so how do we ensure that students and families who are at Puma and Echo Canyon get the level of support, high level of support that you would get if you're at a hotel or on a vacation destination and you have a need. And we've heard parents say it at other meetings with the arts magnet. We heard a parent say that would not be something for my child. We know that the staff at Puma, the staff at Echo Canyon know

099their families very well. We know that there are people who will reach out and have those conversations to talk about what is it that you're looking for, not just the reboundary conversation because families make choices outside of their boundary school. In fact, 193 puma boundary families choose other SUSD options whereas only 140 of the puma boundary schools choose puma. So we know that families have choice. So our first commitment is to have those individual conversations with every family at Puma Echo Canyon following the the board discussion. Policy relates to reviewing the enrollment and boundary uh requirements. And so we know that in in district policy that this is covered and there'll be slides that address that and process address new school uh selection and the final adoption of the of the boundary uh procedures. Information

100on student reassignment and receiving school capacity. We've discussed those issues at other prior board meetings. Maps reflecting proposed boundary changes are a part of this process. And then information on transportation services. From a guiding principal perspective, we believe that this approach needs to be personalized that the we have to have the conversations and and I am not going to discount the emotional impact of a decision like this. We know that it has an impact on a community and we'll be sensitive to that not only for our families and our students but also for our staff. We know that we have to be accessible and that information has to be available not only in English but also available for our Spanish-sp speakaking families. We know that we have to have a dedicated website and that the

101people who are engaging with our families recognize that the first response to this might be anger and frustration and and a and lack of trust as has been pointed out here. At the same time, we're dealing with a financial reality that requires some very difficult decisions. And if not this, then what? Because the structural budget deficit remains. And so from a concier's perspective, we've identified district teams. And I'm not going to read all the bullet points on these slides. This is available for the public, available for uh the governing board. And there are uh documents behind this that help provide a fuller picture. But we've identified team leads at the district level and team leads at the site level to engage with our families in this process should the board move forward with the recommendation

102that's on the agenda. We've created a progress monitoring and tracking tool, a spreadsheet that spreadsheet that identifies who the concierge port of contact is. Uh when a when a family has made that enrollment decision, whether or not they have special needs, what their home language is, whether or not they're an English English language learner, a gifted student, someone who receives special education services, where they're bound uh zoned already. So, for example, in Echo Canyon, it's a non-boundary school. So knowing where they're coming from and then understanding the implication for siblings in the family. What about early childhood? How do we ensure that families are able to be at the same location? Because that's really important from a planning perspective. We want to document all of those things and identify the levels of support needed to

103ensure that our families are successful. We'll document every call, every text, when they've been responded to. We know that this will take a lot of time and effort. There was a question about where is the money coming from. We are going to invest time of our existing staff and put this as the top priority between now and the beginning of January and the time families make decisions because that was our priority. When asked back in April, what's your timeline? We said that we need to have the board make a decision by December so that we can be fair to families and staff about what's next. We thought that waiting until later in the spring would be a disservice to families trying to make decisions because if you're holding out hope that a school will be

104open and you find out in March that it's not, there's a lot less time to do that planning. And so we've honored the commitment that was stated back in April to bring forward a recommendation for board consideration and we have a process here and and an outline with all members, all hands on deck to be able to provide support for the families in the two impacted schools. This flowchart just shows how we have divvied up the work so that there's not one person or one department that's owning the responsibility. It's all of us collectively owning the responsibility and everyone understands what their part of the process is in order to ensure that we can have a successful transition. Uh the closing schools administrative staff uh really know their people and we're going to rely on

105them. It's not an easy time for the principal, assistant principal, the teachers, any of the support staff on campus. This is very difficult. At the same time, we're going to provide support for them. The concierge team is going to be available so that we can respond to questions in a timely manner. And the receiving schools, we've been having conversations about how do you roll out the red carpet? How do you ensure that families feel welcome and not like stepchildren as they come into a new school facility. At the end of the day, this is not new in school districts all across the valley, all across the country, because declining enrollment requires boards to make difficult decisions about excess capacity. When schools were built for larger student populations, and now we have much smaller populations, difficult

106decisions have to get made. Here in Arizona, the legislature has talked about all of the excess capacity in schools and wanting to talk about pushing schools to make decisions to repurpose those. We're trying to do that in a very thoughtful way that honors community input and voice that reflects the understanding that those assets are important, not something that we should just offload, which we could never get back again at a fraction of the cost that we have them for now. And so, we want to be very deliberate and thoughtful. We're here tonight on these two conversations uh because of the lower than 300 students in the two schools with with respect to the enrollment and boundary conversation. We've referenced the policies here. We could have done boundary uh conversations before doing this and make that

107a part of the package. But we've also heard people say, "Well, that's presupposing the board's going to actually make the decision to close the schools." And so with limited time, we decided to wait until the board made the decision knowing that we could move quickly. Which is why in the memo that I sent to the governing board, Christine Bono and the team that will be leading that committee is prepared to move quickly after the board decision. There's not one boundary option. There are multiple boundary options and we have tools that will help us reflect that for the public hearing that's required per state statute and board policy. >> How does Pinsky already have a team if he hasn't voted yet? So in in >> No, we don't do that. >> Dr. Bono has a team

108that So >> no, no, no. >> Just stick with your >> This is how much we trust you. >> So show me on this slide. >> Prinsky. Prinsky. Pranniski. Dr. David Prnyski is in charge of our state and federal programs. So again, uh it's not about board. This is about our staff. Dr. Prnyski is an important leader on our team. He was the former principal of Tonalia K8. And so to be very clear, we have a plan using all the members of our team to implement a concierge approach to helping support the transition. So we've we've talked about all of the things that we need to do internally. We've talked about providing um talking points and ways of engaging with families. We know that it may have a different kind of impact on some students

109than others. And so we'll engage our student services team who are skilled and prepared in talking with students about how to navigate change in environments where they're unprepared or uncertain about what that might look like. We will be prepared to send communication out tomorrow morning once the governing board makes its decision. We'll be scheduling on-site information sessions at both schools. We'll be launching the boundary process and procedures, and we'll be assigning that concierge point of contact so people know who they'll be working with. Our enrollment team in in SIMR, they've already been taking and processing some uh preferences that parents have identified and will continue to do so. Uh we'll also look at some of these specialized programs and services. So students with IEPs and students who are English language learners or those who have

110504s, those are really important questions and we've got experts who will be able to help navigate that transition. And as I just mentioned, the emotional support provided by our student services team. And then we're not going to just get through the sign up for what school is next, but we're going to be working with our schools to do what I think is really important, and I've seen this happen in a lot of places. Uh it's not just about closing and repurposing a school. It's also about celebrating a legacy and honoring the school's history and its commitment to the community. We see that celebrated here in Scottsdale 1983 the last graduating class of Scottsdale High. Uh they still celebrate. They still march in the Prada del Soul. It was not an easy decision. I spoke with

111the superintendent uh recently who was superintendent when that decision was made. It was a difficult one. We would not if Scottdale High was still open in its proximity to Coronado, we wouldn't have been able to operate that way. The right decision was made, but it didn't feel to the community at the time it was the right decision. Sometimes difficult decisions don't feel like they might be the right ones, our job administratively and the governing board's job is to look into the future and to say, where are we going to be in the next 10 years? That's why we have the demographic study. That's why we're looking at how do we ensure that we have full and thriving schools given what we've seen as the historical trend over the past 15 years and the projections over

112the next 10. And we'll continue to work with our families in support of the transition all the way into the start of the next school year. And so our commitments are to personalize and individualize the supports because we know not every family needs the same thing. We're committed to prioritizing the preference for students, families, and staff impacted throughout the system. This is in it's codified in in policy with respect to open enrollment preferences and it's also a part of what we've been working on with our IBN process with the different associations for our staff. Uh we believe that it will be important to dedicate the time and effort to celebrating uh the history and legacy of the schools that are impacted by the decision tonight. And we are committed to respectful, transparent, and compassionate closure.

113Uh, and I know that it may not feel that way because the closure doesn't feel that way. I've been involved in conversations in communities where this has happened. I also know that beyond that, when you look in the rearview mirror, that that uh children and staff are resilient, that our schools are really not about the buildings, they're about the people. And while we wish that we didn't have to be in a position to have these conversations, we know that in navigating it, there's a way to do it to help ensure that it's successful for everyone that's impacted by the decision. Just so that you know where we are as of this evening, 12% of the current families in Puma have already enrolled in other options for 2627 and 17% of our uh echo families have

114enrolled in other options. So, we've been working with families. This was part of the conversation we had earlier, uh, not knowing what the governing board was going to do, but encouraging families to begin to look for what might be the next best option for their children. So, with that, I'll turn it over to the board for questions. >> Thank you, Dr. Menzel. Dr. Fatinsky. So, I've excuse me [clears throat] talked a few times about how frustrating the order of operations um sorry to keep using that term uh is in this process and you touched on it a little bit tonight. On the one hand, if you prepare fully for what happens if the board decides to vote to close, you're front running the board. You're also taking a lot of energy from the district's leadership

115that we want focused on academic achievement and day-to-day operations and working on something that could end up being for not. At the same time, if you don't prepare and the board votes to close schools, then you were not ready to answer the kinds of questions that you should be expected to answer about what happens next. Similarly, if you are very loud about your concerns that a school has fallen below a certain threshold to be viable, you create a run on the bank, which we started to see in that last slide where families start to leave because no one wants to stick around and be the last family out so to speak. >> We were told to >> that's enough >> and you know or you know get the clear message that that's what the superintendent

116believes is going to happen. Thank you. At the same time, if you're not communicating that risk, you know, then obviously people feel blindsided. I I've been critical in breaking that sort of chicken in the egg. I've been critical of the district for not doing this earlier. I believe that we should be considering only be considering the closing of a school if we're also at the same time able to speak to what happens with families. And then also what happens with the teachers and staff and I understand that one's a little bit trickier as you get into budgets and you know interest based negotiation and so on. So you kind of went through this a little bit quickly and [clears throat] candidly you kind of mixed together a little bit of defending the recommendation with also

117talking about you know the um the actual substance of the concierge plan. Can you just summarize? I think it's the slide that's titled people, >> school teams, and responsibilities is probably the best one for you to do it from. >> There is that one. >> Just so I understand. Yeah, this one. If we vote to close these two schools, recognizing that not everything is fully fleshed out because you wanted to respect the board's um autonomy here, what would a family reasonably expect to happen next? Well, I I appreciate the framing uh first because the order of operations is um off in the sense of when you do your budget planning, the board adopts the budget in June, but a decision like this is so consequential, it needs to be made before you're making your final

118budget decisions. And so, as we've as we've talked about this, um we want to be respectful of families. The order of operations here is accelerated in order to allow for time for the team to provide support. So from the closing school staff admin, this first slide, uh we we first are committing to ending the year strong, right? We we are going to continue to teach. We are expecting our students to continue to learn. We're going to create compelling uh learning environments for our students all the way through the end of the year. We invite our students, our staff, and our families to be fully engaged and to make it a celebration of the school that they're at, recognizing that it is going to be something different in the following year. That's that's just a difficult

119reality, but it's part of what happens when you make a decision this early. If you had a shorter timeline, you you would, you know, not have a whole semester to deal with it. But what we really want to do is to make sure that we're having the conversations with families about what next and and that means the people that they know and trust and they have those on our campuses. They are valued employees of SUSD who can talk with the families about, you know, is if I'm at puma, is Navajo a better option or is it Hok or is it Yavapai? Some families have chosen KA. We know that there are a lot of different options and some might want to contemplate um PBLO as a dual language immersion program. We heard a lot of

120talk about, you know, we should be doing more specialty programs. We have a lot of them. We need our families to understand what all those choices and options are that are available. uh some that will be impacted by how close they are to where families live and that convenience. Others may u be impacted by where a family works. So we have families that will choose a school because it's on the way to work and it makes it more convenient. And so the concierge level service allows the staff member to understand what the family need is and then provide recommendations for how we can fill that need because our goal is to meet the needs of all of our families in this environment. And one of the things that I heard often when meeting with families

121is the concern that I have kids who are in the early care program, early childhood program as well as in the K, you know, through >> through um, you know, the elementary program. And so I have to make a decision of those two in concert and I always hear that these programs are totally filled up and there's a wait list and so then I'm in a difficult situation. Can you speak a little bit to how much flexibility we have to align with a single family both decisions because from a parents perspective they're the same difference even if for us they're organizationally different entities. >> So I I think it's a really important point. We did have that conversation at cabinet earlier today. Uh and the same priority and preference would be given to families for

122their early childhood enrollment in the school where they're looking to send their children. And so that would be part of our commitment. And we're always working to grow. Sometimes that when you when you hit a ceiling on an early childhood program, you could open up another section if you get another 24 students. And so it's it's that buffer. But we're going to prioritize the families who are impacted by this decision uh in those uh enrollment opportunities so that they can have their family members together at the school of their choice as we go through this process. And so that'll be new for community ed, but something that they're committed to doing. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Shy. >> Um on the actually the next slide about boundary is on there. Um can you or possibly

123council give any color from a policy standpoint? Um if there are discussions about boundary, what is required? I'm just want to understand the scope of that. >> Madam President, Mr. Shy. So both your governing board policy and state law require that you notify the affected students. So that would be both from the um the giving and receiving schools um in writing prior to a public hearing on boundaries. You are also required to notify affected residents um of in the boundary areas. Uh then there is a requirement that you hold a public hearing very similar in nature to what you did with respect to the school closure hearing in November and then subsequently a vote on the boundary. You're also required under state law to post on the website the various scenarios that the governing board

124is considering. So, the various boundary maps have to be posted on your district website and then following the decision, you're required to notify the Department of Real Estate, which goes into a big black hole somewhere in our our state government because that's a state requirement that has no relevance. >> Thank you. And to Miss Carney's earlier point about committees in in feedback, what's a typical venue and method by which community is giving input to the boundaries? Is it superficial? Is it part of the discussion? Uh, >> Madam President, Mr. Shy, members of the governing board. So, um, again, that goes to the expediency issue. Um, I met with Miss Bono today who is leading the from the district administration. There are three options that the district administration would be ready to present to the governing

125board um and start that process. But if the board chooses in January to schedule um a committee to review the boundaries for any school closures, then uh we would need to work through the committee process and then have those recommendations come to the board. So you have both options available to you. Um if it is a superintendent uh initiative to present that information to the board initially, it will be more expedient. >> Is is there a middle ground? I'm thinking like a town hall where it's not onedirectional. Um, so it's not saying we created three options, here they are. Thank you. Make comments asynchronously, but something like a town hall where there is a chance for feedback. Is that a viable or is it committee no committee? >> You certainly could have a town hall

126to consider any options being presented. You are required to have the public hearing, but you can have multiple meetings regarding any boundary changes. >> Thank you, Dr. Menel. Any other comments? Okay, Miss Warner, Mr. Carney. I think just for the record, I will make a comment that the uh boundary committee that was brought to us on in the um board memo on December 7th that I referred to in my earlier agenda item lists one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight administrators and possibly two or three Puma parents. That's who's listed on there. [snorts] >> Is that a good thing or a bad thing? What's your >> I'm just giving the facts. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other comments? All right. Thank you very much for preparing that uh for us to consider. Item

1276 C, discussion on pros and cons of accelerating or maintaining the phase 2 timeline. Uh Dr. Menzel and I understand Mr. Shy. So on on November 18th, uh when I presented the information that had been requested about um a bigger picture for phase one and phase two and full and thriving schools, one of the options that was listed was the potential for accelerating um phase two and getting it all done this year. I didn't hear a lot of um interest in doing that. Uh but there is, I think, interest in making sure that we have the conversation about the pros and the cons. uh with respect to both uh my recommendation is to continue on the two-year two-phase process in order to fully engage the community. So I'm not recommending acceleration. At that meeting we

128discussed that there had been an IBN recommendation to move more quickly and the rationale as I understand it from the IBN process was really to shorten the timeline of angst that people feel associated with the difficult decisions and to get it done so that we can move on. uh and also from a financial perspective, you realize the cost savings more quickly uh so that you're you're front-loading all of the uh the difficult decisions while fixing the structural budget deficit. I believe that we need more time as I said on the 18th that there are multiple potential scenarios in the north part of Scottsdale that could address the overall recommendation that we move from 29 to 25 buildings uh in the next two years. You heard someone say earlier tonight, it could be seven. You can

129make an argument for more. I don't believe that it's necessary to do more. I believe that we can do the combination of continuing to work on growing and and and have compelling educational options, but I don't see a scenario with any of the demographics that we can keep, you know, all 29 buildings open. And so the 25 number remains and I think that because there are multiple strategies up north, I think that we need to take the time to consider which are the most advantageous for the district through robust community dialogue. >> Thank you for that. Um I'm the one requested to put this on the agenda. Uh be upfront, I agree. I think it's um way too quick to consider that in academic year 2627. Um I just wanted to make sure it was

130clear. it was put as an option and I just wanted to make sure there was 100% clarity that you know if there is no appetite to do that then that would help. Um secondarily like most um of my colleagues have said I think we can learn from the process and do better um and so I think that's on the table as well. Thank you. So I put it on the agenda and it was just take a pulse check on it and say I'm very clear I don't see any need to accelerate that. Um, I don't need any discussion unless anybody else wants to chime in. >> Any other comments on phase two, Miss Warner? >> I think that these conversations and meetings should have happened prior to making decisions on what we're voting on today.

131This should have happened a long time ago. And um uh there it's there's no way uh it would be acceptable to move forward on anything like this. And I will just state for the record again, we should have been doing this a long time ago so that these families were not blindsided. All right, thank you for getting on the agenda now so we can begin the conversations. Uh we're going to move to item seven for the consent agenda. I make a motion and uh to accept the consent agenda as uh presented. >> Second a motion and a second. All those in favor? >> I uh any opposed? It passes 5 to 0. 5 to zero. Uh we're now moving for uh action items. Uh the first one is the action is to close and repurpose

132Echo Canyon K8 school beginning in the 2627 school year pursuant to ARS 1534132. Um I make a motion to >> I'm sorry. I have a question for legal. >> Yeah. >> Can I go ahead? >> Yes. Okay. I have a a question for legal council. for clarification, please. Uh, so the action before us asks the board to approve both the closure and the repurposing of Echo Canyon uh, K through8 school. Yet, there's no written repurposing plan, timeline, or defined use before the board. Are there any potential legal risks related to voting to close and repurpose without a finalized plan? Madame President, Miss Carney, the governing board has consistently uh been presented with the option to repurpose rather than uh go to a vote for the people to sell the property. This vote would not limit

133the governing board's options. So, the purpose would be to close and use it for district purposes. Okay? But closing is not equal to repurposing. So, I I just want to confirm and I would like for you to confirm that this vote does not delegate authority to the superintendent to determine the future repurposing of the these campuses. >> Madame President, Miss Carney, this vote would not delegate to the superintendent the purported use of either of the campuses. That is a governing board decision. whether it's leased, sold, repurposed, and used for other district purposes. The district's governing board would need to authorize the next uh use for the property that's within your statutory alignment, unless it's a short-term lease, in which case your policy delegates that to the district administration. So, short-term uses like use of ball

134fields, that sort of thing. >> [sighs] >> I'll make a motion to uh accept the uh action item as presented. >> Discuss it. >> We need a second then we can discuss it. >> I'll second the motion. >> Other discussion topics or items within it? Miss Warner >> just be very clear that the superintendent and the people on this dis with the permanency that this decision makes today the families the staff and the communities do. >> Dr. Patensky. >> Yeah. Given how significant this issue is, I've actually prepared um kind of my comments. So if it seems like I'm reading, it's because I'm reading. Um, so Puma and Echo Canyon, Puma and Echo Canyon are not just schools. They are communities where children feel known, loved, and nurtured. They are caring, A-rated schools with unique

135programs that have shaped their students lives, many of whom have returned as alumni parents. They are neighborhood schools. Voting yes to close these schools in the upcoming budget is incredibly difficult. I also believe it is the right thing to do given the effect it will have on the families and all of SUSD. I want to explain why. [snorts] In my first year on the board, I participated in our enrollment and our budget study sessions, reviewed past board discussions and demographic studies, engaged with families through testimony and meetings, and read more than 150 emails. Each time I heard from Puma and Echo Canyon families, especially the Girl Scouts, I thought, "We can't do this." Then I faced a plain stubborn fact. SUSD is nearly 25% smaller than we were 15 years ago. That is the equivalent

136of 10 elementary schools smaller. Yet, we have closed only one program in that time frame. That is not sustainable. That is not responsible. And I'm afraid that is not protecting SUSD. Even if we could find a way to keep both schools running and push the decision off for another year or two or three, it is not a question of whether but when we must face the core structural deficit caused by our change in enrollments. Delaying hard decisions is partly how we got here. Indeed, as best I can tell, there are three reasons why the board is now required to take this vote. First is demographics. As been noted, Scottsdale has fewer school-aged children than we once did. Demographer demographers have accurately forecasted this decline for years. Even if the same percentage of families chose SUSD

137today as 15 years ago, we would still have lost almost four elementary schools worth of enrollment because simply there are fewer kids in our district. Temporary fixes for next year cannot overcome this continuing trend. Second, and in my opinion most importantly, is our state policy. Arizona ranks 48th in the country in per pupil funding. Over the last five years, SUSD's base funding from the state has declined by $7.5 million in real purchasing power. At the same time, the state has created a $1 billion voucher entitlement encouraging families to leave public schools rather than spend money to strengthen them. I appreciate that Representative Grass spoke at our earlier hearing and that he and Senator Warner have proposed legislation to allow districts to use land sale proceeds more flexibly. Something that is not possible today, which is

138why the district hasn't proposed selling properties to help address the budget issue. That said, as a business person, I have to say one-time assets cannot solve a structural operating budget. It is not a solution. Now, a legislator has asked us to delay our vote until February 1st, arguing that our analysis is quote incomplete, and that we have quote unquote financial options that allow us to wait. Imagine someone digging a giant hole, handing you the shovel, and then demanding to know why you're standing in the hole. That is what it feels like to be on this board. We have studied enrollment. We've studied demographics and budgets extensively. We've participated in months of public and board discussions. We've known the direction of these trends for this for years. The question before us is not whether more time

139will change the data. It will not. But whether we're willing to do something unpopular to avoid spreading our resources thinner and thinner across too many sites for the number of students that we serve. Delaying means another year of uncertainty and quote death by a thousand cuts. That is not acceptable governance. Our responsibility is not only to this year's budget. It is to the next decade of Scottsdale public education. Third, the responsibility lies in my view with the district itself. We must improve enrollment marketing. We must communicate a clearer academic vision. We must continuously evaluate spending. The district has certainly made mistakes. The sequence of consultations it engaged in created the perception, if not the reality, that one school was determining the future of another school. That is unacceptable. It failed to proactively address critical questions

140such as how the families, teachers, and staff affected would be supported. Most of all, we have gone from 70% of families in our boundaries choosing SUSD to just 56%. A clear sign that we need to act with urgency. Relying on APS, principles, and site councils to attract enrollment is an unfair expectation to place on our schools. I've heard countless examples of missed opportunities to promote and build awareness, including at Puma and Echo Canyon. >> [snorts] >> We know from exit surveys that the number one reason families leave SUSD other than moving away is our academic rigor. The board needs to keep its agenda consistently focused on achievement, not manufactured sideshows. We need to maximize instructional time. It needs to be crystal clear why more families should choose SUSD. Let's not forget the families of 19,000

141students already do, including 4,600 students from outside the district who choose our district. As for why Puma and Echo Canyon were recommended specifically, the district evaluated enrollment, capacity, utilization, proximity to other options, and neighborhood preferences, among other criteria. It matters that they're both title one schools, but I'm satisfied at least that this is not the reason they were chosen. To be perfectly clear, we are not closing the campuses with this vote. FEMA has recently undergone an $18 million renovation. Discussions have already begun about new programs that could grow enrollment and reduce costs on those sites. We have successfully repurposed campuses before and I believe we can do it again strategically. I am deeply deeply saddened by the impact this decision will have on Puma and Echo Canyon families. If approved by the board, we must

142dedicate our focus to ensuring that every student, teacher, and staff member receive strong support as they transition and that they're welcomed into new SUSD schools where they can connect, attach, and thrive. While you may be disappointed in my decision, I hope you feel listened to and understand my logic. It's difficult, but it's necessary. Believe it or not, that was the short version. I've written a longer open letter explaining my vote and my observations and criticisms of the process at a URL. It's tiny URL tyurl.comsusdision. That's tinyurl.com. SUSD-decision and thank you for letting me to explain uh my vote which is yes. >> Thank you Miss Dr. Patensky. Miss Warner. >> Well I want to thank the families from Echo Canyon who are here and thank Principal Hughes. You guys are amazing. I have toured your

143campus many times and I have listened to all of you. I believe that you have a viable product and if marketing was different and we had more time and this process had been done in a proper orderly fashion, we probably wouldn't be here today. So I strongly support you and I vote no. Miss Cardi. Okay. Uh I'd like to explain my vote. So, I I strongly support fiscal responsibility and thoughtful planning and doing what is in the best interest of students, families, our staff, and community as a whole. And I understand that hard decisions and changes need to be made. But I believe the board should have first voted to even explore repurposing. They should established a community advisory committee that included parents, teachers, staff, and other key stakeholders and developed a transparent long-term plan

144before arriving at a decision to close or repurpose any school. This process has been flawed, and I [snorts] have been voiced that from the beginning. So, I cannot responsibly vote to close or repurpose Echo Canyon School without a plan or proper community partnership, without even trying something different. So therefore, I'm no. >> Thank you, Mr. Shy. >> First, I want to recognize the staff Mechco Canyon and the families from Mechco Canyon. Um, you know, in understanding what they're going through. The way I look at this, and I've shared this with many families both from Echko and Puma. Um, so first is capacity. Um, we have excess capacity and that is a cost we are carrying. um it would be fiscally irresponsible of us to not look at utilizing that capacity in the right way. That

145is what's driving this is the fact that we have excess capacity. We've talked about the reasons why um and I want to make sure that's understood that what's driving this um talking about where we can save money. So, what I've really liked coming out of this process is the input from families, the input from the community on the places that we can save money. There's a list that um I believe board members reviewed last week and were sent yesterday of 50 different line items of options that can save the school money. Some of them are small, some of them are large. um many of them are things that we can do and will do. And so that community input has been good to bring that expertise and that shared collective knowledge to the table. Um

146when I look at those options, one thing that's going to drive what I do is that I'm all for cost savings as long as it doesn't have a negative ac negative impact on the academic product that we put out. Um, one of the suggestions on there was, um, just add one student, uh, and class size across the board. That makes our academic product just a little bit worse, right? What I don't want to do is to get us into this death spiral. If we make a little few cuts, those cuts make our product worse. That reduces enrollments, which forces us to make more cuts. And I think we were very close to that point, and I don't want to exacerbate that. uh a comment on closing a school should be a a last resort. I

147actually disagree with that. I think adding adding students to the classroom across the entire district is worse. Uh there was a suggestion to go to a 4-day uh school week and work week. I think that's worse. Um I do not want to sacrifice the entire district for shortterm plugs on these decisions. Um, I I've got uh folks that keep saying during your campaign you promised to protect SUSD. I'm protecting SUSD. I apologize if that comes at the cost of your school, your child, your family. I realize that. I empathize with that. That is not lost on me. But I need you to know that the reasoning and the reason I shared with the people that I've met with was for protecting the district. >> Can you please? >> Yes. >> Finally, um I don't look

148at this as a trade-off. If we could save X dollars, we can keep the schools open. We have capacity issues that has to be dealt with. We can do both. I've said before, I want us to be on the offense. I said, "We as a district are in an enviable position. Other districts across this state would love to be Scottsdale Unified School District. If we get ourselves on financial footing, which I believe this is in the direction of doing that, we can invest in our staff, we can invest in our schools, we can invest in our programs to make Scottsdale schools better than what it is today and to keep improving it. and that will make it the school of choice for our Scottsdale families. With that, I vote yes. >> Um, we're going to

149ask audience members to withhold shout outs, please. Uh, I am going to vote yes in support of this uh recommendation and uh reserve comment for later. I want to uh tell you how very sad I am and how very hopeful I am for the many ideas that have come forward as we work forward together for these future phases and continued tenure cons 10 years worth of concern with our demographics preparation and and and are owed to our taxpayers and all of our students. Uh so uh with that uh the motion passes 3 to two. We are now going to move to action item 8B, action to close and repurpose Puma Elementary School beginning in the 2627th school year pursuant to ARS 1534132. I I make a motion to uh accept the action as presented. >>

150Second. >> Any further comments? All right, we'll do a roll call. Dr. Pesky, >> I approve. Yes, >> Warner. >> Again, I want to thank the Puma parents and staff that have come forward with great ideas, great suggestions, thought leaders, and business leaders from our community. Um, I believe that this process has again been absolutely terrible and unfair to you all, and we should have started with meetings beforehand, not after the fact. And um, I vote no. That's you know it didn't have to be this way and I'm very disappointed of where we are right now and I'm disappointed that we didn't even try for Puma. They didn't even get the opportunity to have a growth plan like was given to other schools. In my review of district spending, I've identified what I believe are

151serious opportunities for cost savings. I've been saying it from the dis. This is I'm finishing up my third year. I've been constantly talking about places where we could save money and I'm unheard. Things don't change. Including just this week, I'm looking at the communications and marketing expenditures from last year alone and found $400,000 of wasted spending. Okay. on coins, on t-shirts, on back to school rally, on there are a lot of areas that need to be cut and that should have been looked into before we are being forced to v vote on the closure of Puma Elementary. I cannot responsibly vote to close or repurpose Puma Elementary. There is no clear plan, meaningful community engagement, or a proper process in place, and therefore my vote is no. >> Thank you, Mr. Shy. Miss Carter, we

152all due respect with votes to increase pay that wasn't budgeted. >> You don't need to speak to me. You can speak to the community. >> You don't need to constantly >> Okay. Apologize. >> Um I just to the Puma families that are here that I've met with three times for multiple hours over the last few weeks. I stand by what I say. I appreciate meeting with you. I want you to know that I listen to you. Um, I know this is not the vote you want. I vote yes. >> It is with a grieving heart for the circumstances and with a moral sense of fiduciary accountability that I vote to support this action. >> It passes three to two. >> Uh, we're going to take a fivem minute recess. call the meeting back to order.

153All right, we are on item 8 C, second read and approval, the revision of governing board policy DJ regarding bidding and purchasing. Uh, Miss Mlullen. Madam President, members of the governing board, so tonight presented uh for your approval upon second read are revisions to governing board policy DJ regarding bidding and purchasing procedures. The original revisions were recommended by the district's policy provided the Arizona School Board Association. Um I also have reviewed these revisions with uh Miss Kroger's office. Um we brought the district's policy up to speed. it appeared that you may have missed a policy revision along the way. And so if you have any questions regarding any of the specifics, they are outlined in terms of um strikeouts and bold where the additions are made. >> Thank you. Questions from board members discussion hearing?

154None. I'll make a motion to accept the second approval to approve the uh revision uh DJ regarding bidding and purchasing. I need a second. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I it passes 5. Thank you. Uh we now move into the public hearing and uh the presentation on approval of revision number one for the 2526 expenditure budget. Uh Shannon Croer is coming to the podium at this point. Uh she'll present to us uh the public hearing on approval of revision number one uh is in pursuant to ARS 38431.02 O2 and ARS15905D and E. Notice is hereby given to the members of the governing board and to the general public that the governing board will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday, no uh December 9th at 6 p.m. uh at Coronado High School uh

155uh with the address in the uh statement. Uh we are uh going to have Miss Shannon uh Croer present to us first and then open it up for public comments regarding the expenditure of the 2526 expenditure budget only. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening board president Lewis, Vice President Shy, members of the board, Dr. Mensel and guest. Uh tonight's budget revision is an opportunity to update the current budget based on actual enrollment um and the figures that we know from finalized carry forward um as compared to estimates that were used when we did the original proposed and adopted budget this spring. Um because maintenance and operation funding is based on current year enrollment, the budget can and will fluctuate throughout the year uh even after the 100th day count as student data continues to be

156uploaded, reviewed, and reconciled with the state. This reflection revision reflects those updates from the proposed and adopted budgets and aligns the budget with the more accurate information. Uh this evening we'll look at the most uh significant changes starting with average daily membership which impacts our M um and then we'll also look at key changes within the um district decision district additional assistance or capital fund classroom site and um state and federal grants. Um as you can see overall our average dele membership um declined additional more than what we had originally anticipated. The bulk of that happening within K8 um as well as within grades um 9 through 12. Um that of course impacts our M because our M is driven by what our ADM is. And um so with that um we do actually have

157because of some additional funds that came in um we have a small increase to the budget at this time. Um like I said we're still a ways we're still almost two months off from being the hundth day. Um, but our student weighted count, so we have the ADM, there's weights that are applied to them, whether or not you're um a K12 or K8 student or a 912 student or your special needs student or have other additional weights. Because of that, the weight count um increased or it decreased, but it wasn't as drastic as what the ADM loss was. So, that part was good. Um our budget be budget balance carry forward also decreased but because of some it's technically one-time monies although this is the second year for it um of additional assistance and free

158induced supplements that increased our budget by over $800,000 which is why instead of decreasing our budget right now we were able to slightly increase it. Um other significant changes uh like I said we we do estimates on where we think things are going to be. um in the spring and we know that there are projects with especially within capital that may or may not have gotten finished that need rolled over. We also um have really tried to roll over it all in the state formula or the state capital fund so that we have those available to move to M if the governing board should decide to do so. So with that um that increased by 10.8 million classroom site fund increased by 1.1 million. Federal grants increased by 2.2. that just happens to do with

159um -ate funding that we get back for projects that we do through the federal government and then just a small carry forward increase within our state grants. With that, I will take any questions. Governing board. All right, we're ready for a public hearing then if anybody would like to speak. Seeing none, I will uh make a motion to approve the revised 2526 expenditure budget as presented. >> I'll second the motion. >> All those in favor? >> I I >> It passes five to zero. Thank you. >> All right, we're going to adjourn the public hearing. Uh it is what time is it? >> 819. >> 8:19. Thank you. Uh now we're going to move into executive session. I'm going to make a motion to convene into executive session uh for discussion and consideration of the

160superintendent's mid-year evaluation feedback pursuant to governing board policy CBI evaluation of superintendent and performance pay based on ARS 3843103A1. I need a second. >> I'll second the motion. >> All right. All those in favor? >> I I >> That's a 50. We would like to stay in the room since the rest of the meeting is relatively >> there's no action >> no action involved. If if that uh we could ask people to they can you can come back when we're concluded. vote at 854. >> Thank you.