001[Music] hey what noise [Music] together [Music] Ness [Music] let's go [Music] please [Music] foreign [Applause] good evening I call to order this regular meeting of the Scottsdale Unified School District number 48 governing board today is Tuesday September 12 2023 the time is 6 pm um vice president Werner can you please please lead us in a pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America thank you and I'll start with the roll call from my far right Amy Kearney Zach Lindsey [Music] Julie sunowski um do we have Dr hartwell's in the cloud I am present okay we have all five members present and we have a quorum um I'd like to make an amendment to our agenda for this evening and I'm going to ask that we poll a consent agenda I are
002there any other not for further consideration remove it completely remove it completely that's correct thank you any other input or recommendations from board members seeing that there are none I'd like to make a motion to approve the agenda as amended is there a second second seconded by board member Werner all in favor say aye aye aye that motion passes 5-0 all right we're going to move on to um since we approved our agenda I'm going to read our statement of decorum first just as a reminder to all of our participants of our evening meeting just like in school we are expected to also follow some rules here in our meetings citizens attending and or participating in the Scottsdale unified school district meetings either in person virtually or telephonically are required to observe the same Rules
003of Order and decorum applicable to members of the governing board and our school staff unauthorized remarks or demonstrations from members of the audience yells outbursts and or disruptions are not permitted members of the public are not allowed to approach the diocese without any at any time while the governing board meeting is in session without express permission from the governing board president all right and we are going to move on to student and staff recognitions at this time my favorite part of this meeting and I'm going to turn this over to Dr Menzel well good evening president sunowski vice president Werner and members of the governing board we hope that each of you enjoyed our pre-meeting performance by the Pueblo Elementary School mariachi band and Mrs bandolin's fifth grade guitar class now we want you to
004meet some of their classmates and next door neighbors our director of communications and marketing Christine Harrington is going to kick things off for us this evening Christine vice president Werner governing board members Dr Menzel and Gladys and all of you joining us here today are tuning in Live on YouTube thank you for joining us tonight I'd also like to thank our Pueblo Elementary School Mariachi and fifth grade guitarists for an awesome performance thank you guys I'd also like to invite up our Pueblo student ambassadors that may also be in the audience any others as well as swaro student ambassadors yes please join us and Dan Milligan swaro assistant principal Shelley hummin Pueblo principal and Christy bandolin Pueblo music teacher oh there you are okay perfect now as you may have heard the school district is
005a finalist for the Sterling award this is the 37th year that the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce has honored organizations demonstrating Excellence Innovation and Community stewardship and susd is a finalist in the big business category last month we had just one hour to demonstrate to a panel of Judges all that makes susd great as you can imagine with 21 000 students a wide array of unique program offerings across our 30 schools and 2 600 employees this was a lot to do in just one hour it was not an easy feat lucky for us Pueblo Elementary School home to the district Spanish dual language immersion program and newly rebuilt thanks to widespread stakeholder support of our 2016 Bond measure is right next door to swaro high school which is home to a number of different CTE programs
006the math and science academy and Innovation Center making it possible for the judges to see quite a bit in a very short amount of time of course the reason why we are all here tonight and the reason why we might win this Sterling award is because kids so who better than our students to take the judges on the tours Pueblo and soaro students shared their love for learning they also shared examples of opportunities they've already have they've already had the internships and jobs they've already earned because of what they've already learned in our schools they clearly demonstrated their talents and engaged in great conversations Pueblo students had the judges singing along to declares and Sora students had the judges and lab coats examining material under microscopes learning CPR and engaging in experiments with sisters in
007stem all in all it was a beautiful representation of all that this district has to offer and experienced in just an hour so thank you students principals and teachers for making this most memorable now we'd like to present each of you each of our student ambassadors our musicians here tonight um and and our teacher thank you Christy for being here um with a because kids susd challenge coin so Dr Menzel is making it making a round to present you with all of those our Pueblo student ambassadors Cadence Andrew Izzy Corey Charlie Madden Kaden Quigley Huxley Talcott Caden Thompson and Kayla yorkas thank you swaro we had Kate Dalton Eric Morgan Dalia Riley nikhil Steffi and Alex Stevenson thank you so much students and then our musicians here they're also they've done this show for us
008now three times and in fact it's been so impressive that the Scottsdale area realtors association is coming back later this week and bringing 25 members of their leadership team for the same experience so we really appreciate because we I do know that it's it's an inconvenience but it's it's so great to see the demonstration of learning that's happening so to our musicians here tonight Dallas Marriott uh Kinsley aderport Raya Chacon William Engelman Judah Gill Avery Hubble Kaylee Lattimore Benicio santoyo Hudson Sexton Rogers Asher Fogle Lily pinaki Conrad Worthington and Nixon Cushing so thank you all very very much we are just gonna step outside for a picture too guys okay Cadence probably thank you all very much I I enjoy celebrating and I was fortunate enough to be able to tag along on the tour
009for the chamber judges and I can tell you that it was truly impressive to watch our students tell the story about their educational experience both at Pueblo and Saguaro High School thank you Mrs bandolin Mrs Hammond Mr Milligan for your combined efforts we are very proud of you we have just a few more things to highlight in our celebrations this evening first fall 2023 High School theater Productions the spotlights and Footlights will be gone during the next few weeks as fall theater Productions take the stage at Chaparral High School next Thursday Friday and Saturday the curtains go up on a classic The Crucible and at Saguaro High School the following Wednesday Thursday and Saturday an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland penned by outstanding saber cats class of 23 grad Spencer Waring will be
010presented find the show times and ticket information on our district website calendar or in the arts section of the September susd source and here at Coronado High School last weekend theater students undertook the challenge of writing producing and presenting a play in only 24 hours I want to thank theater teacher Chelsea Brazen for making this fun engaging opportunity possible for Coronado's drama students as I want to call the tension the fact that this is arts and education week now all of that is a perfect introduction to the celebration of the national arts and education week Arts education comprise comprised of a rich array of disciplines including dance music theater choir band Orchestra and visual arts as core academic subject and essential element of a complete and well-rounded education for all students we are fortunate in
011Scottsdale unified to offer K-12 Arts education to all of our students these programs can be a crucial component of your child's school life whether practicing lines for a play or cutting up magazine scraps for a collage children use art to tap into their creative side and hone skills that might not focus on other content areas but so very important in terms of a well-rounded education so next time you see one of our amazing Scottsdale Arts Educators please thank them for the work they do with our students from the youngest grade levels all the way through High School truly something to be proud of in this District then tomorrow we will learn the names of the class of 2024 National Merit Scholarship program semi-finalist this Nationwide pool of about 16 000 comes from among the more
012than 1.3 million students at 21 000 high schools who took the qualifying PSAT nmsqt last year when they were Juniors and it represents less than one percent of the nation's High School senior class these academically talented High School seniors have an opportunity to advance in the competition for more than seven thousand National Merit Scholarships worth nearly 28 million that will be offered next spring so we're excited to learn who our top students are and we'll support them in the work that now needs to be done to move to the finalist stage in February and with that we'll conclude our celebrations this evening celebrations going on appreciate that and now we move on to the part of their agenda that calls for governing board reports are there any governing board members that would like to share
013a report this evening vice president Werner I just want to take a moment to recognize the public elementary band and the guitar class that was fabulous and it's really great to see some of the amazing programs and the talent that we have in our schools thanks board member Kearney thank you president sunowski so I just want to thank everyone who is here in attendance tonight in person and online um since I've joined the board in January I've viewed these governing board reports as a way that elected officials can briefly fill you in on how we're involved in the district and how to encourage you to be involved alongside us as well so I recently got to visit Desert Canyon Elementary for the first time and learn more about their unique Learning Community with their Mandarin
014program and I love learning from Principal Mills that she's got a very strong involved parent group and she said she's a really loyal dedicated staff so she experienced very little turnover this school year so that's really great I also got to attend the Arizona School Board Association law conference with some of my colleagues this past week and learned some great things as well as made great connections with other board members from around the state I also want to remind parents that they are able to go review the new K-5 Ela curriculum that's being considered for adoption any school day from nine to three at Laguna Elementary School now until November 14th if anyone's interested thank you thank you hi Dr Hart Wells do you have a report to share this evening yes thank you president
015sonowski I I'm not going to talk about myself rather I would like to continue to highlight some more of our exemplary students if I may starting with Reese Rinaldi at Saguaro High School and Dylan Tapley of Desert Mountain high school each of whom participated in recording messages for two teens around the state public service messages in support of teen suicide prevention awareness month they are part of a very important campaign to provide messages of Hope to their peers who may be struggling with depression anxiety or thoughts of suicide the PSAs are part of teen lifeline's efforts to remind every kid regardless of their gender ethnicity sexuality academic or athletic achievements that they matter and they're not alone I also want to thank all of those who have attended the mno override Town Halls so far
016and encourage all of our susd voters to attend any of the remaining sessions to get all the accurate information on the mno budget expenditures and how the district has made effective use of the current override tax dollars and last but certainly not least I hope I see everybody at the upcoming sisters in stem annual event on September 30th because science is fun and I will end there thank you all right and for my governing board report I would just like to add that I had the opportunity to to also participate in the Arizona School Board Association the law conference and the Statewide delegate assembly um this past week and over the weekend I had the opportunity to also visit schools and meet with various community members and seeing that there are no other requests for
017board reports we're going to move on to public comments uh just a reminder that the decorum statement has been shared and those expectations apply to the public comments section of our meeting we value everyone's input especially when it's focused on ideas to improve our practices because of the number of speakers that we have this evening each speaker will get one and a half minutes it will be timed a brief little bell will go off to remind you that your time is up and your microphone will get cut at that time when you get to the microphone please there's a just note that there is a screen over the microphone itself and that is actually a noise distribution filter so please don't touch that outside Round Disc the microphone is actually behind it and if you
018need help adjusting the microphone accordingly we'll get someone to help you again you'll have a minute and a half please State your first and last name and your Association to our school district starting off would be Mary Gotti you hello superintendent Menzel Gladys governing board members my name is Mary gaudio I am a Community member and a proud supporter of our public schools on October 11th special election ballots will be mailed out to all susd voters asking for a continuation of the currently approved 15 mno override last approved by voters in 2019. the new authorization will take effect if if approved will it take effect July 1st 2024 and will be in effect for seven years voters might recall that we just voted on to approve a district additional assistance override in 2022 what's the
019difference the daa override funds things whereas the m o people or override funds people this money will be used to retain and attract great teachers by protecting their salaries it will also affect or allow the district to maintain full day instruction in all-day kindergarten something that Arizona still doesn't fully fund full day kindergarten believe it or not I encourage my fellow community members to attend the upcoming remaining town halls for description further details on the mno override and what it entails but I've I'm trying to rush through here but our CFO Shannon Crozier does a fantastic job she is a up next is Roselle longbecker followed by Patricia pellet remember I am Barnes of susd for already 15 years so hello okay so we are here once again asking for money every two years I
020do not understand why but usnews.com just give us all the school reports for every label on USA for every single School our high schools which I think they are the important ones because they are who representing us outside here are ranked 21 34 42 88 and 196 in the state of Arizona the best one is ranking 1285 in the USA so our average college readiness is only 29.6 which means 70 percent of our students are getting a degree without even being ready to go to college so the new 304 susd kpr goals that you just said it two weeks ago they are not only on release unrealistic but they are also very shallow because they are set up on percentage we need raw data we needed to know how much exactly how much students are
021right now involving something and how much is your percentage they're gonna maintain them better how much did those kpis do you tell us will increase the Coronado and Arcadia is 22.8 and 18.1 Readiness to college so I don't think it is okay if we are not Patricia palette is up followed by Rebecca Fisk hi I'm Patricia pellet um good evening governing board the same institutions attacking parental rights now wants to be your child's family Dr Menzel has stated many times that a child doesn't get to pick their family and he's correct but don't worry as susd is here now to fill the void there was a worksheet that was apparently given in an susd classroom and sourced from a site that says it's meant to redefine the family it asks the students to fill in
022the blanks one my home family has X number of members my school family has X number of members my home family has X number of adults my school family has X number of adult of adults my home family has X number of children my school family has X number of children I asked my fourth grader what would be his answers he surprised me when he told me Mom my first grade second grade and third grade teacher all told us that we were all a family are parents aware and okay with this practice is this normal I would like the board to investigate if this worksheet is approved curriculum and whether teachers telling us kids we're all family is appropriate thank you Rebecca Fisk followed by Michelle Ingram hi my name is Rebecca Fisk I'm an
023Alum of susd and I have four kids who have attended multiple schools from Hopi to Arcadia Mountainside and Desert Mountain and I want to thank you all for serving in this capacity I'm here today to voice my concerning opposition to the proposal to no longer hear the voices the council members activities you are all elected officials we like to hear what you are doing president tsunowski you've been here for 10 years we've been able to hear your activities and now all of a sudden we have some new voices and we don't want to hear them anymore well we do we want to hear it all we want to hear the good and the Beautiful and the and maybe the bad and maybe the ugly we want the full transparency and that will help develop some
024more trusts that I know we could use in this community this is all being done under the banner of efficiency but my question is is it or is it maybe being done under a banner of censoring voices and when I read that this was going on the first thing I thought about that has bugged me for months is the meeting back on February 21st there was a huge turnout superintendent Menzel was on national news and it was the Hot Topic and we were all in there and I just was so baffled that none of the board members spoke about it they just passed by and they did mention the Hot Topic but when they got to the president she spent quite a bit of time on it I would say five minutes and I was
025followed by Ashton Doles good evening my name is Michelle Ingram I'm a Community member I no longer have children at susd they've all graduated tonight I'm speaking on behalf of a group of concerned parents who came to me to let me know about a situation at Hopi Elementary them it has come to my attention that there is a fifth grade transgender child who is being allowed to use whichever restroom the child desires our culture has begun to use buzzwords such as inclusivity and equality to describe the decision making behind situations such as this I'm appeared to ask what about the other children in the school the girls who do not want a boy in their bathroom or vice versa are we being inclusive of their thoughts and feelings are we trading are we treating this
026those who view this policy um as upsetting with with equality there are two Sexes there are males and females it is not a fluid situation or something that can be changed I believe that until fairly recently even the public schools taught that there were two genders I can understand how kids today might be confused books social media and teachers are all affirming that gender is fluid U of A is even training their nurses to ask kids as young as three years old if they feel trapped in their bodies these adults are failing our youth our kids need love and guidance not adults perpetuating the LIE the gender can be changed we need to demonstrate to this this to those who do not want a person of the opposite sex in their bathrooms that they are
027respected as well I'm here to ask that you protect this space and protect the use of the bathrooms for those males and females Michelle Ingram followed by Ashton dolls oh I'm sorry Ashton Doles is up followed by Jeff ratay hello my name is Ashton Dolce and I'm a junior here in Scottsdale first I would like to recognize that I think we should all keep a fifth grader out of the conversation when we're discussing what parents and the school board should be focusing on but going on I would like to talk about the 10 students 11 more plus to hear about what we want as students we are specifically advocating for green buses as a form of transportation for the Scottsdale Unified School District we are all students who will be impacted by climate change in
028the future and we find it imperative that if susd commits to a safe and clean environment they should push forward with real and tangible Solutions with an impending climate catastrophe our futures are on the line and the logic is clear it's better for the environment by stopping the release of greenhouse gases we are fighting the climate crisis it's better for our health by terminating exposure to carcinogenic emissions to students we are protecting the health of every child it's better for this board's budget by taking advantage of subsidies and low operational costs we can push forward with replacing old buses after this speech you will hear more students detail their own personal issues with the climate crisis and advocate for it for green buses susd has the funding the resources there is a demand for green
029buses but this Board needs the moral will this board should push forward with establishing green buses we've talked with Dr hartwell's about solar panels but today we're advocating for green buses as a real and tangible solution for a high income School District like this one oh sorry Jeff Forte followed by Susan Winder thank you oh it's probably 15 years of dedicating Services all-time substitute teacher coach and volunteer veteran presenter for the Joe floss Institute I was fired over the phone for constantly arguing and verbally harassing the staff at the district office I was suspicious so I demanded to see a copy of my personnel file sure enough there were two fraudulent documents that have been secretly let me repeat secretly placed in my file here's one of them an evaluation filled out by the at
030the end of the year by the principal of cocopal middle school that year I had subbed over 70 days coached baseball for 10 weeks coach flag football for 10 weeks all at cocoa paw never received a single complaint this is complete garbage is the substitute teacher professional and appropriate appearance of demeanor no is the substitute follow instructions and lesson plans know did the substitute adhere to Scottsdale District policies know the substitute relate well to the students no how about this one did the substitute take appropriate steps to ensure student Safety and Security no two days later the chief advocacy officer of the Scottsdale Education Association emailed me a copy of the governing board's Personnel policies and procedures manual this is what it says material which concerns an employee's conduct service character and personality will not
031be placed in a teacher's file unless he or she isn't the opportunity to read such material the teacher will acknowledge that he or she has read such material by affixing his or her signature to the actual copy to be filed the appropriate District administrator will also initial and a copy will be issued to the teacher such signature does not necessarily indicate agreement the teacher will have the right to answer any material file yeah Susan Winder followed by Jana l gangee to cut me off and she knew I was going to go through this exactly what happened Susan Winder and I have grandchildren in the district I was not able to attend the August 29th meeting because I had surgery so I listened to the the video and was going to comment on that tonight except
032I helped my grandson with homework 8th grade Coco paw coming here before this and I am furious here is one of the things on his social studies worksheet that's on a test for tomorrow about the United States Constitution in a democracy citizens enter into a blank in which all give up some rights for the good of the entire group I was sitting there and my son-in-law who's an attorney went in and printed out the law definition of democracy Now why this teacher did that I have no idea was it a misprint does she believe that does she believe that's your philosophy but this is sinful and it's what's practiced across the United States right now um I've never spoken extemporaneously gets me upset I've talked about curriculum here before and in some instances you have
033decent curriculum but you do not make the teachers use it and Dr Menzel has said publicly that's the principal's responsibility well who the hell do the principles work for you sir teachers do not have the expertise the background or the education to develop curriculum if they did they would develop their own curriculum company most of these things have no publication information on it so that's either theirs or it's illegal because they don't have that on there and by the way he followed by um foreign I'm currently a junior living in Scottsdale as a person living in Scottsdale I've had to learn to plan my entire day around the heat hanging out with friends outside is non-option playing an outdoor sport is completely out of the question I can't walk my dog outside unless it's dark
034because we can't stand even five minutes of the heat the heat limits every part of my day while this sounds terrible imagine what it is like for those less privileged than us unable to pay for the rising cost of air conditioning despite its increasing necessity imagine what it is like for those who have no shelter forced to make their homes on the sweltering streets where the concrete can reach 180 degrees Fahrenheit and people can get life-threatening Burns Arizona is becoming inhabitable the first reason why susd needs green buses because it will benefit our environment in transformational ways in a study by Bellwether education Partners diesel buses and personal vehicle trips for school transportation were found to emit millions of tons of greenhouse gases per year into the environment Earth 911 found in a comprehensive study
035that replacing one diesel bus with an electric one can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54 000 pounds each year that's the equivalent of 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide for every mile driven for the 2021 to 2022 school year the susd bus fleet drove an average of 4041 miles a day according to Earth 911 study that's a 17 379 pound reduction of carbon dioxide emissions a day it's clear that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a path to stopping the climate crisis and transitioning to green buses does exactly that Ulta followed by Riva call hello my name is Riva call followed by Ma believe it or not this is how most children feel even in America in a comprehensive study the Journal of Health economics found that diesel buses carry destructive Health impacts for millions of children
036as well transitioning diesel buses to green buses is particularly important for the health of students simply because school buses negatively impact kids more than any other form of emissions there are two reasons for this I will explain the first and the next speaker will explain the second the first reason why school buses are particularly harmful to students health is that school buses are disproportionately dirtier than any other form of land-based transportation the national average bus age is over nine years and estimates suggest that the average school bus emits twice as many contaminants per mile as the average trailer trailer truck driver the study further found that replacing diesel buses induced statistically significant and large reductions in bronchitis asthma and pneumonia incidents for both children's and adults with chronic respiratory conditions pursuing green buses literally means
037saving lives foreign followed by Rihanna my name is Uma vinay and I'm currently a junior in high school here in Scottsdale we often think of the climate crisis as a distant threat but for me the climate crisis is deeply personal with the continued use of fossil fuels our poor air quality has worked in my severe allergies and respiratory issues living in a notoriously polluted city pollution means my health is on the line in turn my respiratory issues and allergies have caused long migraines and ailments that have impacted my School attendance and thus my education and I'm not getting the worst of it pollution is exponentially worse in places outside of Phoenix I'm not alone hundreds of thousands with other health issues stand with me the second reason diesel buses are particularly harmful for students health
038is their proximity to students in contrast to most diesel vehicles buses primarily travel through residential areas and so individuals who are sensitive to pollution may be affected by bus emissions where they live diesel air pollutants are also collect inside of Passenger cabins and in school yards so school-aged children may be further impacted Recent research finds that within bus concentration of particulate matter and air toxins where 4 to 12 times higher than outdoor pollution levels it's clear that diesel buses are exposing kids across the district to carcinogenic toxins we need green buses now Brianna rain followed by Rashmi enzar hello my name is Rihanna Rayne and I'm currently a junior here in Scottsdale living in Arizona I'm affected by the heat every day of my life although I enjoy the tone down Winters the summer heat
039is unbearable last year we adopted our first dog Milo we take him on walks every morning and night and even though we knew adopting a dog would change our schedules we didn't take the Arizona heat into account there have been so many times when it's impossible to take Milo out on walks anytime during the day unless it's before 5 a.m or after 10 pm due to these hot temperatures and hot sidewalks and Roads that burn his paws and for a young dog that's still developing this is essential to his growth my mom is an occupational therapist who does home-based therapy sessions with kids with special needs and many of her patients struggle with asthma and lung issues in which the air quality in and around the school buses especially in the summer shows visible effects
040on their ability to play and function specifically she notices that they have more Tantrums act more fussy and less Cooperative after riding in these hot and stuffy buses it seems far off but tangible research research on green buses proves that green buses causally improve cognitive and physical outcomes for students in another study by the economics of Education transitioning a bus fleet can lead to a four percent increase in the average cardiovascular capacity of students and it also affects students test scores transitioning a District's Fleet increases English test scores by 0.14 standard deviations as shown under Georgia study and that may not seem like a lot but for comparison the input the impact is equal in most cases to increasing teacher experience levels and Beyond basic health benefits these green buses can ensure the cognitive oh
041Rashmi enzar followed by David Gow my name is Rashmi ayengar and I'm currently a student living in Scottsdale as explained by the electric School Bus initiative green buses provide equity for every student diesel exhaust pollution endangers us all but the threat isn't felt equally Decades of racist discriminatory policies have left both communities of color and low-income communities disproportionately affected by toxic air pollution and when it comes to school transportation and on-road pollution these disturbing Trends persist for example sixty percent of low-income students ride the bus to school compared to only 45 percent of non-low-income students meaning that they face more direct exposure to diesel exhaust pollution transitioning away from gas powered vehicles ensures equality for every susd student today you've heard the numerous benefits of green buses of course the main argument against green buses
042is going to be the cost of pursuing green buses the next few speeches after mine will cover the ability for susd to pay for this first in the average income of 88 213 USD Scottsdale is one of the richest cities in Arizona and as a result susd reaps the benefits of and property taxes on high value Homes Scottsdale has the means to provide electric buses for its students second as the Scottsdale progress reported earlier this year the district still has millions in covered relief money as of late February this year that number was 18.4 million dollars susd must push forward with funding green buses thank you David Gua followed by Nisha call varani hi I'm David and I'm currently a junior here at basis Scottsdale and I'm a citizen of the city of Scottsdale during
043the summer whenever I would go to work I would see the thick smog in the air and that really shows how diesel buses are causing the true damage in our environment as a result that makes this transition to electric buses even more necessary right now right now I will talk about how susd has to transition not only will susd be able to fund the transition to green buses to save on costs in the future the EPA also found that if Denver replaced 200 of its buses it could save 461 thousand dollars per year and fuel costs that's saving that is the amount of money of savings that can go to the school district furthermore likewise studies suggest that updating a diesel-powered vehicle to a green one is is less effective it's a more cost effective
044method by improving student health and achievement the average retrofit cost is only eight thousand dollars in samples once purchased operating and maintaining e-buses is 85 percent less expensive which means that the horrendous costs of maintaining diesel buses is less is less when you use electric buses furthermore and caught in the benefit cost analysis studies estimated that transitioning to green buses would benefit would create benefits between 7 and 16 times program costs for districts not aggressively pursuing School Bus transitions like this one they are depriving themselves of the numerous benefits and followed by um as schwift Coda sorry for if I'm mispronouncing your names hello my name is Nisha and I'm a junior here in Scottsdale most of us here today are incredibly privileged to not have to deal with the brunt of the heat here
045in Arizona but many people are not thousands of people are forced to lie on the pavement even during the torturous months of Summer but even some lucky enough to afford housing are not protected from the heat we simply cannot suffer through both inflation and increasing temperatures I'm sorry uh we parents who are hard at work in their minimum paying jobs cannot sustain the heavy prices of air conditioning especially in this heat when we switch to green buses we can help to decrease the pollution these massive but necessary Vehicles produced while still providing for those who need it oftentimes the most expensive part of transitioning to green buses is the cost of establishing electrical infrastructure for the buses however however the cost will come completely free to the sport Arizona Public Services take charge Arizona pilot
046provides Chargers and electrical infrastructure at no cost to fleets likewise the federal government Green Bus program will be providing billions over the next decade to establish green buses and infrastructure applications are on a rolling basis and susd should be as active as possible in applying we email director of Transport for the district Mr D Jacobson about this very application but we have received no applic response at this time programs exist upon these types of initiatives there is absolutely no reason this school which school district can't figure this out thank you as tweeted code followed by Mercer Ralph hello my name is and I'm a Scottsdale student today if you heard money speeches about why green buses will benefit the susd pursuing green buses involves a lot of technical logical management that I but I don't
047want us to forget the personal emotional impact it has on all of us I want to share my personal Journey with you a journey that has opened my eyes to the harsh reality of climate change and its devastating effects on our world as a child I marveled the beauty of nature in the Majestic Wildlife that thrived around me I remember spending countless hours Outdoors exploring connecting with the environment back then the idea of climate change seemed distant abstract something that scientists talked about on TV little did I know that this was a looming threat that would soon become an inescapable reality of my life I spent a lot of my time outside as a child but slowly I stayed more and more inside because of the extreme heat fast forward a couple of years and
048the signs of climate change were becoming increasingly evident the parks I used to go to as a child were bare and the swimming pools became unbearably hot extreme weather events were more frequent and Summers were hotter than ever before but it wasn't until I experienced a catastrophic natural disaster firsthand that the gravity of the situation truly hit me just a couple years ago a devastating Wildfire struck on our annual camping spot due to excess excessive heat leaving behind a trail of Destruction and heartbreak um we plan to go on our annual trip as normal but when we arrived our camp spot was empty trees were ripped apart lives were lost in the landscape I cherished that the child was forever altered this Devastation was a wake-up call a harsh reminder that climate change is not
049a distant threat it is a present danger that affects us all personal changes alone are not enough to address the scale of This Global crisis we need ambitious policies to combat this crisis including by Lana Darren hi there my name is Mercer Rolfe I am a mom of two boys that go to Cochise Elementary thank you for the opportunity to be able to speak tonight I'm here just to talk about the importance of security at our school and a reminder that's still a very hot topic among parents I understand um they're we're not able to have a dedicated SRO at our elementary schools and as you know we have a dedicated SRO at high schools middle schools but not elementary schools and I don't think anyone wants to live in the land of regret I
050think this should be an absolute top priority in addition to getting security at our schools at minimum um and if we are able to get security at our schools higher security positions actually communicating this in a way that people are going to find out about it not just posting on the website but leveraging other resources so that people know that this is something that we are hiring for um and on the topic of communication I feel like we could do a better job of talking to our parents about security I've been very involved with it my friends that are here as well have been and what we found from talking to other parents is they really don't know what's going on when it comes to security at our schools so I would just say if
051we could level up in our communication about security and then actually provide security itself at our elementary schools that would be wonderful thank you so much Lana Darren followed by Mike bengert good evening my name is Lana Darren and I am a resident of Scottsdale born and raised I'm a mother of two attending Cochise Elementary School of pre-care and a first grader when I first got introduced to the school system I quickly recognized that I carry quite a bit of passion for security and safety there's a lot going on in our country and it just made my ears perk up and pay attention to what's happening eyes and ears at the school I recognize that it was a big disconnect between the middle schools and high schools having representation on site with security guards as
052well as sros when I looked into the matter much much further understanding that elementary schools do not have any representation on site I recognize they can pull from the higher levels but they don't have dedicated security so with that in mind it leaves our elementary schools truly open to a lot of risk and I certainly want to ensure I know our board is passionate about our community and our administrators and teachers and that we're protecting and doing everything thing we can to support our district our community members our students our teachers and making sure that we're focused on every safety measure that we can and being proactive versus reactive so by hiring Elementary security guards full-time dedicated I feel that that will start to put us in a direction to provide better communication with our
053director of Safety and Security and provide on-site eyes and ears to elevate any risk that might be imposed to our elementary schools thank you for your time this evening bengert followed by Melissa golly foreign I'm a grand father here in the in the district parents do you know that Arizona revised statutes 15102 requires a district to have procedures by which parents May learn about the nature and purpose of extracurricular activities and clubs go to scottsdaleunites.com website click on the be aware Tab and read about some of the clubs and activities that susd actively promotes compare what you find to the information on the school's websites about the clubs and activities and decide for yourself if the district is following the law and telling you the truth read about unit town and mini Town susd claims
054that these clubs are leadership clubs yet children are secretly being exposed to gender identities sexual orientation social justice lessons by withholding the details of these clubs activities is susd in fact interfering with your fundamental rights under ARS 1602 to direct the upbringing and education of your child according to a December 2021 statement from Dr Menzel these are student initiated clubs but are they really go on the Scottsdale unites website listen to the gender sexuality Alliance Club video from cocopa and you can decide who is initiating this club parents talk to your kids find out what they're involved with at school governing board follow the law and be honest with parents I urge all parents to join Scottsdale unites and sign up for their newsletter so you can be informed about what is really going on
055in the district it's time to get involved Melissa Gully [Applause] good good evening board members and Community I am uh Dr Melissa Galley a mother of two Cochise Elementary students and a daughter of a retired teacher I'm here also requesting Elementary at our security levels I think from tonight's board meeting and just in the public in general we are faced with more contentious situations and topics that are also arising at younger ages I think that we need to have a mediator on campus to help de-escalate these tense situations these these security officers and parties can be a mediator between these aggressive parties and and having somebody that can focus on de-escalation allows a more favorable learning environment which will ultimately also protect school property we want to allow our teachers to teach we want to
056allow our students to learn and we ultimately want all protection for Scottsdale Unified District students teachers staff and health care providers within our walls we thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing communication on how the board intends to address our lack of representation of security at our elementary level thank you that concludes the public comment version of our meeting tonight I'd like to remind the governing board members and the public that governing board members can respond to at the conclusion of this they can respond to public comment [Music] able for me to no sorry all right appreciate it next meeting thank you governing board members do have the opportunity to respond to criticism briefly and factually ask the superintendent to review an issue or ask for a matter to be placed
057on a future agenda do any governing board members have comment at this time board member Werner yeah I have three I'd like for the superintendent to follow up and clarify the assignment on the Constitution and the definition of democracy and ensure that all our staff are teaching the kids accurate um things about the Constitution the second one is the family assignment I did see that on social media I didn't know if it was actually happening in our districts I'd like to follow up on that and to see if that's happening in our district and lastly I think that we do need to do a better job of communicating with about security so if you could um communicate what has transpired when it comes to security and the additional officer security officers that are being hired
058and so on I think that'd be very effective for our community to know that thank you are there any others Dr hartwell's are you interested in providing some input okay thank you seeing that there are no other requests I would like to refer to our superintendent to conduct an evaluation on the use of green buses in our susd appreciate students bringing that forward um I'd also like for uh Dr Menzel um to work with our legal council to provide additional verification to Mr retay and then I want to make clear for the record that the minute and a half we came I came up with that this evening it was advised to me to follow that because of the number of speakers and the amount of time that we provide to our public to give
059public commentary so that had nothing to do with any of the topics or subjects we just try to fit everyone in Also to clarify a fact that I have not been out as though it seems like it I have not been on the board for 10 years I have been directly involved in the district since 2005 as an educator and then more recently the last two and a half years as a governing board member so I wanted to clarify that for the record um also to make certain that um the public understands that the override election that is on the ballot is open for voters that live in the susd boundaries I concur with board member Warner on the security clarifications because we've discussed this in the past so I um thank you Dr Menzel
060for looking into that more carefully and also to verify to the public that one of the clubs mentioned on unit town in minnetown do require parental permission for their participation in that practice so it's it does require parental permission and I believe it still does and then also um it's students can choose it's not something that is forced on any student um that is it for the redirect or the commentary from the public comment Dr Menzel we are going to move on to our superintendent's comments Dr Menzel well thank you president sinowski and members of the governing board just a few quick comments in addition to what we've already discussed there's positive news over the last two weeks our enrollment has increased by 33 students and so we think that's worth noting 33 students multiplied
061by 7 500 or more per student is not inconsequential secondly the student Advisory Board will hold its first meeting of this of this school year next week and I'm looking forward to re-engaging with the members of the student Advisory Board and hearing their reports at Future governing board meetings thirdly I also had an opportunity along with Dr Benson Dr sakos and our three governing board members to attend the asba law conference and it's an opportunity for us to hear a number of emerging and important topics of interest and importance for the school district and look forward to continuing to apply what we've learned to enhance our ability to comply with state and federal statute finally it's been mentioned several times but I just want to highlight it again that we have maintenance and operating override
062Town Halls tomorrow night it will be at Arcadia Mount Olympus beginning at 6 PM a week from tonight the town hall will be here at Coronado High School and the final one will be at Chaparral High School on September 26th all of these meetings start at six they're open to the public and we look forward to answering questions that people may have we will also be starting our annual Learning Community Town Halls next week the first one will happen at Arcadia the information on the times and locations of of these series of town hall events can be found on the susd website and we always look forward to hearing what our stakeholders are thinking and sharing with them are many undertakings that are contributing to making susd education world class and future focused thank you
063president sinowski yep thank you Dr Menzel and I do want to comment I do appreciate the efforts that our employees do make to extend communication into our community with these forums and town halls that is a new practice in Scottsdale and I think it's a step in the right direction moving on in our agenda seven says information and discussion items and we do not have any this evening so we're going to move on to our consent agenda and I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended at the beginning of the meeting is there a second second seconded by board member Lindsay thank you all in favor say aye aye aye that motion passes 5-0 at this time I'd like to introduce our new in-house counsel Nick Busan it's in the
064back of the room over there welcome aboard to susd foreign and we're going to move on to nine action items and I do note to the public that when we have action items on the agenda that means that board action is required and so those are the issues that we vote upon first would be the uh 9A the approval of Performance Based pay plans for cabinet administrators Dr Menzel well thank you again president sinowski members of the governing board in your board packet you have recommended performance pay plan goals for the various members of cabinet those who have cabinet level contracts the amount is five thousand for those who are at the executive director or chief systems officer it's 3500 for directors it's 2500. the performance pay plans that you see here were developed after
065the board identified the key performance indicators for the upcoming school year and more specifically identified the priority kpis for the coming School here cabinet had a conversation last Tuesday about how to identify the goals for each of the members of of the team not only with respect to their area of responsibility but also with respect to the overall team and so you'll see that it's differentiated based on the role and responsibility the performance pay here doesn't mean that team members aren't contributing in other ways because every member of our team is working to contribute to advance the the Mission Vision and values of our school district living into our strategic plan and focusing on the things that we've committed to within that plan and so while these represent the performance pay component of their goals
066they don't represent all of the goals that each individual will have this is one subset of those goals and the recommendation is is before you this evening to approve those as presented governing board members do any of you have any questions or comments on the proposal before you board member Kearney thank you president zinowski um so did the administrators that are listed in this performance pay plan tonight did they have a say in their goals um yes we discussed this at cabinet and each person drafted their own goals and then it was reviewed by the person who supervises them before they were put in the board packet okay so you know yeah though their input and buy-in on these performance yes they're the ones who suggested them and if there were modifications they were done
067collaboration okay um just going through them I was just a little concerned that I saw a lot of the same goals over and over so we're paying people for the same goal over and over such as the attendance rate raising that to 92.5 percent or better was listed for six administrators so I'm just wondering if you could tell me why that is that looked to be the number one the top goal for everyone um for example I have more like Miss watt why would she be assigned this goal as Chief systems officer so we're one team working towards one goal to advance outcomes for our students when you look at the data and the correlation analysis that was done by our seminar Department it's very clear that attendance and the correlation with respect to achievement
068on the state administered test is pretty significant and as a Cabinet team we talked about we are all in this together everyone has a role to play to support and encourage positive attendance and while arguably there are people on this list that can't impact or don't impact some of these specific academic indicators we can all work to create a culture and climate where students come to school every day they feel supported they feel safe and so that's why the attendance goal in particular surfaced to the level of one that could be common across more members of cabinet whereas if you think about a high school achievement that wouldn't be appropriate for just about anyone except for Dr Benson and Dr sakos and so it's those kinds of conversations that we had at the cabinet level
069right but I'm specifically was asking about the chief systems officers for example I mean it's hard to we just have these goals we don't you know put in front of us but we're not sure how they're going to be implemented so how would she be working to increase intendance the the entire technology infrastructure is designed to support the system uh so when you think about cyber Safety and Security when we think about how we ensure that our students are supported in accessing the technology that's necessary to participate in the curricular offerings that we have at Scottsdale unified the technology team plays a really important role there it's all about creating a culture and climate that supports the needs of our students and if you took technology out of that it would have a negative impact
070and so that's why that goal was one that could be landed on as a common goal okay um I think I was just looking obviously we have common goals and I just figured the paper performance goals would be more individualized than the common goals that we should all be working toward together as part of uh you know regular salaried pay but um one thing I saw concern that that struck me on the director of communications and marketing there's no increased student enrollment goal and I know we're spending a lot of money on marketing to Market to people to come to our schools and so I was just wondering why that wasn't a goal for for the that department [Applause] and to be clear these are individual pay for performance goals these so these These are
071levels that they can achieve above and beyond right their normal um success in our district and their individual goals and they're they're not Department goals you know just reviewing to make sure the the um at the end of the day the increase enrollment is one that's on my kpis and every every um participant within our team has a role to play there again we worked with the administrator to identify the performance targets here anything that's not listed as performance pay doesn't mean it's not a priority or an area of focus for the team um weigh in on this perfect excuse me governing board um it is in fact one of my goals it is yeah it's at the top of the second page increasing enrollment oh yeah you're right it's just it's hidden there that's
072a major by 25 that is a goal I I thought I'm sorry I just didn't see it because it's at the very top of that page yes looks like I had her but it's not a header it's right there and it's 25 of her performance pay okay thank you Christine where thank you for the Indulgence I'm sorry where is that at the very top of the second page under optimized resources 25 percent oh it does look like a header you're right okay yeah her okay thank you yeah because I assumed that that would be one of the goals so thank you for pointing that out it didn't look exactly like the header from the front and lastly I'm just gonna mention one thing on Dr Benson's I just was wondering why I never heard this
073that we um she stood put together a calendar committee and I'm wondering why this is a paper performance goal so there are there are a couple of areas where um there are things that are identified that are important work that take significant amount of time uh and in thinking about where we would allocate that um the calendar committee is one that has tremendous impact for our community it takes a lot of time it can often be controversial yet it's really important work that gets done for the next three years when when you want to emphasize the importance of getting a project done putting uh component in performance pay helps ensure that it gets the attention that it needs and the calendar committee as we think about the future is one of those important priorities if
074it wasn't here on performance pay it's possible it could slip we do have an extra year before we would need to do that but our families appreciate having more advanced notice about what the calendar will be as they plan vacations and their schedules with their family and so we thought we would reify it here with a small percentage of her performance pay and yet still signify that we believe the calendar isn't important priority for her work in the coming year okay thank you board member Warner well I want to take a moment to thank the staff that worked on the kpi team and let you know that I appreciate all your hard work I know you followed your instructions that you were given so while I made it clear last meeting that I did not
075agree with a number of the metrics being measured and I will say now I don't agree with how they're being distributed among staff as well what I do want you to know is I support you and I will be supporting this vote today Dr Herb Wells do you have anything to add I do not yeah go ahead sorry in the little technical difficulty there I actually have a question uh as well in the overall kind of cover sheet of the kpis for the cabinet and Leadership um the optimized resources does not include the develop a plan and Implement at least one proposal on the effective use of our assets our land use assets but yet it is listed under two of the leaderships performance plans but it's not here on this blanket cover sheet and
076I just miss reading this over this is Dr Benson I guess so it is included is that right it's it's included in mine and Mr railers but not in Dr Benson's induction Shannon's as well so three yes okay I see it um however neithering yours although we'll get to that in a minute um for the cabinet or the leadership is the algebra one passing by the end of ninth grade can you please describe why that's missing so it's included in mine but not in the cabinet as we looked at um academic achievement there are a lot of different ways to measure it this was a new kpi and we landed on the assessed measures through the standardized assessment as the kpi for cabinet level individuals as a measure of progress along the journey so for
077elementary you have those levels for middle school and high school while grading is important it's more subjective it is an indicator of success and it's an important kpi to have added but it's also one that we've never had before so we're not even sure how that data will look it might be something that's a better metric in future years but not one that we know until we actually get through this full cycle so we decided that the standardized assessment was a more consistent and recognized measure related to academic performance in those areas so I just want to point out that the decrease in the percentage of students scoring minimally proficient in math is also new one well it is a state assessment the bar was lowered by the superintendent so we also don't know how
078that one will play out I'm disappointed that the algebra is not here uh since the teaching and learning staff are going to be the ones to implement on that um I'm just I'm going to be on record I'm disappointed that that didn't make it through we talked about how important and there's data to support how important strong math skills are going into high school and critical thinking and particularly to elevate science scores I'll stop there I would like to recognize that these measurements are really put in place not to substitute the other assignments that our employees do but to direct Focus to support students well-being and their success but it also is important that we recognize that throughout the district everyone is responsible for all of our kpis whether it's a direct responsibility or indirect
079so for example an Ela or English language arts teacher could be providing support in mathematics instruction and critical thinking in the ELA class so when you look at our key performance indicators as a district this isn't just the only these aren't the only things we're going to focus on but these are identified as our goal so we look to the past to see what we need to improve on and then we look to the Future on where we want to be and so these kpis kind of give a little snapshot more direction to the employees that qualify for these pay for performance incentives so for example I think our directors of Elementary and secondary instruction they play a huge role in retaining employees by doing by supporting our principals and supporting best instructional practices we
080support our teachers and we support our students so there's really this chain of events that takes place with our key performance indicators so you know I also wanted to just make note that I really appreciated when it came to um retention of employees that the factors that employees and including the governing board cannot control like retirements separations due to Performance and those moving from the area to take those out of the formula to truly measure more accurate retention issues and factors I think that's really important um seeing that there are no other requests for comment at this time I'd like to make a motion to approve the performance-based pay plans for cabinet members is there a second seconded by board member Lindsay all in favor say aye aye opposed no no that motion passes three
081to two moving on to approval of superintendent annual performance-based pay plan and state statute requires a board to identify performance-based pay for the superintendent the top priority for the superintendent is improved achievement for all of our students ARS 15-341 39 outlines four board areas for consideration but also authorizes the governing board to adopt quote an alternative procedure at a public meeting called for this purpose end quote the purpose of this action item is to adopt an alternative procedure under state law for the evaluation of the superintendents pay for performance plan considering that Student Success is dependent on many variables I appreciate this comprehensive approach to Dr Menzel's pay for performance plan I would like to ask that the term Club be interjected back in and I thought it was in there and I don't know
082why it was taken out into um as I'm looking at this plan increase percent of students participating in extracurricular and co-curricular activities that kpi says I personally believe that because clubs are initiated by students and we are here for kids that we need to engage them however possible in feeling they have a place to belong on our school campuses and show up every day I mean it I see that as very beneficial also when kids get to high school for them to participate in extracurricular activities like Athletics they really have had to participate in intense levels of athletic competitions prior to high school so I see there as being an access issue that we would be really denying students same thing with the music I mean even though I'd like to be in choir an
083advanced choir no choir leader would ever want me because I'm a horrible singer but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to participate in a choir club if I so feel that that would be important to me so I would like that word um Club to be thrown back in there like I said I don't know how it was removed um from that um clubs I do note that um oh Dr Benson go ahead appreciate the question Madam president just wanted to clarify that the sports clubs and Fine Arts drama music and band that language was referenced before we got feedback from our governing board members during the study session so it's defined extracurricular as Sports and clubs and co-curricular activities as Fine Arts drama and music and band so it's all inclusive in the
084actual priority kpi I appreciate that clarification thank you because I think they are very meaningful to kids to find a place where they both feel like they belong on our campuses um okay so I do note that all governing board members have had several weeks kind of Maul this over and so I would like to make a motion at this time excuse me I have a comment go ahead you have a comment I do so I've been very vocal about the kpis and my um uh my stance on them and I think that the metrics that matter most are student proficiency rates and achievement staff retention enrollment growth and I don't see that the leadership of the superintendent is going to contribute these metrics I will not be voting for this today board member Kearney
085thank you president zinowski um you've said we've had this for weeks we've just received this with the total weights recently the last governing board member this was a topic of discussion you're right and it was a topic of discussion and I had asked that we increased the academic achievement to 75 percent because I do believe that is our top priority it must be our our priority is getting and we talked about this is getting our math especially our math scores increased and so I had voiced in that study session that we need to raise the total weight of increased academic achievement to 75 percent I even said okay compromise 70 and then here it is um that I think I received on Thursday percent um I wasn't a part of the board when Dr Menzel's
086contract was amended increasing his performance pay to from 7 000 to 43 200 as a possible uh earning so not only do I don't agree with our tax dollars being spent this way I don't think that we need this complicated performance pay procedure when ARS 15-341-39 it gives us an easy framework to use where half of the superintendent performance pay will be determined by parental and teacher satisfaction with the school district but I don't see that anywhere on these pay for performance performance goals um so I only see one pay for performance goal that's solely for Dr Menzel and it's the one to act our heart Wells uh was talking about and increasing the number of students earning C or better in Algebra 1 by the end of ninth grade and I agree with her
087that that would have been good to have on the cabinet one as well and I'm disappointed that the one that I had brought to the table is not on Dr Menzel's performance pay as far as um it's only on doctor uh Dr Benson's thank you and I'll note that all governing board members were provided in the opportunity to provide input and because this is a group of five individuals with different opinions and and different perspectives and experience that there was there were numbers in our last discussion that were put forward and of course the art of compromise I think is a magnificent way to move forward in in moving that needle of our district success board member Warner okay never mind um seeing that there's no additional request for comment I'd like to make a
088motion to approve the superintendent's annual Performance Based pay plan is there a second to that motion second Ed by board member Lindsay all in favor to approve the superintendent's annual performance-based plan say I I I opposed say no no no that motion passes three two we're moving on to agenda item 9C which is a second read in approval for governing board policy b e d b regarding the agenda um counselor McClellan microphone can you tap on the Mike's not on there we go Madam president members of the governing board the governing board is considering a second reading of governing board policy bedb there are two versions of this policy presented for your review based upon the first read of governing board policy bedb and I'm available to answer any questions regarding either of those okay
089and because I did put this initially forward I would like to just make a comment that I'm going to reiterate that when I initially did put this forward it was in response to commentary made I do participate in governing board reports I've always found them to be I felt like it was something I was supposed to do um but you know as um was brought up last meeting um there were some ideas for improvement and um I only received two messages on this particular topic since our last governing board meeting one was from a parent and one was from a board member and um I was initially planning to retract my request but instead I actually reconsidered the commentary made in our last board meeting and out of their out of respect for the interests
090of other board colleagues my preferred option is option two now where it's actually instead of eliminating the governing board reports to limit it to two minutes per report additional commentary at this time board member Carney thank you president zinowski who will be timing us if this is the version that we go with Madam president miss Kearney if you pursue this version I would suggest that you have the same timer up that the public speakers do thank you thank you um seeing that there are no uh Dr Wells do you have anything to add we might do not okay seeing that there no other requests I'd like to make a motion to approve bedb policy revision number two please clarify me Jennifer if that's right one with the time limits okay is there a second to
091that motion a second seconded by vice president Werner all in favor of that say aye aye aye that motion passes five zero we are going to move on to 9d Second read and approval governing board policy beddd Rules of Order Dr hartwell's and Miss McLennan Madam president members of the governing board um this policy is presented to the governing board for a second read it would add a section F to governing board policy beddd regarding Rules of Order stating that in matters of procedure not covered by law award policy Roberts Rules of Order shall be used as a guide that would be the addition Dr hartwell's would you like to weigh in on this because you initially brought this forward yes thank you board president sinowski it's a little clunky trying to get yours attention
092from the cloud here um Miss McLennan read the language I think it speaks for itself but two clarifications one this is a guide it shall be used as a guide so it's a plan C in the event that law or board policy is porous on a critical matter which we have had happened this year and then secondly that this would also apply in executive session Dr hartwell's um curious can you reiterate on what you mean by that sinowski Claire clarify what aspect please um when you're talking about us using this in executive session as a protocol so the board policies the St the law of the board policy and then as a structure for managing debate and or discussion this would also apply in executive session as it does in the public domain we have
093our public sections of the meeting presumably the board policy and the state laws apply in both forms this would also apply in both forms um but I would appreciate because we did not ask Dr Menzel his thoughts in the last burst read if he would weigh in on his thoughts on the operations I think you have more experience with boards governing boards in public education and how this might roll out if you see this being burdensome in your opinion thank you Dr Hart Wells I actually having reviewed this again during the course of my 22 years as a superintendent and six years before that uh serving on as the executive for a Workforce Development board have relied on Robert's Rules as a guide for much of that time my concern only would have been if
094we had rigid adherence to Robert's rules that would have been unduly burdensome would have required training in a parliamentarian and that would have been a concern the way the language is proposed here using it as a guide is something that I've seen help ensure effective and efficient organization and structure of meetings making sure that every voice is heard and that we have order in the process and so as proposed here I don't have any concerns Dr hartwell's uh I thought I heard an end you know I was going to make a motion to approve the item board member Kearney has a her microphone request on let's listen to her commentary first remember Kearney okay thank you I didn't realize I had it on so um I just I'm a little concerned with switching to this
095right now you know we're already underway in a new school year we haven't even been able to get together to do a board retreat um so I'm just concerned it's starting this right now is this going to be an issue how are we going to learn together you know what's expected of us I I agree Robert's Rules would would be a good thing but why wouldn't we go all in for Robert's Rules and do this in the summer or another time when we have more time or we can actually get trained and be implemented and implement it when you know we're not already beginning a school year that's my only concern um appreciate your concerns and I hear that but it was clarified that this would be like a safety net of our protocol or
096decorum and procedure as a governing board we would first abide by State Statute the laws governing board policies and then if there isn't anything in in to guide us then we would rely on Robert's Rules of Order is that correct Dr hartwell's as written that is correct thank you and I I just may I respond um I I appreciate the sentiment um the good news on this one is we're all starting from the same point and secondly there's lots of information out there for us all to learn from so this is not an obscure practice um so widely available resources and we're all starting from the same time point and again it's a kind of third tier support net it wouldn't change in substance just when we hit snags which unfortunately we've had hit a
097few snacks this would be instructive that's the intent um board member Werner so I have two things one uh Dr hartwell's could you clarify the snags because I'm very confused is where we've had an issue before so if you could clarify where this would come into place happy to thank you board member um Warner for example the um evening that we had a Personnel list and uh out of the consent that was pulled uh the vote we had four board members present we had a quorum the vote was two to two uh it was unclear the policy was interpreted one way there was some say different opinions on whether that construction of the existing policy was accurate that's just one example further there would be opportunities and there's more structure around addressing each other which
098I do believe would be also helpful to keep the board's focused on healthy governance I hope that that's helpful can you clarify addressing each other so for example this conversation right here would be would be going would be directed to the chair the board president not each other not as a personal interaction but rather um enabling and galvanizing the work of the board as a whole as opposed to individuals okay thank you for that so this is the second time that and and thank you for your input I really appreciate it this is the second time we've had uh something come up around voting and our in the way that we run the boards and I've been on this board for this is my ninth month and um it actually sounds like this would make
099it more cumbersome and um I think that the way that we have ran things um I think that President sunowski does a fine job with the way that she leads uh runs the meetings and I really think that this is just adding another layer of confusion and inefficiencies and this is the only time that we as a board get to all speak together this is the only time that we can discuss things due to open meeting law so to add another layer of going through the the board president when I'm really asking for just as an example of Dr hartwell's um clarification on what she meant I think that this would just add another layer that would be more cumbersome to the process and would also inhibit us from having a clear Dialogue on the
100dice which again is the only place that we can have a dialogue so I'm not going to support this today if we're going to go all in for Robert rules that's one thing but to add this other layer I think is silly and we just need to stick to what has been working and that is my opinion and so I won't support this this policy change today thank you please go ahead thank you so for example um a disparaging comment like this is silly would not be permitted under Robert's Rules it doesn't Aid in the healthy governance of the district but rather um you know can drive a tone that is unhealthy in my view and so my suggestion in my uh proposal was to find Solutions so that we can stay focused as a
101board and work for the district and for the kids and for the teachers not for ourselves thank you Dr hartwell's and I would like to um just add so in utilizing Robert's Rules of Order um when we're speaking on a subject or topic that each governing board member would be allowed to have an initial time to discuss the topic before anyone has a second opportunity if that's time so comes up and I would really like for us to be able to come to some agreed upon rules of decorum and standards as a governing board with the intent to really ensure that we are making decisions based off the best interests of our students and our motto this year should be the motto every year of every governing board and that is because kids so when
102it when we're when our teachers are speaking to students we expect them to speak to students a certain way and I would like for us to at least practice that as a governing board and not make comments whether in front of the public or behind closed doors that you know are disrespectful to one another and so I'm hoping I appreciate this this as a additional safety net and maybe more of a better guide to how we function I think we could all put in place better to Quorum ourselves as governing board members and ensuring we have better business practices um I see your mic is on requesting to speak again board member Werner thank you would you like to speak yes thank you president sinowski so um all our voices on this board are equal
103and we all have our opinions and it's also why we were elected and my comment and of this of using the word silly really is just my opinion and was no way meant to be disparaging in any way at all and I actually agree with president sonowski and we should come to an agreement on how we can run effective board meetings but I don't think that the solution that is proposed to us today is that and I think this would actually warrant a retreat where we can discuss best practices and come to an agreement where um you know everyone feels that the board board meetings are ramped properly and the most important thing is kept in front of us which is our students and our staff and our parents and as I would really like
104to actually table this today and set up a retreat where we can have a discussion about best practices for a running a board meeting thank you madam president is Ms Warner making a motion to table I'm not sure miss Warner are you making a motion I will make a motion to table on the agenda item 90. um in order for us to have a discussion outside of this meeting where we can come to an agreement on what would be best practices your second demolition the motion's been made in seconded to table this all in favor say aye opposed say no no um that motion passes Dr hartwell's did you weigh in on that I didn't hear no is your vote now my vote is no okay that motion passes three to two this item has
105been tabled at this time we are going to move on to item 10. of our agenda and that is an opportunity for governing board members to propose topics for future consideration board member Werner yes I have three items um one is I would like to have a discussion on on an agenda item the communications communicating responsibly in the event of emergencies through the proper channels as in yesterday we had an event at Cherokee and it fell upon the the security department to communicate out to the public I think that is not effective and we need to have just a standard procedure for communications that's one two is to review the IBM process to ensure that staff gets proper Racers and money is spent in the appropriate places and the third one is I would like
106to have my bathroom policy placed back on the agenda as it was supposed to be two meetings ago thank you board member Carney thank you president sinowski um policy i h a m d uh state's annual reporting requirements that by June 30th of each year the district shall provide the governing board a report detailing each of the district's social emotional learning programs including but not limited to programs addressing suicide awareness and prevention threat assessment information and data and information regarding programs designed to educate about drug and alcohol abuse prevention which includes data on student participation and outcomes I don't believe we've received that report and we need to follow that policy to to get that report done please also we need an update on policy IH AMD the same policy states for student identification cards
107that the district shall include at least one of the following on each new identification card issued to a student in grades 9 through 12 and I won't read all what they are but we currently have this information on um six through eight IDs and we mistakenly put it on some of the elementary school IDs as well so we need to get this in line with our practice and our policy thank you anything else Dr hartwell's do you have anything to add yes thank you board president snackski I would like for the district to present a review and Report out how on the different novel categories that I know they're defined we have a a green yellow red rubric how those categories are defined and executed helpful to have a little bit more um structure in
108me on the bones and how that process plays out please and further a second item I would like to request at a time that is convenient but by the end of the calendar year if possible a presentation by the self-insurance Trust on the finances and I know they go through an audit that's never had any issues but also the expenditures just a general presentation for the board and the public would be very helpful thank you Dr hartwell's and I I have one addition to these um that we take appropriate actions to establish an alternative school facility or structure for placement with uh varied lengths of service and and um types of services depending on our students needs I'm bringing this up because I feel we have students that have some issues with credit and on
109track graduation we have some students who are don't always function well in a typical learning environment and I really want us to continue to protect that learning environment so all children Thrive so if it means we have to have bring back into our district as we've had at one point in time some alternative type of school facility or placement I would appreciate learning more about that and not just learning about it but facilitation of such um seeing that there are no other requests for future items we have many upcoming dates to note and they are as follows our next governing board meeting is Tuesday October 3rd 6 pm and that will be at Coronado High School Tuesday October 24th we have a special governing board meeting at the MDA um we have an m o
110override Town Hall Wednesday September 20th at 6 pm at Arcadia High School auditorium Wednesday October 25th at Chaparral High School auditorium Tuesday November 7th at six o'clock at Coronado High School auditorium we have another town hall already published at um on February 22nd at Desert Mountain high school in the library there and then Wednesday March 20th 2024 6 p.m Saguaro High School Innovation Center sharing that information at this time I make a motion to adjourn this governing board meeting as their second seconded by Vice President Warner all in favor say aye aye that motion passes 5-0 the time is 7 43 p.m this motion is this meeting is adjourned