001Okay, it is 6:30 and I would like to call the meeting to order. And I was hoping our performers might stay and help us with the pledge of allegiance, but we're all going to have to do it instead. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America to the republic which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. May I have roll call, please? >> Mrs. Christensen, >> here. >> Mr. Pantara, >> here. >> Mrs. Greenberg >> here. >> Dr. Lim >> here. >> Miss Wani >> here. >> Thank you. Next on the agenda is approval of agenda. Dr. Cummings. >> Thank you, President Greenberg. Items approved by consent will not come up for discussion during the meeting, but will be approved when the agenda is
002adopted. This is possible since members of the governing board received the agenda along with backup material at least 24 hours prior to the meeting and have had time to review and consider all items. Prior to the agenda being adopted, members of the governing board may ask that an item be removed from the consent agenda and brought to the floor for discussion at the appropriate place on the agenda. Any member of the audience who submitted a blue public comment card prior to the start of the meeting will be recognized to speak on that agenda item under items for approval. I'd like to offer the agenda as posted with the exception of F6 which we would like to remove for more study to be competitive and it will be included in a future meeting. >> Okay. Thank
003you. Prior to the meeting, we received two blue public comment cards and each speaker will have three minutes to remark on a specific agenda item. uh those individuals will be recognized to speak under this is actually items for discussion and then um as a reminder we ask that you please direct your comments to the board. Um does any member of the governing board wish to have any item removed Mrs. Christensen? >> Yes. Item F1. >> Okay. So F1 will go to items for approval and it will be now considered G3. So after the two items that are there. Okay. Anybody else have anything they want to move from the consent agenda? Okay. Seeing none, Dr. Lee, may I please have a motion to approve the meeting agenda and recommended consent agenda items? >> So moved.
004>> All those in favor, please say I. I >> I any oppose say nay. Any abstensions? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Next on the agenda is governing board statements. I'll start over here to the right. Mr. Pantara, do you have anything? >> Sure. Hello everyone. Glad to see you again. Um I've hope you've had a great uh month of August trying to beat this humidity. I know I am. Um, last board meeting I spoke about partnerships with other groups outside of of the district and my own Elks Elks Lodge contacted me. Okay. Hey, we got stuff you want to know about. They're having a carnival uh September I told him I'd say this. Yes. September 13th. It's like a big carnival. It's to raise money for um Oh, they do a program shopping for kids
005to go for a Christmas shopping spree. And this is open to all kids 15 and under are free. They're going to have things like uh midway games. Uh there's going to be a dunk tank. Reminds me when I first started teaching as a first year teacher, we had a carnival at Choya and they had a dunk tank. And because a new teacher, guess who gets to be on the dunk tank, right? You wouldn't believe how well these kids can throw at that grade level. It's it's amazing. Anyways, I digress. There'll be magic magicians contests, all kinds of things like that. Again, if you're an organization that's doing something that includes benefits to all the students of our district, let us know about it. We'll try and push it out there and make sure all the
006schools and all the people are aware of it. Um, and including this one. And that concludes my comments. >> Thank you, Mr. Panta. Dr. Limb. >> Great. Um, so at the last board meeting board meeting, I thanked our uh uh facilities team as well as our transportation for the amazing work they were doing. I actually want to take this time to actually thank all our our school staff. So from our teams up in the office um down to our education teams in the classroom to our therapists, our nurses, everyone on site in our schools, it is a hard transition when kids come back to school. I know personally my kids are a little roller coaster of emotion. The change to a new routine and all of that is very hard on our kiddos. Um, and
007some of those feelings come out in the classroom. And you've got lots of little people in the classroom, um, that are going through this. But also, our high schoolers, many who are going into their senior year, their 13th year on a campus, are also having a roller coaster of emotions. They're seeing new faces. They're in new environments. They have new teachers. So, the transition back to school is never easy, and you're navigating lots of students that are going through that all at the same time. Um, and you have to persevere through that because you're having your own transitions and your own big feelings as you come back to school too. As a teacher, as a principal, as a nurse, anyone in our schools, it is not easy. It is tiring and you guys are leaving
008the days and starting the days with huge smiles on your face. Just this morning, I walked into mascot um and one of our uh kiddos was having a meltdown. Um, and the calm nature of the professionals in community ed navigating this little person having a very big feeling about their parent leaving um was nothing but composure and kindness to towards that student. Um, and to see that and to know that's happening across our district and that we're valuing every one of our learners as they quickly transition back to school or some that will take weeks before they're fully transitioned back to school. So, thank you for focus on every single one of our students in your classroom. It's going to take them a while to adjust. I know my littlest is still adjusting. So, thank
009you so much and I appreciate all you're doing as we go into the school year. >> Thank you, Dr. Lim, Mrs. Christensen. >> Good evening. I'd like to welcome everyone here in attendance today and online. Um, I have a couple of shoutouts for uh the first one is we just experienced wonderful music with the staff choir that's that sang to us. Actually, it was sing and um I don't often dance before a board meeting, but I was rocking back there. It was very good. So, if you guys that weren't didn't come early and you weren't here in person, you definitely missed out. So, shout out to the to the staff choir. Um, I also recently found out that North Canyon, North Canyon High School has their first JROTC color guard. So, that's very exciting. So,
010so good job, North Canyon, and we're very proud of you. Um the next topic is is a little bit um near and dear to my heart, but it it kind of makes me a little bit melancholy because we as um everyone up here and you all that are here in attendance love this district and um we continue to to lose students. I know that we had our um we continue to have declining enrollment and um I just want to urge every one of us on the board to do what we can to to promote the wonderful programs that we have here MPV. We have amazing teachers. um one size doesn't fit all in education. And so we we have a very diverse group of CTE classes and um and things in arts and science and
011steam everything. Um, but I I think that we as a district really need to look and see what we're what we can do to bring these these students back because um in my calculation we've lost nearly actually over 7,000 students since 2018 and which is an incredible loss for our district. And so we I just believe that we can do it. we can bring these students back and just you know the blame game blaming certain things isn't going to help. We really need to just take a look at what what's working. I know um PV High does a phenomenal job with like block schedule for instance just thinking outside the box maybe doing things a little bit better. Um I'm just I just really am concerned about about this topic and I'm hoping that we
012can all just focus on student achievement. Maybe reach out to and and I know um Dr. Cummings had mentioned he she he had asked the question what have we reached out to the people that are leaving our district just to find out you know because we can we're amazing district but we can all always improve. So um and then the last topic I want to end on a positive note. I just want to shout out to all the parents and teachers in our district because we do have amazing staff members and um and parents and I just want to encourage all the parents to just really partner with our teachers because our students cannot do well. They do best when parents and teachers are partnering with one another. And um I I just want to
013encourage everyone um at this at the beginning of this school year to to do so. And just um you know that and I'm sorry I'm speaking a little longer than usual, but we there was a there was a loss at a high school this and it wasn't one of our high schools, but a student lost their life because of a fight. And so, you know, we just need to care a little more. We need to um just reach out to individuals. But again, it's it's that parent student partnership to to really um reach these kids. And so, thank you for enduring my longer than normal um little comments today, but um thanks thanks you all for being here. >> Thank you, Mrs. Christensen. Miss Monty. >> Well, I'll never again be this brief, soak it
014up. This is a oneanddone probably kind of thing. Um I'm just gonna say thank you. Good evening and I'm sorry I missed her dancing. >> Thank you, Miss Wanie. Um, yeah, I want to thank um the teacher choir that was for I think pretty much everybody who was in the room now um heard it and uh heard the heard their performance and it was incredible and it was great to see some of our retired folks returning. Um hadn't seen them in a while. Uh also want to give a shout out. Yesterday was the first United Parent Council meeting of the year. Terrific meeting. Dr. Cummings presented opening bell and all members of the cabinet, all our assistant soups and and others came and you know talk to the parents and you know as as Mrs.
015Christensen was saying um you know parents and teachers working together. UPC is an incredible uh force for collaboration in this district. So, it's always exciting to see um what's happening. And I um you know, want to do a shout out to uh President Julie Blumenrush and and her board because she's tasked them with coming up with goals and um you know, true action plans for the year of things they want to see happen within their areas. So, it'll be um exciting to see how that that progresses over the course of the year. So, thank you. Thanks to everybody who's here and we will move on. Next on the agenda, if we had any, would be awards and recognitions. We don't have any this evening. So, next is Superintendent Comments. Dr. Cummings. Thank you, President Greenberg.
016This week, I got to visit several of our schools. Thank you to the invitation to join the Horizon Huskys for their first PEP assembly. I also visited Sweetwater, Desert Trails, Greyhawk, Pinnacle Peak Prep, Pinnacle Peak Prep, and Wildfire. Thank you for the great tour of an amazing program. I'm so proud of our amazing students and staff. Thank you to our staff who participated in our district's first early release day. I got to visit fine art teachers, CTE, and gifted teachers as they collaborated. Thank you to this evening's volunteer teacher choir for your outstanding performance. Thanks to Amanda Jackson, vocal music teacher at Desert Cove Elementary School for your leadership this evening. and to Ally Ray, director of fine arts for the district for helping coordinate tonight. Our mission moment in PB schools, we engage, inspire,
017and nurture students through highquality instruction, meaningful educational opportunities, and dynamic learning experiences. So, I'm calling all juniors, if you're interested in boosting your ACT scores, you don't want to miss out on the important event that I'm about to talk about. PV schools in collaboration with Huntington Learning Center is hosting a special ACT preparatory event over three weekends in September. This event is designed to provide valuable support as you prepare for this critical exam. You'll build skills and confidence as your coach through all three events. The cost for this comprehensive event is $25 per student. Registration is now open. Juniors have until September 3rd to register through their school's bookstore. Shadow Mountain High School signature program, the Digital Academy of Advanced Placement Scholars, DAPS, is now accepting application. DAPS offers rigorous curriculum designed to challenge gifted
018and honor students exceeding district and state requirements. To learn more about DAPS and complete the application, visit desertmount.pvschools.net. Additionally, and most important, there will be a DAPS information night on September 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Shadow Mountain Media Center. Families are encouraged to explore this program if you want to know more about DAP. I want to congratulate our Westmech partners for their Northeast Campus grand opening. Thank you for your role in helping our students gain advanced technical skills. I'm glad I was able to attend the grand opening. Thank you to our partners of School Connect. I enjoyed the fundraiser and information night to get acquainted with partners supporting our students. Thank you. Lastly, thank you to UPC and their president, Julie Blumich, for hosting this year's opening bell. If you'd like to watch, the
019link is on the UPC homepage. We're proud of the legacy of collaboration in PV schools. Thank you, President Greenberg. That concludes my comments this evening. >> Awesome. Thank you, Dr. Cummings. So, next on the agenda are items for approval. First is uh G1, consideration and approval of resolution number 585, an intergovernmental agreement between the city of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley Unified School District for the school years 2025 26 and 202627. Um I will turn it over to Miss Bergen. >> Actually, President Greenberg, that would be me. >> Okay, I will turn it over to Dr. Thank you, President Greenberg, members of the governing board, Dr. Cummings, cabinet, and guests. We are presenting this evening the new intergovernmental agreement between the city of Scottsdale and PB schools for the 2526 and 2627 school years. This agreement
020establishes the presence of a dedicated school resource officer from the Scottsdale Police Department who will serve three PB school campuses, Greyhawk Elementary, Pinnacle PE Preparatory, and Sonorin Sky Elementary. The SRO will provide on-site law enforcement services while creating and maintaining a safe and secure learning environment and promoting student well-being. funding will come entirely from the school safety program grant which will cover the costs of the SRO's salary resulting in no cost to the school district. This marks the third and final year of the current grant cycle and PB schools plans to reapply for continued funding in March of 2026 for the next three-year cycle. If receiving this grant again, then this will be in place for next school year. This is a new agreement and has been reviewed and approved by district's legal council and
021we do recommend approval tonight. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Corson. Dr. Lyn, may I please have a motion to consider and approve resolution number 585 and enter an IGA between the city of Scottsdale and PBUSD for the school years 202526 and 2026 27 as presented. >> So moved. Does any board member have any comments or questions regarding Miss Wani? >> Told you the brevity was not going to last long, but I just Thank you. Uh, first and foremost, I love the no cost part to us. That's great. Um, I just have I just have a question about So, it's a new um it's a new agreement and partnership with the city of Scottsdale. So, is that just because our our city of Scottsdale schools did not have an assigned SRO prior to this year
022and so here we are and they've they've just not had one. >> Yeah, Miss Wanie. So, uh this is a new model for the city of Scottsdale in terms of how they would like to provide officers to the school. So, we have had uh school um officers there prior to these three, but it was through offduty management. And so, we uh went with a thirdparty vendor. That was the model that the city of Scottsdale had us do. And so now they've changed that model and are asking for us to uh do this through their school resource officer program. >> Okay. Is this is this more similar to city of Phoenix then? >> Yes, it is. >> Okay. Well, I like this. I think this is good. So, thank you. City of Scottsdale. Yeah, that's great.
023Thank you. >> Thank you. Anybody up? Dr. Limb, >> sorry. And then for clarity, so I know we have one of these existing agreements with City of Phoenix as well. And my understanding we we also have SRO's on some of our other campuses already through similar programs through City of Phoenix. Correct. >> Uh Dr. Lim, that is correct. So the city of Phoenix does cover most of our schools and so these three schools in particular fall under the jurisdiction of Scottsdale. >> Thank you for the clarity. >> Anybody else? Mrs. Christensen. >> Thank you, Dr. Carson. I'm really happy to see us going to this model and I did do a little bit of research and it it seems like Mesa also has this model as well as Higgley with the partnerships. So, I'm very
024happy that we continue to um to do that and and seek out unique ways to keep all of our students and staff safe and and I want to thank Sergeant Wilson. He does a phenomenal job um with all of our SRO's and and just keeping the board members and and people in attendance safe. So, we appreciate you so much. I did have one question. Um I know all our high schools now have a onetoone. So, we all we have an a dedicated SRO for each high school. Do you have the um and and I I know that our numbers change in terms of the number of schools. I think we're at about 40 41 schools. Do you know how many we have um in the middle schools and the high schools or how many are
025we short >> in terms of officers >> to have a one to one so that we would have a dedicated and I know I understand there's police shortages there it's a very complicated issue I just am very curious as to how we can you know get to that point of achieving 100% for each school. >> Yeah. So, uh I believe all of the officers that have been allocated through the grant are actually uh have been filled by officers, but some of those schools do share officers across two different campuses. And so, we do have that situation, but all the positions uh have been filled at this point. Is that your question, Miss Christensen? >> No, I was just I I know that all of our high schools have a dedicated SRO. I was just wondering
026if and um happy to take this offline like maybe an email. I I just very curious to know how many of our middle schools and elementary schools have a dedicated SRO. >> Yeah, I may ask Dr. Asmusson who probably knows this number more so than I do. >> Not necessarily. I think >> board member Christensen, thank you for the opportunity to send you the email. Um, so we do have, as Dr. Corsman was stating, we do have some schools that are joint um in the way that they completed their application. Uh, they may end up doing joint applications um in the next round um because that is one way for us to ensure that they'll be covered. um is so in terms and there there are some schools that have yet to apply for the
027grant, but I have a feeling that after the last few years and then the opportunity to have done a mini grant application this past um academic year that we'll see all of our schools make application and then at that point um we do expect this year with the Arizona Department of Education that this process will be very competitive because not only do I think that we will be applying for all of our schools, but I think that's going to um true across the um across the state as well. >> Yes. And it's my understanding that the Arizona Department of Education is trying to also think outside the box and look at alternative things like such as retired um because right now I um they it's active duty and you you know either whatever you could
028correct me active duty police officers but I know that the department of ed at least for the past couple years is looking at ways to you know utilize offduty offic not not just offduty but retired and retired personnel. >> That is correct. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. Anybody else have any other questions or comments? Thank you, Dr. Osmanson. I think we're good. Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed say nay. >> Any abstensions? >> Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Next on the agenda is acceptance of gifts and donations. Um, we of course thank all of our donors. I'd like to highlight uh several that we uh received, our schools at all received. Uh, the Desert Shadows Elementary School PTA donated $2,500
029to the school for chairs for the library refresh at Horizon. AIA donated over $1,000 as a flag football grant. Um, Echo Mountain Intermediate received $1,000 in rewards for students from Dorito Partners at PB High School, the Paradise Valley Schools Education Foundation, uh, for uh, provided a check of $1,200 for JAG summer school session number two. Uh, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics gave our curriculum department $3,000 for inservice supply items for math teachers. And the curriculum department also received a $5,000 check from the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation for our robotics STEM program. So again, we thank all of our donors. Um, as we all know, public education, funding for public education is is always a challenge. um these days and so donations are um so wonderfully um supportive and we appreciate them all. Does any
030board member have any comments about our gifts and donations? Seeing none um all those in favor may excuse me may I have a motion to approve acceptance of gifts and donations? >> So moved. >> All those in favor please say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Nay. Any abstensions? The motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Next on the agenda is the item that was on the consent agenda and um moved for uh approval by discussion. That would be approval of minutes of the August 7, 2025 governing board meeting. Dr. Lee, may I have a motion to approve the item? >> Uh so moved. >> Does any board member wish to make a comment? Mrs. Christensen. >> Yes. First off, I would like to thank um Rochelle for her amazing work and all trying to keep up
031with all these um different personalities up here and everything we do. So, so thank you. I um I move to amend the minutes with the following corrections. Um item A3, roll call. Um I was incorrectly listed as the board clerk. I'm no longer the board clerk. Dr. Lim was the board clerk. So, um I would like us to amend that. And then also scrolling down to um item G3, it was incorrectly stated that Mrs. Christensen moved the governing board to accept if and that was also Dr. Limbs. So, um I believe those were the the only um changes. So, I move to amend the minutes with those items. Sounds good to me. Does anybody else have any questions or comments? Well, actually, would that be a motion to Yes. Is there a second to that
032motion? Miss Wani seconds that motion. So what we are there any comments on the mot on the secondary motion to make those two amendments? Seeing none, we need to vote on the secondary motion. Then we'll go back to the main motion. So all those in favor of amending the minutes as Mrs. Christensen just outlined, please say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Any abstensions? Motion passes unanimously. So, we have now amended the minutes to reflect that Dr. Lim is clerk as opposed to Mrs. Christensen. Is there any other comments about the minutes as now amended? Seeing none, all those in So, we're now back to the main motion. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. I. Any opposed say nay. >> Any abstensions? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you and thank you for catching
033that, Mrs. Christensen. Um, next on the agenda is called to the public. So, I'd ask that you please turn your attention to the video monitors for the next section. Call to the public is about to convene. This portion of today's meeting allows the public the opportunity to address the governing board. Although state law does not require that the governing board hold a call to the public, the Paradise Valley Unified School District and its board have chosen to do so because we believe it's important to hear about concerns and issues from our community. While call to the public is not designed to be a discussion, the board is here to listen. Due to Arizona open meeting law, the governing board cannot respond to, discuss, or take any action on items brought up during this time. However,
034staff members may be directed to get back to you and address individual concerns. As a reminder, the point of this and every board meeting is to accomplish the business at hand and to be able to do so in an open and collaborative way. All in attendance are expected to observe meeting rules as well as rules of politeness and decorum so that we may serve as an example to our students that issues can be discussed in a respectful and civil manner. [Music] Thank you. Tonight we have I think it's actually three people who have submitted comment cards prior to the start of the meeting. I have four, but I'll check if it's four. That's fine. Each speaker will have three minutes for remarks. As a reminder, we ask that you please direct your comments to the
035board, and please state your first and last name when you come to the podium. So, I do want to check. I think I have two cards for Jean Genge. Okay. Yeah. So, I presume you want to speak just once. Okay, cool. I'm going to have you come up first and uh you'll be followed by Christy Atkinson and you'll I'll have three minutes each. Thanks. Can you hear me? Okay, great. Um my name is Jeannie Genge and I'm a concerned parent and I'm also the president of the Greyhawk Elementary PTO. Um my husband and I are very active at Greyhawk. We love our school and for the past few years, our daughter has been going there. She's in second grade. We also have younger twins that just came into kindergarten. Since the beginning of the year,
036our daughters have experienced multiple issues with one child in Miss Atinson's class. One of my daughters is in her class and comes home every day to talk about how there is throwing chairs in the classroom, running out of the classroom while screaming down the hall, and hitting other children. As a strong parent group, we have heard over a dozen parents with the same concerns that I'm bringing to you today. We have all shared these with the administration and everyone is aware. It is our utmost concern to resolve this disruptive behavior and inherent safety issues in classrooms with five and six-year-olds. Miss Atinson is a skilled and seasoned teacher. She actually taught my older daughter two years ago. There is no way to manage this classroom without onetoone supervision of this child. It can I do
037not think this is something that the district can handle and it also cannot ignore. As a parent in a school for my daughter's birthday lunch, I watched this young girl run away from multiple people in the lunchroom drop to the ground and start kicking them. In my opinion, this is not a behavior that is expected of a kindergarten level child in any way. When I look to the handbook, I find the following. Students who engage in aggressive violent conduct must be removed from the classroom immediately and considered for long-term expansion, suspulsion, or placement in an alternative setting. Another reference would be Arizona law ARS 1584, which requires even pupils in kindergarten through 4th grade expulsion or long-term suspension should be considered and the district must ensure due process, which I agree. But it also provides
038for immediate removal when our children are in danger. I am not a licensed therapist. I'm a mom and I've worked in marketing and corporate America for years. I sincerely feel for this young girl and I wonder if this is the right environment. I understand that if a child has a disability that is impacting their behavior, we need to do that, consider that, and go through all of the specific processes that the PV school district has laid out. I understand this, but there is a safety risk to the children in those classrooms, in both of those classrooms and the school. It is extremely disrupting. Even my second grader every day comes home talking about this girl screaming down the hallway and disrupting the entire school. I ask that you consider taking action on this topic and
039I thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Next is Christy Atkinson, followed by Jessica Salonic. And again, I apologize if I'm mispronouncing. >> Hello. Hi. >> I'm Christy Atkinson and I've been in education in this district for 26 years. I'm currently the kindergarten teacher at Greyhawk Elementary that Miss Gen is speaking about. I want to start by saying that standing in front of you today is completely out of my comfort zone, but it is with great concern that I need to bring the following issues to your attention. Right now, the safety of my classroom is being compromised. One student's extreme behaviors have led to children being injured, repeated classroom disruptions, and 24 other students losing out on valuable education time. While I understand we are a few weeks into school, I have never experienced
040a classroom disrupted to this degree in my 26 years. To shed some light on the last three weeks, this child has physically harmed myself, multiple students, and staff members. She has bitten and I had to change the number to two staff members today. She has run out of our classroom many times, multiple times a day, and once out the front door of the school. When our class goes to specials, she requires two to three teachers in the room to ensure that everyone is safe. I've been so fortunate to have the support of my principal who's even here this evening, which so thankful for our specialists, office aids, special area teachers, and other staff members that have stepped in to help. But I'm also aware that they have their own job and that they're not always
041going to be available every time I need them. I recognize that the district has offered some solutions to this matter, but the two main reasons I'm here tonight. First is to advocate for my students that can't speak up for themselves in my classroom. Every one of them deserves to be in a classroom that is safe, fun, and a place for them to learn and grow. And secondly, I need to be on record that I have done everything within my power to address this safety issue. I'm afraid that if nothing changes, this is not going to end well, and I cannot in good conscience stay quiet. Thank you for your time and your attention for this serious matter. >> Thank you, Jessica. And I'm gonna mess it up again. Salonic. >> Good evening. My name is
042Jessica Salanick and I am here as a concerned teacher and parent at Greyhawk to speak about something no parent or student should ever have to worry about. Physical safety inside of our classrooms. In the first three weeks of school, there have been multiple daily incidents involving a student who has hit or physically harmed other students and teachers. I am in a unique position because I get to witness firsthand these behaviors, disruptions, and outbursts because I am in the classroom right next door and monitoring recess with this student. But I am also a parent to a kindergartner in Miss Atkinson's class who comes home daily talking about what he is witnessing. I want to be clear. I am not here to shame any child or family. Every student deserves support. But it is our duty to
043protect all students. And right now, I'm deeply concerned that this issue is not being addressed with the seriousness it demands. We're talking about 5-year-olds who are no longer feeling safe in their classroom. Students who are being told just avoid certain individual instead of being properly protected. A kindergarten teacher with 26 years of experience is teaching 25 kindergarteners while trying to manage behaviors that are not only unsafe but also extremely disruptive to the learning environment. These students are just starting their academic journey in Paradise Valley. We want every learner to be empowered for a lifetime of success, but are failing to give these students the opportunity to succeed by allowing such extreme disruptions and distractions to take up their whole entire day. This student is constantly having outbursts in the classroom that result in screaming, running
044around the classroom, running out of the classroom, running down the hallways, throwing things, kicking furniture, hitting people, and now biting. Per the PVUSD parent student handbook, students who engage in violent or aggressive conduct may be removed from the classroom immediately and considered for long-term suspension, expulsion, or placement in an alternative educational setting. So, I'm asking, what are we going to do to ensure physical safety in our classrooms when a student becomes physically aggressive towards people every single day? What are we doing to ensure these kindergarten students are going to be successful academically when they are currently not in a safe and engaging learning environment? Thank you so much for your time this evening. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to speak and respectfully I am requesting that the district not only hear my concerns
045but takes action to help this situation. >> President Greenberg, if I may, um first thank you for coming to calls to the public. I while the governing board cannot uh answer your comments, I do want to let you know that we are aware Dr. Lindseay and Mr. Hubble are working hard, there are processes behind the scenes that I cannot get into publicly, but we are working through the district's process. I know it's difficult. I'm glad you came tonight, but rest assured that we know, we're aware, and we are using Dr. Lindseay and Mr. Hubble to deal with the issue. But it does take time legally working with families. It takes some time but we are working on it. So thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Cummings. Um and thank you all. Next on the agenda
046are items for discussion. We have one item consideration um a revision to governing board policy JJ student fundraising activities. Um, we actually um I will have m excuse me, Miss H Miss Bergan speak to it and then we have two public comment cards before board does. >> Thank you, President Greenberg, governing board and Dr. Cummings. Uh this evening we have before you the first read for policy JJ revision, a slight revision to the language uh to include our high schools in the prohibition from the district uh allowing uh any fundraisers that would require our high school students to do uh door-to-door sales. We already have in the policy uh that that that cannot happen with our K through 8th grade students and so adding high schools into this. We have worked in uh collaboration with
047Dr. Corson's office secondary leadership on this. Um and we have received feedback from UPC related to this. We will add additional definition in the administrative handbook just to be clear about uh door-to-door sales and making sure that people know if you if you know your neighbor well, you certainly can send your your kiddo over to your neighbor's house to uh do a fundraiser through that avenue. Uh, it's just more the anonymous door-to-door sales that put students in a dangerous situation that we're looking to avoid. >> Thank you, Miss Buran. Like I said, we have two public comment cards, so you will each have three minutes. Uh, we have Laura Hill followed by Henry Hill. President Greenberg, Superintendent Cummings, board members, and cabinet members. I think I had everybody. My name is Laura Hill. Um, I
048am the parent of a Horizon graduate, a Horizon senior, and an eighth grader this year at Desert Shadows Middle. Um, I am here because uh I would like I know this is only the first reading, but I am here um to urge you to amend um the proposed revision um against having high school students uh not sell doortodoor. Sorry, I get nervous. I'm going to drink some water. Um, I've been on PTAs for elementary, middle, and high school, sometimes all in the same year. And as uh, Miss Greenberg mentioned, fundraising can be a challenge. And we look for ways to fund raise to raise money for our schools as parents to help support what all of you do. Um, I also know that at Horizon, one of the fundraisers that the football team does is
049sell discount cards doortodoor. And I look forward every year to having a JV player or freshman player knock on my front door. Um, I love seeing them. I love talking to them about their experience at Horizon. And as Miss Christensen mentioned, we need more community engagement. And this is one of the perfect ways to get our students and our schools out in our neighborhoods and in our public. Especially going to a house that might have retirees whose kids have long graduated, but you know what? That Horizon kid knocks on that door. They have a nice five minute conversation with a polite high school kid and they think, "Yeah, you know, our public schools are actually doing a good job." and they may talk to somebody to say, "Hey, I had this great Horizon kid come.
050You should look at this high school." Now, I know that we are worried for the safety of our kids. Um, but there are ways to make this safer, especially for our high school students who, let's be honest, are young adults, right? So, let's not throw the uh baby out with the bathwater. Let's look at different options before we ban this entirely. Thank you very much for your consideration. >> Thank you, Henry Hill. >> Good evening, President Greenberg, Dr. Cummings, Governing Board, and Cabinet. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this matter. Um, I have the a parent of the same three kids that my wife just spoke about, so we can skip over that part. But, um, we've been in this district for nine years and we have very much appreciated it. We understand the
051challenges that the district is going through, but I would hope that we don't just assume safety is going to be compromised by doing something that can be done with certain parameters and guard rails that if you look at other um districts such as Mesa have already put on the similar activity. You can require buddy system. You require adult supervision and making sure there's adult that sees the kids as they're going through. And there are other ways you can go through this that aren't just a prohibition. It's not just about the fundraising as my wife pointed out. It's about that community involvement. And we all know the challenges we're going through from a uh with keeping some of our community involved in the schools and this is a way that can happen. I understand there are
052concerns about safety, but I would hate that we would default to it's going to be an unsafe environment and that is the reason to do it. So I urge that you take this under consideration as you go through this, ask some questions and if possible return it back for some additional study with maybe a different outcome. Thank you. >> Thank you. Does any board member um wish to make a comment? >> Um >> yeah, thank you. Thank you for your comments. Um I I guess why like where's the change coming from? I know we um have had historically this has been the case for elementary and middle school students. So is there something like kind of prompting the expansion to now include high school? >> I think Dr. Corson will take that one. >> Um
053Missy, thank you for that question. It really just uh so our previous uh policy indicated that we don't allow door-to-d dooror sales as you mentioned to the elementary but we gave the uh uh option at secondary level per assistant superintendent uh discussion. We uh when we had a couple of sales come across uh for our review, we had did have a discussion at an executive leadership level to determine whether or not that met uh uh safety concern for our schools. And what we were really focusing on was specific individual students approaching private doors. And we felt as though that to maintain consistency across our K12 system as well as to ensure safety that uh that that was not a practice that we thought was in the best interest of our students. I'm sorry. I I
054might be just hungry and tired. I think I need you to help me understand. So there were there there were specific instances involving specific students and so that prompted a discussion. Correct me if I'm not following that correctly. And then yeah, go ahead. >> No, Miss Swanie, there was not a specific instance of a of a safety issue that occurred as a result of door-to-door sales. When uh when there was a request for a door-to-door sale to happen at a high school level, that's when we took this practice under consideration. >> Has this this has been happening? No. The door-to-door sales in high school. uh it may have been happening previous to uh my uh role in in this position uh that I'm unaware of. >> Okay. Um do we have a like was there
055conversation or discussion around um options to make it to mitigate against risk without an allout ban of it? Like was that a consideration? Well, Miss Swany, we have uh given some direction to principles uh to uh work with their booster groups or club sales regarding this. So, for example, having uh students sell uh their products at, for example, a grocery store certainly permissible. Uh having uh students be able to sell products to family members or neighbors, certainly permissible. uh having uh chaperoned uh opportunities where uh students potentially are selling doortodoor with a sponsor present certainly permissible. So it was really our concern regarding specifically when we asked students to go to a private residence unsupervised that it might be putting those students in a risk that we were not ready to uh to take on.
056Um, I see a a a difference between uh a fundraiser that states, "This is a fundraiser, go door to door and sell." versus, "This is a fundraiser, sell." Right? So, I guess my thinking is if there were if it was the case that there was a specific fundraiser that that was the request, right? go doortodoor and sell. Um I would agree that we shouldn't have those kinds of mandates right around because parents for example might not want their student to go and do that and then there might be parents who are okay with it. So I guess part of me is also coming from I understand this is a school-related activity and we should make sure that we're putting things in place that we're not encouraging anything that's going to put students at risk. But
057I'm I have to I'm being honest. I'm just talking this through a little bit out loud. Also, as a parent, I kind of feel like this is also, you know, there should be some parent discretion here involved because if I'm tasked with selling things and I want to go around and knock on doors with my ninth grader, 10th grader, 11th grader, senior, I think that that could be a really positive thing. So, I guess again just going like were all these kind of options considered and talked about? And I guess and also I guess another question I have is did we get feedback from like high school principles and like parent groups and all of that? >> Uh so two questions. So come back if if I don't answer both of those questions. So the
058first one being uh I think having to do with um uh what was the first part? The sales >> like just distinguishing between a a fundraiser that says go do this versus sell these things. >> Right. Yeah. Miss Swanie. So, anytime that a student on his or her own would want to sell to the neighborhood with parent permission, we certainly wouldn't prohibit that because that's an individual family decision. We're really speaking about fundraisers in which uh the students are asked by the club sponsor or the booster to actually go to a residence to sell. That we would not support >> per this policy. >> Okay? Because that's not I don't read this that way. This this says to me the district no door to door sales like and I think there's a big difference between
059that and the distinction you just made. I feel like I understand and appreciate that very much that distinction. So is if that is the intention, can we is there a way to go back and rewrite this so it reflects very clearly that distinction that you just made? >> Miss one? If that if that's the perview of the governing board to give us that direction, we would be happy to take a look at that language and revise it to make it more clear. >> I will give the others the chance. >> Mrs. Christensen. >> Yes. And I do concur with a lot of what Miss Wanie says. Just having a um 19-year-old that just recently graduated from one of our wonderful high schools and having to sell things. I I I don't I don't see why
060the district as a whole should be um saying that we do not authorize doortodoor sales. I think um that we should leave it up to the discretion of of parents and the boosters and perhaps wording that um mitigates safety concerns such as um students shall not be unac unaccompanied minors shall not knock on doors or some or something of that nature. But I think if if they have a parents permission or parents are quite I mean these kids are driving already and they're um they're many adults they're almost many some of them are already 18 and they're already emancipated. So I I do personally have a issue with um banning alto together student door toll perhaps word smithing it a bit to encourage safety to encourage um community outreach. I thought both of the parent
061speakers brought up some valid points today and and I think it would um it would behoove us to really look at just changing the language to maybe not encourage students just going rogue out on their own knocking on strangers doors to you know the buddy system and you know parent some sort of maybe a parent driver and the kids go to separate parts of the community. I I don't know. I think um as a district we we can do better and we can think outside the box and come up with a better alternative rather than just not authorizing doortodoor sales altogether. >> Dr. Lim. >> Yeah. So, um I I think I'm in the same vein in how this reads. It feels like an allout ban to doortodoor sales. And frankly speaking, my daughter's been
062doing door-to-d dooror sales as a Girl Scout since she was five. um obviously accompanied by an adult in an appropriate setting, but as she gets older, those parameters will change. And Girl Scouts has parameters and ch in training in place to help families navigate the process of door-to-door cookie sales and how and when you help your student transition from the parent always being there to a buddy based system and working with the parents to understand how to do these door-to-door sales in a way that is both beneficial to the student doing that work because that face-toface conversation is an invaluable learning process for a student selling something, that conversation, that entrepreneurship, that that ownership of those fundraisers is a really valuable thing. It's a prominent aspect of Girl Scouts and many other organizations. So, something
063that feels like an all-out ban, especially for high school students that are are learning their first jobs. They might be thinking about their careers. These are great experiences for them. So building parameters and just not banning it outright just it doesn't seem like the right move especially for high schoolers who need to start to learn that independence and building safeguards seems like a better and appropriate pathway than just all around saying these have to go. Um because there are other organizations that have 5-year-olds selling doortodoor and are doing it very successful fashion and I know there was mention of well they could go to a grocery store but actually girl scouts starts way in advance to organize with the stores to be able to sell at certain stores and some stores they can't sell at
064certain years some stores they don't those agreements are long in advance so asking a PTO or a PTA or whichever organization is doing it to start years and a year in advance to get into a grocery store may not be feasible considering there are parameters around selling at these types of venues. So, it may not be feasible and it may mean that fundraiser ends completely because that organization doesn't have the bandwidth and the the parent power to make that happen. Not all of our schools have these large organizations. So being able to ask these parents to spread themselves thinner just to get them into high school when developing a buddy system might be a better approach would allow these fundraisers to keep going and keep supporting our schools. So the language just doesn't seem like
065it's there to allow for growth. And I think we should learn from other organizations that are successfully doing doortodoor and building those models and other districts to build a policy that supports what's happening at our schools and not take away something that's productive. Mr. Pantara, >> going along with my colleagues here, I would say that what you had mentioned about uh when asked the exceptions um that should be maybe in writing here. Um because I understand we're trying to be financially responsible by lowering the liability of our district. If something happened to a kid out there and we said policy do whatever you want out there, I could see that cost the district a lot of money. So, I'm glad we're looking at this and putting something in writing. Basically, we don't know. we can
066put the ban we want, but the kids are going to go out and do what they want anyway. Who's enforcing this? Right? So, I'm glad we have this language, but again, not an all-out ban, but something where there's supervision or um a way to go doortodoor, not by themselves. And like everyone else said, it reads total ban. So, I'd agree with my colleagues and maybe some rewarding there. >> Yeah, I I agree as well. I think um you know I think we all understand the thought process that went into it, but it sounds like um different schools and different groups and different everybody has been able to successfully navigate this um in a way that either used the buddy system or you know used some of the um the other alternatives that we talked about.
067I also have a concern that if we put it in policy um and for whatever reason a a student goes to a neighbor's house but the neighbor doesn't want to acknowledge they know them, they can go out. You shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't be here. It's in your policy. And so although I I understand that, you know, as Mr. Pandera just said, certainly there's reasons for this. It does sound like um perhaps a little bit more flexibility and whether that means uh we refer to the parent student h excuse me the family student handbook and we have more expanded language there. Um maybe that's an alternative and that provides us a little more, you know, on the ground flexibility as we go through that. I don't I don't know if that's an alternative, but
068um yeah, it does sound like this this is a little more black and white and when there's very obvious gray to this whole issue. So probably need to rejigger a little bit. Mrs. Christensen. >> Yeah, just one last comment. Um the governing board that's sitting up here is not going to be here forever and I know we've knocked thousands of strangers doors um to get elected and to do that. So, you know, may we may have some budding governing board members in the future. So, another another feather in their cap to to accomplish this. So, >> like canvasing, isn't it? Sort of. I mean, a little bit. >> And I'm not going to not gonna not going to go deeper into that. Does anybody else have any other comments? Well, this was first read as
069we said, so um let's see where it goes for second read. Um, that is the last thing on our agenda. So before we adjourn, I'd like to remind you the next regular board meeting will be held on September 18th at 20 uh, excuse me, starting at 6:30 p.m. Dr. Lim, may I have a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> All those in favor, please say I. I. >> I. Any oppose, say nay. Motion passes unanimously. We are ajourned. Thank you.