001Okay, it is 6:31. I'd like to call the meeting to order. And before we do anything formal, um are do we have parents of these amazing students here? Can you stand up so we can acknowledge and thank you for sharing them with us tonight? Thank you. Thank you. So, well, stay standing because next on our agenda, I'd ask that everybody rise and please join our amazing choir leading us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands nation. [Music] Thank you very much. Can we have one more round of applause for Miss Matana and Echo Mountain Chorus? Thank you so much. Miss Chisman, may I have roll call, please? Mrs. Christensen, here. Mr. Pantara, here. Mrs. Greenberg, here. Dr. Lim here. Miss Wanie here. Thank you.
002Um, next on the we're going to let folks head out for a moment. Thank you. So, next on the agenda is approval of agenda. Dr. Reynolds. Thank you, President Greenberg. Governing board, cabinet, and guests. Items approved by consent will not come up for discussion during the meeting, but will be approved when the agenda is adopted. This is possible since members of the governing board received the agenda along with backup materials 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
003prior to the start of the meeting will be recognized to speak on that agenda item under items for approval. President Greenberg, I would like to offer the agenda as posted. However, I would ask that the board remove F12 from the consent agenda. We noticed uh at the last minute a discrepancy in the background material. So, we'd like to fix that and bring it back to our next meeting. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Reynolds. Prior to the meeting, we received no blue com public comment cards. Um, so no member of the audience has asked for anything to be removed from consent. Does any member of the governing board wish to have an item removed from the consent agenda? Mrs. Christensen? Yes. I would like consent agenda item F7. Consent agenda item F16 and F17 removed. Okay.
004So that was F7, 16, and 17. And those will go after um G6. So after the the current items on the approval agenda, and we'll just take them in the order that they appeared here. Does any other member wish to move anything from consent? Seeing none, Mrs. Christensen may have a motion to approve the meeting agenda and recommended consent agenda items. So moved. All those in favor, please say I. I. I. I. Any oppose? Say nay. Any abstensions? The motion passes unanimously. Next on the agenda is governing board statements. Miss Watti, do you have anything you want to I just want to say uh welcome to everyone. Welcome. Welcome. Um, and was that not like the best way to start a governing board meeting ever? I don't know how we're going to keep up with
005that energy, but I think we can try. Um, so thank you. I know we've got a long agenda today and we've got some exciting things. So, I think that's all I have to say. Thank you, Miss Wii, Mrs. Christensen. I will be brief as well. I just wanted to let all of you that are watching at home know that you missed out on a love train here tonight. It was amazing from Echo Mountain Primary and secondary. So, and I would like to welcome everybody that is here today. Thank you, Mrs. Christensen and Mr. Pantara. Oh, thank you. I'd like to echo what everyone said about Echo Mountain Choir. Fantastic uh fantastic performance. I have a personal point of personal privilege privilege here. I want to say happy birthday to my brother who might be watching
006today. It's his birthday today. Um, last week I was put to mind of Eddie Basha. You know Eddie Basha Bash's family-owned grocery stores. He was an educator. Well, he was on school board for 13 years over in Chandler. And I met him once at a salsa competition. I was Yeah. My brother and I were at salsa competition. I think it was at Enchiladas. I think it was many years ago obviously. But um the reason I was thinking about him was because last week we were at Hidden Hills. Hidden Hills had uh a partnership. They'd gotten uh Food City Bashes and Captain Planet had come to their school and given them a lot of uh resources to improve their community garden. Okay. They I don't know if you ever been to their garden. It's wonderful. And
007they're going to be growing enough plants to to make salsa. And this is my pitch to say yes, I would like to be invited to be a judge maybe or to try some of that salsa. We see these kind of partnerships. We a lot of our schools have these gardens. It's great. Uh especially when we have partners like Bashes and Food City and those kind of people coming in and helping us out and encouraging our students to have a healthy lifestyle. I love that. I would love to see in the fantasy of perfect world uh one of our buildings repurposed to a big community garden kind of thing for the community. It was happy times and I loved it. And that concludes my statements. Thank you, Mr. Panta. Dr. Lynn. Great. So, I'm going to
008take a little bit of everyone's time that they didn't use. Um, so I, you know, since I've graduated college, I've been giving back to the community I'm involved with, which is STEM science, uh, the science space. Um, and I fortunately have had the opportunity to be involved with the Arizona science and engineering fair for many, many years. and I I work now uh volunteer in a leadership role there um helping leading the judging process. The really exciting part was we just had our big event last week, two whole days of you know science fair judging and the most exciting part for me was really getting to see uh some of our staff there because I don't know all the students faces but seeing our PV staff helping get their kiddos set up and on the
009floor ready for the judging process. Now, because I'm blinded to what schools are here, I don't know what students I'm talking to, what schools they come from. But at the end, because I'm part of the judging process, I get to see those final awards come down, and I get to see the schools and districts that are represented. And so, the exciting part was when it came down, PV uh PV High School was definitely represented among that. And I just want to take a moment to highlight two specific projects um that came down on those score sheets. Um, so one is a group in our senior categor category that came from technology enhances the arts. This is a brand new category that's bringing science and arts together. And we are a steam district, not a STEM
010district, a steam district. So this is a really good testament to what's happening here at the high school level of really bringing arts into the classroom and engaging them at the STEM level. And these kiddos in their team project for a project titled Snap Sort, an AI image sorter for photographers um received second place in technology enhances the arts. Um and then there's another project I want to highlight. So on Friday night, we actually went over caucusing for best in show by an hour and that's because there were so many amazing projects. But even before we began, there was a buzz around the room that mathematics category had a project that they thought could go to the international science and engineering fair. We can only send forward 15 projects of the 22 categories that are
011available. And so you have to be a really strong project to be best in show and go to the international level. And the buzz was that we had one in mathematics. Well, I heard the one in mathematics and it was titled enhancing atomic PTE theories tensorizing foundations through neur neuronal solvers right over my head even as a STEM professional. It was amazing. The group was excited and we sent it on to ISF. I was excited when the best in show category came to me and it turned out there were PV kiddos. We have not sent anyone to ISF in the math category for many of the years I've been involved at the leadership level. And to have that come from PV High School and those kiddos from the Crest program is a testament to the
012science that is happening at the high school level in this district. And I look forward as we continue to grow our steam initiative at both the middle and high school to see many of our learners grow up doing steam in this district and go on to engage in things like the Arizona Science and Engineering Fair and hopefully continue to go on to the international level. So congratulations to all the kiddos who participated from PV. there was a large representation and I was so proud to be involved and see our PV uh students represented. Thank you, Dr. Lim. Um I just want to say welcome to everyone who's here and uh we do have a pretty packed agenda. So um without further and and who's watching us at home, without further ado, we're going to get
013to the next item on the agenda, which is awards and recognitions. Dr. Reynolds President Greenberg at this time I'd like to invite the governing board to join me in front of the dis. Good evening, President Greenberg, governing board members, members of cabinet, and attendees both in person and virtual. Tonight, we have several recognitions to share with you this evening. We'll be inviting our honores to the front of the room for their recognition and photo. So, when your name is called, please make your way to the front of the room. Our first honore tonight won a first place ribbon at the third annual Arizona State Mandarin Speech Competition. This student showcased exceptional Mandarin skills as well as dedication to learning the language while fostering an appreciation for the culture. Please help me welcome from Whispering Wind
014Academy, Kiara Shaw. Mom. Yes. Our next honores demonstrated an outstanding performance at the Arizona State DECA competition. This remarkable achievement exemplifies their hard work, dedication and the power of student leadership. Please put your hands together from Pinnacle High School. Ana Guru Prazad, Ai Sha and Shiovani Satish Kumar. Pinned Deca is uh sponsored by staff member Cheryl Sheay. Next is the Paradise Valley Education Support Professional of the Month. PVSEA President Miss Michelle Courtright is here to make the presentation. President Greenberg, Governing Board, Dr. Reynolds and Cabinet. My name is Michelle Courtright and I am the president of the Paradise Valley Support Employees Association. And this is one of the high points that I get to do. We are going to recognize a stellar ESP in our district. She is the administrative assistant over at Paradise Valley
015High School and her name is Ruth Holly. and and Ruth has been described as kind and trustworthy, hardworking, reliable. But a couple of things hit me. One of them was someone said they've had the same administrative assistant there for 15 years and they were a bit nervous about hiring a new one, but fortunately for them, they found Ruth and they hit the jackpot is what they said. Ruth started in March of 2024, which meant she had to jump right in to graduation, which is a huge undertaking. And not only did she do it gracefully, they said this was one of the smoothest graduations they had ever had. So they are very happy and lucky to have such a accomplished person over there filling the shoes of somebody that had been there for a while. So,
016it is with great honor that we recognize Ruth Holly this month as ESP of the month. Sorry, I'm her sister. family members. Our final recognition this evening will be presented by Principal Alyssa Orchard, president of the Paradise Valley Principal Association. Miss Orchard will present the Administrators Celebrated for Excellence and Support or ACES Award. This quarterly recognition highlights administrators and their accomplishments. Good evening, President Greenberg, governing board members, Dr. Reddol's, cabinet, and guests. Is my great honor to stand before you tonight representing an incredible group of leaders, the principles and vice principles of Paradise Valley. We would like to recognize one of our leaders for the ACES Award, administrators celebrated for excellence and support. While many principles and assistant principles were nominated, we would like to celebrate Miss Katie Loker from North Canyon High School. Her
017colleague shared, "Katie is working hard to implement new and innovative strategies at North Canyon. She is committed to moving the needle, and that's not an easy thing to do at any of our schools. She's a selfless leader that puts her students, her staff, and her admin team first. She's not afraid to roll up her sleeves and help them any way she can. She is a champion of the Rattler Nation and her community as a whole. I commend her for her efforts to create the best possible environment for teaching and learning and I'm proud to call her my friend and colleague. Congratulations, Katie. Keep up the great work. And that, President Greenberg, concludes this evening's awards and recognitions. Next on the agenda is superintendent comments. Dr. Reynolds. Thank you, President Greenberg. Governing board. In PV schools,
018we engage, inspire, and nurture students through highquality instruction, meaningful educational opportunities, and dynamic learning experiences. One of those opportunities is our digital academy advanced placement scholars program. DAPS was designed to exceed the district and state curriculum requirements and challenge the advanced student. Students who are enrolled in this program have many opportunities to advance their educational goals and prepare for post-secary pathways. The DAPS program begins during a student's freshman year and culminates uh the senior year with a DAPS capstone project. I want to take a moment to wish our Shadow Mountain DAPS seniors best of luck as they present their DAPstone projects later this month. And I want to encourage all of you to check out Epic Kids Magazine April edition. Three of our DAPs seniors will be highlighted in the magazine where they will talk
019about their DAPstone projects and all the wonderful opportunities this program has to offer. Next, on Monday, April 14th, the college and career department is offering an in-person districtwide senior FASA night to support senior students and families seeking guidance on completing their 2025 FASA forms. The event will occur at Pinnacle High School from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and registration is required. As a reminder, all contributors must create their FASA IDs prior to the event. And parents, please bring your 2023 tax documents and a laptop. For more information, please contact the college and career department. And that ends my comments. Thank you, Dr. Reynolds. Next on the agenda are items for approval. And first under our items for approval is consideration approval of contract for superintendent elect. We have no public comment cards. So, Miss Christensen, to
020start off, may I please have a motion to approve the contract of employment for Dr. Todd Cummings as superintendent of the Paradise Valley Unified School District effective July 1, 2025, is presented. So moved. With that, oh, actually, we're not going to do a roll call vote. Okay. Um, does anybody wish to make any comments? We're doing this a little less formally. Anybody want to start off, Miss Wani? Sure. Um, I want to say first of all, again, just a thank you to everyone at the district, everyone in our community who participated and gave their thoughts and their feedback. Um, I know it's out of such care and passion for our students that people have wonderfully diverse and strong opinions and we appreciate that in this community. So, thank you to everyone. I also want to
021say how excited I am um for the future of PV. I'm excited to, you know, see our our longstanding traditions continue and I'm excited to see, you know, where we can shake some things up and, you know, really have an eye towards how can we have the best possible educational experience for our kids. Um it doesn't hurt that the individual who um we are here to welcome tonight has some fabulous socks on. So, he's setting the bar very, very high because I'm now always going to be looking to see what socks is Dr. Cummings, what what socks is he wearing. Um, so just a warm welcome. I'm excited for the community to have the opportunity and for us to have the opportunity to get to know you um and to uh work together um as
022as a one big community for all of these kiddos and staff in our district. So, I'm excited and thank you. And so, do I do I say my vote now? No. That's all I have to say for now, then. Mrs. Christensen. Hi. I would like to say hello and welcome to Dr. Cummings even though you didn't recognize me when I said hello to you earlier, but that's okay. I'll forgive you. Um, we're very excited that because you're not wearing your bracelets. That's true. I have a new smile. That's why you didn't rec and my hair is a little redder than it was a couple weeks ago. So, um I just wanted to thank the community because it was a very rigorous process to select our next superintendent and we as Miss Swanie um so eloquently
023indicated we got a lot of comments just I won't have to a descriptor on that. We had a lot of comments that we read through and um so we really appreciate how the community really is involved and comes alongside us when we have these important decisions and just reiterate that we did read every single comment. So it took a while but we're we're super happy and I would just like to say welcome. Thank you Mrs. Christensen. Anybody over here? Dr. Lynn. Sure. Um I I just want to uh not reiterate but say, you know, thank you to the community for trusting us with your comments and your feedback and engaging with us so openly. It really helped us feel informed as we went into this process. And we met many lovely individuals and the one
024we select I think is an excellent fit for our PV community and the community we want to continue to grow and foster and expand in super exciting ways. Um so it is really exciting to have that engagement. I am looking forward to the future of Pee and I just want to point out that uh Dr. Reynolds back in the day uh has been known for his socks and showing off his socks. So it must be a trend to wear exciting socks and stand in an administrative role. So uh we will always be looking to the socks for you Dr. Cummings. Thank you Dr. Lynn. Mr. Panta, do you have anything? Well, all I can say is he's really knocked our socks off. Thank you. Gota Welcome aboard, sir. It's going to be great. Thanks. Um,
025I just want to say, and I think everybody knows this, that the process of searching for a superintendent is always multiaceted. It's full of high hopes. It's full of high expectations, and it's also full of high stress for pretty much everybody. And this search really wasn't any different. And I want to thank everyone who joined us in this search for your help and your support. Um the input we received from individuals who provided thoughts during, you know, our online survey process and then feedback um from our our interview committee members as well as everyone who took the time to view the videos and the community forum, come to the meet and greet. Um, all of your comments were incredibly invaluable and we appreciate that you are as vested as we in, you know, making sure
026that that we hear from you and that we know um, you know, get your voice involved in in the process. And I also want to thank the many members of our PB staff who helped ensure that all components of this search worked as seamlessly as possible throughout the entire process. And I also want to give a shout out to Dr. Tim Ogle in ASA. Uh the support we received um in terms of his facil facilitation and the work they did was was outstanding. Um, I want to thank all of the candidates who applied for their interest in leading PB schools, particularly our finalists, because everyone possesses those exceptional qualities and experiences you hope to find in an innovative e educational leader, particularly understanding the needs and the aspirations of our students and staff and families
027and their strengths as leaders made this process exhilarating and intense. In PB schools, you know, we talk a lot about the PB way, the PV family, and what makes PV paradise, about our commitment to community and to collaboration. And Dr. Cummings actually has been well aware of PV and the PB way for many years because nearly 30 years ago, he met and established a connection with former PV superintendent Dr. Jim Lee when they were both attending a middle school conference. And that was before Jim was ever in PB. But that's where Todd first first uh got that connection going. And after we had made the announcement that we were entering into contract negotiations, Dr. Lee told me that he had recognized Dr. Cummings talent even back then. And while Superintendent, he reached out to Dr.
028Cummings potentially to come to Arizona and join PB schools. And it's really easy to see why Dr. Cummings not just understands the PB way. I believe he shares and honors what it embodies. The qualities of commitment and collaboration, of innovation and vision, of a true love of learning and a true joy in being an educator. He believes in the power of education and in the potential of every student. And as superintendent, he's pledged to listen and learn and lead. And I believe these are the key actions that one can and must take to ensure that everyone is heard as plans and programs continue to develop and our district moves forward. Thank you, Dr. Cummings, for wanting to make PBUSD home. And I'm honored and excited to join my colleagues in officially making it so. And
029I want to turn it over to Dr. Reynolds. Thank you, President Greenberg. Uh I would like to congratulate and thank the governing board uh for all of your hard work through this search process. uh this is the most important job you have is to find uh the great leaders uh to lead this amazing place. Uh and so I want to say again thank you and congratulate you on an excellent choice. I know the weight of this right process of selecting someone is is heavy. uh but you have shouldered it with class uh and you have done it with professionalism and I'm incredibly excited to see uh the what the future holds for for Paradise Valley. To Dr. Cummings, I will ask for your patience uh as we as you know excitedly get to work together
030uh as we transition to the future. or ask for your patience. Uh cuz you're probably in the next Well, I I I have the countdown, but over the next few months, uh you're probably going to be like, Jason, that's yeah, it it can't be this good, right? This place can't be this special. Um I am confident that you will recognize that this is paradise. Uh this is an amazing place. These are amazing people. Uh, and you are the luckiest superintendent- elect on the planet today. So, thank you for accepting this challenge. Can't wait uh to work with you. We have to vote. You will be in the You will one moment. Uh, the motion's been made. All those in favor, please say I. I I. Any oppose say nay. Any abstensions? The motion passes unanimously.
031Congratulations, Dr. Cummings. Thank you everyone. Good evening, President Greenberg, governing board, Dr. Reynolds, cabinet members. I want to thank the governing board for their faith and their trust for this amazing opportunity. Thank you to the Paradise Valley leaders who've laid a strong foundation. Dr. Reynolds, Dr. Troy Bells, and Dr. Jim Lee. Thank you to cabinet members for your dedication, your hard work. I'm looking forward to working with you. Paradise Valley has a skillful group of teachers, support staff, and administrators. And I'm looking forward to supporting their work for even more instances of Echo Mountain singing, Mrs. Smantana's leading them, DECA, and Mandarin. Thank you to Dr. Ogle for your leadership of this search and your thoughtful, engaging service to the community and your service to the students of Arizona. Thank you to community members and
032parents who chose Paradise Valley Schools. I'm looking forward to listening, engaging, collaborating, and building relationships that will continue Paradise Valley being a worldclass institution. Thank you to our students, your dedication to the journey of excellence that is a heartbeat of the district. I'm proud to accept and to serve as the next superintendent of the Paradise Valley. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Thank you, Dr. Cummings. And now we have the rest of the agenda, which is probably not as exciting. But next on the agenda is consideration approval of 712 world language, Spanish and French curriculum, K6 Mandarin Language Arts Curriculum, and World Language Supplemental Resources. This is a second reading, and I'll turn it over to Miss Copen. Thank you, President Greenberg. On behalf of the 712 world language curriculum committee, we are pleased
033to recommend the adoption of the selected French and Spanish curriculum for 712, the Ksix Mandarin language arts curriculum for Whispering Wind Academy and accompanying uh supplement resources. And we appreciate your continued support of our world language education, our district, and we're happy to answer any questions from uh presentation before. Thank you, Miss Copen. Mrs. Christensen. May I please have a motion to approve the 712 World Language, Spanish, and French curriculum, KSIX Mandarin Language Arts Curriculum, and World Language Supplemental Resources as presented? So moved. Does any board member have any questions or comments from Dr. Lim? So I just uh want to remind everyone that these committees are really valuable. I actually sat on the Mandarin committee for K uh K6 here in the district. So for that reason, I will be abstaining from that vote.
034But I do know how important these curriculum decisions are and they have really positive impacts because I know I sat on that committee and heard from the teachers in the community of the need for improvement in their curriculum and this new adoption. So I understand the value that's happening at the school that I was involved with and I know this value will extend all the way up to all grades, but I have to politely decline from this vote. Does anybody else have any comments or questions? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I I any oppose say nay. Any abstensions? I uh the motion passes 4 zero with one extension. Thank you. Next on the agenda is consideration approval of an agreement with Westad and the Paradise Valley Unified School District. Miss Copen.
035Thank you, President Greenberg. This evening, an agreement between Westad and Paradise Valley Unified School District is being presented for your consideration and approval in support of our participation in an Arizona math pathways study. Uh this opportunity will allow PV schools to gain insights on how our current math pathways are structured and how our students are accessing them. It will lead to a better understanding of student participation across those pathways. uh support our data informed decision- makingaking through a customized district report. Through this study, uh we would like to examine through the study our math how our math pathways align in preparation for high demand post-secondary opportunities. Um it allows us to collaborate with other Arizona districts and learn from shared practices and contribute to a broader statewide understanding of effective math pathways. um to study.
036The study will analyze course taking and achievement data um for our students grade 5 through 12 from 201617 through the 23 24 school year and help us um strengthen our instructional planning and student outcomes and we recommend uh that we do this agreement. Sorry, lost my train of thought. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Cop and Mrs. Christensen. May I please have a motion to approve the agreement with Westhead and Paradise Valley Unified School District as presented? So moved. Does any board member have any questions or comments? Missy, I just have a question. Um, so and you alluded to there be there being other district partners which I sort of gathered from the information you sent. So thank you. But can you can you do you have us do you know even if you can't
037necessarily speak to the exact um specific districts but like how many Arizona schools are also participating in this? Yes, President Mrs. I'm not sure about the total but I do know that we were selected as the Maricopa County large urban school district to participate in this. Okay. Okay. And then you said um so we'll have sort of customized reports that will help inform our specific practices based upon the data and then that will sort of I guess I'm making an assumption here but so that then that along with the the rest of the reports based upon the other schools and the data that they collect will go towards sort of a more comprehensive statewide um review that then is going to be used to inform like trajectories and policy possibly recommendations. Yes. That's exactly correct.
038Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Does anyone else have any Mrs. Christians? Yes. Thank you. I did have a question. Be um besides the stated intention that was listed in theou with uh West Ed and Helios. Is there any are there any other reasons we are entering into this such as are there any compensation or is it revenue generating for the district at all? Yes, Miss Christensen. Um it doesn't provide direct revenue but um it does have we get a no uh cost consultation with Westad. Um a couple other benefits would be the customized reports I mentioned that will help guide our internal workings as well as contributing to a larger body body of data statewide. um and our math pathways have been of interest to us for a while. So, we're excited to have a larger
039perspective and that consultation will be invaluable to our decisions as we move forward too. Perfect. And um I had a um I had a second question. I appreciated the the language in there about Furpa to protect privacy and that students would not be identified. But I was wondering however are parents notified um with this because there is data collected even though the individuals would not be um named specifically and are parents given a choice to opt out if any data is shared? Mr. um so this is not new data being generated. Um the study is going to use existing district data and it's um what they call deidentified data and it's um it does it's in full compliance uh with furpa as the agreement cited as well and our attorney has has reviewed that as
040well. Um and since there's no personal identifiable information um the parent notification or opt out option isn't isn't required. Okay, perfect. So just to reiterate, there's no PII being shared and so there's no students being no um identified or or surveyed per se like we would typically think um voluntarily asking questions. It's data we already have. Miss Christ, that's correct. Perfect. Thank you. Does Dr. Lim. So I I just want to expand. So I know the Helios Education Foundation is involved which are a very big player here in Arizona and Florida around education and things like that and they have multiple initiatives at every level. So I just want to get a sense going off of what uh Miss Swani asked, this was something we were invited to take part in, not something that we
041sought out to take part in. I just want to get some clarity there. Um Dr. Lim, we have an existing relationship with Helios. We've taken um we've participated in their data dives. They have what they call the data drum which is a pretty amazing experience and we've taken our high schools there and and studied our district through data. Uh through that relationship I think that we've developed they did approach us for this. Perfect. Thank you for the clarification. Anybody else have any questions comments? Seeing none all those in favor please say I. I. Any oppose say nay. Any abstensions? Motion passes unanimously. Next on the agenda is consideration approval of purchase from current district contract 2202PV for district land infrastructure upgrades. Miss Copen. Thank you, President Greenberg. This item recommends that the governing board approve
042a purchase under current district contract 2202PV for district land infrastructure upgrades as presented. Jeff Billings, our director offormational technology, is here this evening to provide a brief overview and answer any questions you may have. Thank you and good evening. Uh the purpose of this presentation is to share with the governing board stated right there. Uh supporting information turning the request for an information technology infrastructure upgrade across all campuses to enhance network switching and access. I try not to tell stories. Um the campus infrastructures for digital information and technology have have aged. The infrastructures age. Uh it's in use now for it's been in use now for about a decade and it requires upgrading. Uh doing so not only allows us to stay current with operating systems and cyber security. So it improves safety and risk
043management, network performance, and it helps us maintain regulatory and insurance compliance. The upgrades also allow PV to stay focused on the top three categories for investment as expressed by the community's bond task force uh focus groups specifically school safety number one technology number two and modernize number three. Similar to other PV upgrades over the last two decades, this proposed upgrade is to be funded by leveraging a combination of what's called federal rate funding uh to the tune of 60% they will fund and district bond funds uh fund the other 40%. The upgrades will be implemented in two phases over the 2526 school year and 20 26 27 school year so that they align with -ates 5-year windows or was I sorry this upgrade is absolutely necessary now well but it's also and I want you
044to understand it's also a big lift as every digital bit and bite must safely move at millisecond speeds to and fro tens of thousands of devices in the hands of PV students and employees throughout every classroom, every multi-purpose space over over some 40 campuses spread out across 100 miles. We're talking millisecond speeds. Bits and binary bits and bytes are binary. One, zero, yes, no, true, false. When it all works, we have much happier people. When it doesn't work, I really don't want to go there. So, um, but I want you to understand what -ate is. - federal program that helps schools and libraries access across the country get affordable internet and technology infrastructure. It is funded by the universal service fund, which collects fees from telecommunication companies. Through -ate, schools can apply for discounts on
045eligible services like internet access, Wi-Fi upgrades, network equipment, infrastructure. The goal is to ensure students and educators have reliable, safe, high-speed internet for learning. It's important for you to note, however, that -ate funds can only be used for instructional areas. This means spaces like gyms, auditoriums, cafeterias, front offices, and administrative support buildings such as what we're here in here tonight. The facilities, transportation, food service campus, the warehouse campus, and the technology where they keep me. uh the technology operations center campuses those are not eligible for -ate and will necessarily have to be funded by the community's bond investment separate from rate these funds I've approximated them uh is about a one and a half million and I'll be coming to you at a later date for that approval of that requesting approval TV oh wait
046are Are you clicking? I didn't even I'm clicking it for you. Okay, good. Thank you. Uh the U PV in collaborating in collaboration with nicely done consulting conducted a request for co quotes utilizing vendors that are available through cooperative contracts and in compliance with federal e-ate bidding requirements which are extensive. Seven vendors responded. They were from instate and out of state. Hi-tech was identified as the lowest costing responsive bidder meeting all specifications all of them at a total project quote of I think it's up there 8,98,46061. The selected vendor in turn is being procured through the V via the 1GPA PVUSD cooperative contract number 22-2 PV. On this next slide, you can see the sum of each one of the line items. the phase one total, the phase two total, what the equipment total is,
047professional services, the estimated tax and the total. If approved, the network equipment will be ordered immediately and simultaneously communication and coordination to will begin with project management. Um, I will be leading the project and have performed network infogra network infrastructure upgrades two other times for you in the last 25 years. They don't come around a lot, you know, about every 10 years. I will be held accountable to the community, the governing board directly to Miss Copen multiple times. Sorry. uh the current and new superintendent, all of cabinet, all of the schools and department. But I want you to know that Sam Doyle uh the IT assistant director and the entire IT department will make sure I perform diligently, professionally, and with a smile most of the time. Work will start this summer and continue throughout
048the next approximate one and a half years. All work will be done so as to minimize disruptions, excuse me, to life schooling and department operations. This will necessitate leveraging evening, night, weekend, holiday hours and will require diverse IT department shifts as we implement the proverbial build and fly at the same time. It must be and it will be smooth. Administration recommends that the governing board approve the award of this proposal and I am happy to answer any questions. Thank you very much, Professor Billings. Does anybody have any questions or comments or Miss Wanie? Thank you. Um, well, I'm Kayen. Thank you for going above and beyond with, you know, ensuring all of us, number one, how critical, you know, um, this this upgrade is, and number two, um, you know, I I was waiting to
049hear like you're going to give us your next born grandchild or something as part of the deal because it was like getting that good, but no need for now. But thank you. No, I really do appreciate it. Um, I do just have a couple questions about the program. Um, so federal funds is so is there like an application process that like PB had to go through? Um, and is that a process? And if so, is is it a an like an ongoing process? Like how how do you how do they determine, you know, that that what we're doing is falls within the scope of the, you know, what those funds are intended to be used for? Um, well, there are certain things that are are eligible. Everything else is ineligible. So if you put it
050in there, they're going to say, "Okay, sorry. Too bad." So Okay. And so and so they're federal funds. So we're certain they're not going anywhere like we're if we start this project and and something happens, let's say possibly with federal funds, like what do we do then? Okay. Is that a possibility? Uh well, I I don't know. Okay. Uh it's we've been using I've been personally involved with it since about 2001. uh we use it every year uh because there are two types of categories. One is services. Uh that's for things like um voice, data, etc., etc., right? So, a lot of school districts have to pay COC, so they have to burn their rate dollars, another way of saying it, just to get the internet to the school. uh about gez a couple of
051bonds ago uh the community blessed us with and that was another project that was quite interesting. We own our own fiber land connectivity. It's ours. We own it. We no longer have to use to ask pay for it. So we get to save our dollars for for these kinds of things. a wise investment. We own our own fiber. Um the other category is what this is which are things you can touch, right? So there's services and there's things you can touch. We use -ate every year. Big stuff comes around. Something this big comes around about every 10 years. This will be my third one about every eight, nine years. Right? So, did I answer your question? Not really. Okay. Yeah. Well, you're wanting me So, to it is So, let me let me take a
052swing at it. Um, this is paradise. Dr. Cummings, I still give him an A for, you know. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. So, we can't predict the future, right? Uh, but we are confident that these resources will be there. uh to be able to complete this process. Um but it is something we do need to right to keep in mind and consider as we continue to work through through projects like this. It it once it's committed in the next about two months then they're committed. That's right. Okay. And so just so I understand so high so high-tech is who's pro who's providing the infrastructure and the and so we're we pay 40% to high-tech and e-ate is going to cover the rest of it. We don't have to front it and get re reimbured or anything like
053that. They deal directly with high-tech. That is correct. That's that's it. Thank you. Anything else, Miss Wani or anybody else? Dr. Lim. So, I was hoping you could clarify a little bit on this kind of how this new infrastructure and this change in adding upgrading these devices is going to have a positive impact on school safety and kind of what is the downstream effect of implementing this every 10 years. Well, for from there there's cyber security number one or not necessarily number one and but there's there's cyber security and many of our other systems that provide school video surveillance, phone surveillance, access, fire drills, everything. It's it's everything's moved to digital. And so when you need to see a video camera, you you need it live. It's there. That sort of thing. Uh so safety
054and infrastructure, digital infrastructure are tied together by it's just the way it is. Does that So let me ask Dr. Reynolds again. Did I answer the question? Oh, did okay. Yeah. I I just wanted a little bit more clarity on the technology. Is it that we're at the life of the technology? You mentioned cyber security. Are we at the life of the technology that we're getting outside the scope of cyber security safety like with these devices? I do this with a just in time type scenario by the time we will be out of it if we don't get it in if you don't hold me accountable to get it installed in the next year and a half. Okay. We will have issues. Okay. Great. And I will have big issues. Thank you. I'm asking that's
055not administration recommends you approve. Does anybody else have any questions or comments? Mrs. Christensen, thank you for the presentation. You will be happy to know that I don't have any difficult technical questions for you this time around. I just have two comments. Um, so I, as you and I have had several discussions on this, when I was an IT project manager during the Y2K implementation over at Honeywell, when the world was going to end when we went from a two-digit year to a four-digit year, and it scared everybody. So, may your problems be as minimal as the Y2K scare because it was just a blip in the thing. And I only wanted to say thank you to you and your staff for all the work on on this huge project and we we appreciate the
056foresight and all the things you do behind the scenes to make PB great. Thank you. And we'll trade Y2K stories later. Dr. Reynolds. No, thank you, President Greenberg, governing board. Um we like to have fun with uh Professor Billings. uh but there is no one uh that I would trust more to complete a project like this and to make sure that it happens uh so that uh our students, our staff, community doesn't even know that it's happening. So, thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for being here for all these years and for uh making this uh an incredible place when it comes to safety, when it comes to security, when it comes to being able to to uh deliver high quality instruction in our classrooms every day. So, thank you. Thank you,
057Dr. Reynolds. You said that much better than I could, so I'm glad you went ahead of me. Um, anybody else have any questions or comments? Thank you, Professor Billings. Thank you, Miss and thank you. All in favor, please say I. I. I. Any oppose, say nay. Any abstensions? The motion passes unanimously. Next on the agenda is consideration approval of Cobra Administration, health, life, and employee pay, dental, vision, flexible spending account, short-term disability insurance providers, and premiums for 2526. Dr. Holmes. Sure. I I first want to apologize. I feel like the bar has been set high for the entertainment value of presentations and I'm not going to make the bar. So I I apologize. Madam President, uh, members of the board, we are asking for your approval this evening for our 202526 employee benefits insurance providers
058and rates for COBRA, health, life, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, and short-term disability. Health insurance premiums are increasing 10% and all other premiums are unchanged. Uh though I am pleased to share that the district will cover the cost of health of the health insurance premiums, meaning our employees will see no increased cost to their benefits for the 202526 school year. Happy to answer any questions you have and we recommend your approval. Thank you, Dr. Holmes. Mrs. Christensen. May I please have a motion to approve the Cobra administration health life and employee paid dental vision flexible spending account short-term disability insurance providers and premiums for 202526 as presented. So moved. Does any board member have any questions or comments for Dr. Holmes? Dr. Limb. So I I this is more of a comment. There might be
059a question there. We'll see how it goes. Um, but I just I I I I will say that I did have a little bit of sticker shock when I opened and saw these numbers. Um, while our employees by themselves are paying nothing, when we start to look at adding spouses, children or families, these are really high numbers. Um, especially for I imagine our ESPs. Some of them may only be covering themselves and not able to cover family members and things like that. And I actually know personally that there are people not covering their family members because they can't afford it. So I just want to kind of make a comment and note that these are extremely high and I appreciate hearing that the 10% is getting picked up because in the family plans that's just
060under a $200 increase um for some of those numbers. So um though it's not all picked up by the uh individual, it is a really high increase. So I I just kind of want to put it out there. I guess my question would be as a district as we're thinking about and looking at these numbers and knowing that these numbers will probably continue to increase over time, what and how are we trying to think creatively to somehow mitigate these costs and make it to where it's accessible and we don't see high turnover in especially those lower lower paying jobs that are probably most impacted by these really high rate. Sure. I I'll share with you um that uh and for the board to know uh to get to this place where we're making a recommendation
061to you this evening, we do engage uh a stakeholder community as I'm sure you either know or would expect. Uh and so we grapple with this uh every year. Uh we also include uh industry experts uh that that help us, you know, understand the different things we can do. Um, I know PV as a school district is not alone in being perplexed on on how we can uh do better for our employees. Um, I think as most people are aware though, claims are in in the medical arena are they're just expensive and and that's the majority of what our premiums go to is is paying our claims. Does anybody else have any questions or comments? Mrs. Christensen, I just wanted to thank you for negotiating this on behalf of our staff members. And as somebody
062that normally objects to absorbital expenses. I always appreciate when we when we put expenditures in the classroom and with our staff members and teachers. So, thank you for negotiating this. Sure. All right. And I should say thank you to Jill and her team who did the work to find the money to make that possible. Anybody else have any Mr. Panta? Yeah, I just want to reiterate that um these these healthc care costs are so when I started in the district, my wife and I, we were covered and so are our children and the district picked it up and over time after time, year after year, it's gotten worse and worse and worse. And it's not just our district, it's the whole nation. And um I wish we here at this district could do something about
063health care for the whole nation, but we can't. And I appreciate what you're doing to try and you know minimize it for for our employees. Thank you. Anybody else? Yeah, I just want to reiterate that. I mean, not every district still covers their employees the way we do. So, um I do appreciate I appreciate that we have found a way to cover the increase for the coming year and here's hoping that continues. Uh if anybody anybody else seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. I. All those opposed say nay. Any abstensions? The motion passes unanimously. Next on our agenda is acceptance of gifts and donations. I'd like to review a few donations that were received. Um over at Desert Cove Elementary School, the PTO provided $2,000 for the site discretionary fund
064and another non-cash donation um worth $1,286 for sound mixer and two speakers for school events. At Echo Mountain Intermediate, Dorito Partners uh gave $1,000 for the rewards for students. At Greenway Middle School, Greyhawk Classic Residence Foundation provided just over $2,254 for various programs. And at Pinnacle Peak Prep, um Rebecca Clout donated $1,424 for the site discretionary fund. Um again, we are grateful to all of our donors. That's not everyone, but if you are here, please accept our thanks. And um if you're not, I hope you're watching and you can take our you can accept our thanks that way. Mrs. Christensen may have a motion to accept the gifts and donations, please. So moved. Does anybody have any questions or comments? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. I. Any opposed say
065nay. Any abstensions? The motion passes. Next on the agenda are the items that were moved from the consent agenda. So the first is former F7 and that's consideration and approval of secondary field trips. Um I think you does anybody want Dr. Reynolds anybody want to address it before we do a motion? Um Mrs. Christensen. May I have a motion to approve secondary field trip requests? So moved. Uh does anybody have any questions or comments? Mrs. Christensen, just just clarification. So the other items, the other field trips for SEC for um secondary were um very clear on the purpose and I I just wanted to um for somebody to expand on the purpose and the academic purpose of this trip. Dr. Corson. Sorry, it was for the item number three. It just was lacking information. Sure.
066Miss uh Christensen, President Greenberg, I think you're referring to the Pinnacle High School uh trip that is scheduled for Irvine, California in September. It is a Pinnacle cross country team and they will be attending the Woodbridge Invitational uh meet on that Saturday. So they are traveling uh from the school on that Friday, arriving Friday night. They'll be there Saturday for the meet and then returning on that Sunday. Thank you. You're welcome. Does anybody else have any questions or comments? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed say nay. Any abstensions? The motion passes unanimously. Next uh was uh former F16. This is consideration to approve purchase from current district contract 2315 PBJC for gym lobby and restroom renovations at North Canyon High School. Mrs. Christensen may have a motion, please.
067So moved. And does anybody have any questions or comments? Mrs. Christensen. Yes. Um over the last couple of years, we've we've had some discussions on how many students, especially in the high school level, they they get a little bit uncomfortable with the lack of privacy in the bathrooms. And I just was wondering um if there was any were there going to be any privac privacy restrooms, locking restrooms in this remodel? Dr. Reynolds, I think it's Christian, President Greenberg. Uh we have Dr. Davis uh and Mrs. Beran online uh here tonight. I'm going to It looks like I'm seeing who's unmuting. So I'm going with Dr. Davis. Good evening, President Greenberg, governing board, Superintendent Reynolds, Cabinet and guests. Mrs. Christensen, thank you for the question. Um, this particular renovation is going to be utilizing the existing
068footprint of the men's and women's restrooms in the gym lobby. And so this is not an opportunity uh to uh include that uh single uh separate uh uh restroom uh component uh given the the limitations of the space that we're working in. Okay. Thank you for that. One of these days the answer will be yes. So I'll keep asking. Thank you for that. You bet. You bet. Does anybody else have any questions or comments? Thank you, Dr. Davis, Miss Barrian. Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any oppose say nay. Any abstensions? Motion passes unanimously. Uh, next on the agenda is consideration. This was former F17. So this is consideration and approval to award RFP 27007 for afterchool enrichment courses. Mrs. Christensen may have a motion. So moved. And does any
069member have any questions or comments? Mrs. Christensen. Yes. Um I was just curious on RJ Animation. and I had never heard of that vendor and when I was re since I'm clerk now I was reviewing expenditures and so I was just wondering if you can share a little bit about that vendor and about what this award was cuz I was a little bit confused and I think there was some clarification that already came to me but I just would like the public to to hear that I my question was is it typical that we um make the expenditure and then we approve it after the fact but Um, I'm there was some clarification, so I appreciate that. And if we can say that out loud. Yeah, we'll look to Dr. Lindsay. Good evening, Mrs. Christensen.
070I'll take a part of it and I might need to phone a friend in terms of the um how the financial aspect of it worked. Um, so R.J. animation is the vendor and it sound and according to what I've learned they're a new vendor with the district and they're providing an afterchool enrichment opportunity uh related to 3D modeling and twodimensional digital printing. So we started with one class and it was really popular with the kids. So then we added a second class and then it was still under the $10,000 threshold and when the RFQ process opened up um they submitted so then we can expand potentially into the future. Thank you for that clarification cuz when I looked it up it looked like it was videos and so I was just confused and so I
071appreciate the clarification and then the other part of my question is going to be answered by I believe Mrs. Beran. Perfect. Yes. Good evening, governing board. Uh Mrs. Christensen and uh Dr. Reynolds. Uh just to clarify that piece on the spending of the funds before receiving board approval. That is not typical. Um however, in this case, we were dealing with two separate scopes of work. One for the art portion uh that the vendor provides and then the other for the dance portion under that same vendor. Um so we're following the standard process for each in the way that the vendor uh has us follow that process. not typically what we do, but it is allowable. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mrs. Bergen. Does anybody else have any questions or comments? Dr. Limb, I
072just want to make a comment. I I have probably the youngest little one. Um, for those of you that have us uh with littles on the board, Miss are much older than mine. So, I just want to emphasize that these programs are invaluable for especially for us parents that are starting out. We haven't quite figured out what activities our kids want to do, what they want to take part in. These are great opportunities to give them a touch point in a different activity without us fully committing to something like golf or soccer. It gives us an opportunity as a parent for our kids to try it out and be like, I didn't really like that, mom. I really really love that. My daughter loved the young Rembrandt's program and we've had to expand on her
073her art skills from there. So, these are great touch points, especially for us with littles who are coming into the district. And so these are invaluable aspects of the district and the community education program here. So I just want to point out that these are are really important to our district and have had a positive impact on my family and I know many other families throughout the district. And I'll just add that you don't have to take your kid anywhere. They stay there from after school which was always a highlight for me. So I appreciate it as well. Thank you Dr. Lim. Miss Wani. Anybody else have any other questions or comments? Seeing none, all those in favor please say I. I. I I any opposed say nay. Any abstensions? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you.
074Next on the agenda is called to the public and I'd ask that you please turn your attention to the video monitors. 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, staff members may be directed to get back
075to 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 one individual who submitted a comment card prior to the meeting and the speaker will have three minutes for remarks. As a reminder, we ask you please direct your comments to the board and our speaker tonight is Jennifer Arza. Hello, my name is Jennifer Riza and I stand here tonight as a concerned parent in the Paradise
076Valley School District and I appreciate the opportunity to speak. First, I want to thank each of you for your service on the board. I know it takes a lot uh to volunteer your time and to come to every one of these meetings. It's difficult for us just in the community to show up for a few of them each year. So, thank you for that. and thank you for your professionalism and how you conduct the meetings. We really do appreciate that in our community. Uh we stand out in a lot of districts. Uh so you should be really proud of that. Um I also want to thank you all for always opening the board meetings with some fine arts presentation and awards uh publicly. I think that's really awesome uh for us just to see in
077the community too what's going on. So tonight I stand here as a concerned parent in the Paradise Valley School District and I appreciate the opportunity to speak. My concern as a parent in the district is the education and welfare of our students. As I stand here tonight, I want to advise you that pornography should not be allowed in our schools. I am hopeful that this will be the school board that stands with our community to take a stand against approving any additional pornographic material for our schools. Our community is concerned about the increasing sexualization of our students, particularly as it's being pushed to lower and lower grades. I'm just curious if any of our board members have re researched the effects of pornography on our children. I'm continually um bombarded with messages about the mental
078health of our students. So, I have to ask each one of you, do you think that sexualized pornographic material is helping the mental health of our students? Because pornography is used to train and desensitize people and increase demand for human trafficking. I don't know if you've ever known somebody that's been a victim of human trafficking or if you know that Arizona is home to the largest human sex trafficking recovery program and that we are taking in children younger and younger every year in including elementary age. I want to highlight this for the board and ask each of you to consider if increasing the sexualization of material is helping to protect our students. And do we think that continuing to add materials like this is something that we should continue to do in our district? Or
079are we doing our teachers and students a disservice by allowing this to continue? I don't know if anybody's looked at the libraries lately and seen how many books that we have that contain this type of material. I checked again today just before I came and there's over 60 books that we have that have this type of material in it. So I would encourage you to give this serious thought as you continue to review material and approve it this year in the future years that you serve. Thank you. So there are no items for discussion this evening. So before we adjourn, I'd like to remind you that the next regular board meeting will be held on Thursday, April 17, 2025, same back time, which is 6:30. Mrs. Christensen may have a motion to adjurnn. So moved.
080All those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any oppose say nay. Motion passes unanimously. We are adjourned.