August 24, 2023 Governing Board Regular Meeting

001foreign I'd like to call this meeting to order may we give another round of applause to this amazing choir who would like to hear them perform again I I what was fabulous thank you so much thank you laughs um please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands for one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice may I have roll call please Mrs Baker here Mrs Greenberg here Mrs Christensen here Mrs case here Mr Pantera here next on the agenda approval of agenda Dr Bells thank you president case items approved by consent will not come up for discussion during the meeting but will be adopted when the agenda is adopted approved when the agenda is

002adopted this is possible since members of the governing board receive agenda along with backup materials at least 24 hours prior to them meaning they have time to review and consider all items prior to the agenda being adopted members of the governing board or audience 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 I would like to offer the agenda as posted does any member of the governing board wish to have an item removed from the consent agenda does any member of the audience wish to have an item removed from the consent agenda seeing none Mrs Baker might have a motion to approve the meeting agenda and recommended consent agenda items so moved all those of in favor say aye

003aye all the suppose say nay in the abstentions motion passes unanimously next on the agenda governing board statements um Mr Pantera would you like to start tonight sure why not uh good evening everyone I'm glad you're all here uh thanks for attending I did some visits oh by the way that choir you guys are awesome um now if you need a tenor sometime okay if you have auditions you know look me up I'm I'm all over that did some I visited two schools this week Road Runner Road Runner school and then Parish Valley High School it's the first time I've been to Road Runner since since they've redone it since it's been remodeled very much a beautiful campus I remember starting teaching there in 1978 it became choya then became Goldust then choya and it's

004completely different now in the work they do the K-12 work they do there's fantastic when I was there I discovered that the flag of my classroom only had 48 Stars right I mean I wasn't that old but it never was uh great work they do do there uh PV High School always there I really enjoyed all the things I saw there the one thing that stood out stuck out though for me was uh visiting their fashion if you will the textile thing that they do there I'm sure it has a name I just forgot it it was so amazing it's not just teaching someone how to sew it's about uh the project from beginning to end uh designing the fashion making it come to life learning how to produce it and and all the elements

005of the best kind of fashion I showed that to my wife she's a seamstress she used to be and she's very excited to uh participate come in and be a speaker there maybe get the company she worked for spoonflower they do textile things and that's where she works now she's right now probably thinking about ways to arrange field trips the students can visit that made me feel real happy that she wants to do that but it's just the way we are and a lot of people in the district are that way we don't have students or children in the district anymore but we still want to reach out and help them we want to do whatever we can what I gotta be I got a buzzer okay I thought I heard a pleasure is that

006a thing like a buzzers knew it maybe I should have one well it just means that we all we all here for this students and that's why I'm very confident when I see things that ptsos are doing around the district uh other volunteer groups that's what I'm very hopeful that this this bond that we got is going to go through because they everyone understands whether they have children or not that we want to have great strong neighborhoods and schools thank you um Mrs Greenberg um I'm not a tenor but I'm an alto so if anybody you know needs that um but I want to thank our fine fine arts teachers um for once again serenading us it was incredible and it's incredibly exciting as well to know that these are the teachers in our classrooms

007with our kids and you know it's not and they are able to impart in this case that love of Music um and it's it's thrilling to to know that um did not have a chance to make business as Mr Pantera did but I do want to thank um pvea for hosting yesterday right yesterday's new administrators um reception where we could uh once again welcome new administrators or those who are new in new positions and um it was a great little afternoon event and um I appreciated the invite and um that's really all I have today thanks thank you you um Mrs Baker thank you welcome everyone here tonight um again I Echo their sediments the performance was amazing and I love listening and um hearing the talent that our own staff has that was incredible

008um I have not been to any site meetings either or site visits either um I start on Monday I have two visits so I'm excited to be back in the schools and see our students and our Educators um I did send my recent Pinnacle graduate to college he went to ASU we just moved him into his dorm which was a huge transition um it's exciting it's sad it's you know you're child isn't at home anymore which is a really weird transition but um what it made me think about was how grateful that I was for the different Pathways that our District offers students as they go out into the world between our CTE courses our certifications we prepare kids if they're going to for you universities or Community College and I'm just I'm grateful for

009the choices my own children I have three in college currently right now I have three children in college and they've all chosen different different paths and so I'm just grateful to be part of a district that um offers that to our students because there are so many different options as they go out into the world so thank you thank you Mrs Christensen I'd like to thank everyone for coming today and just remember that um we are your elected officials so if you ever want to reach out to any of us we want to hear from you we um we love to hear from all of you and it's it's just so nice to see so many individuals in the audience um that song Why We Sing that I I almost didn't couldn't hold that together

010my son was in the Phoenix Children's Chorus in fifth grade when we started when he started coming to to PVE schools Pinnacle Peak prep and he they used to sing that song with Phoenix Children's Chorus every year at the end and all of the Alum would come sing in that song gives me Goosebumps all the times son's a senior this wow wow he's a senior this year and um and it just it yeah I just brought back flashbacks of you know how we got there and as Miss Baker said there's so many Pathways and we're grateful for for school choice and to be able he's supposed to go to one school but he's chosen to go to Horizon because they have a nationally recognized choir program and it's wonderful and um it's been great for

011our family um and finally I just wanted to think I saw principal principal Martin back there she gave me a tour of North Ranch and the principal uh panoyer and Liberty there she is way back there Dad thank you for the wonderful School tours thank you um I also wanted to talk about the new administrator's reception why were there um some of us made comments uh some of the board members made comments and Mrs Greenberg made a comment about our district is different and I want it to stay different than other districts I want us to be a place where people feel comfortable where they feel like family and she reminded me of all of those times and um and at the new administrator's reception people who'd grown up in the district were now a

012principal at a school or someone had gone out of the district and the back to the district and they had children in the district and we truly are a family in paradise and I I hope that we can be respectful to each other and speak kindly to each other that um our time together can be an example to our students of how we conduct ourselves in public and I think that's really important that we set a good example here but her words reminded me how important that is for us and I so appreciate the new administrators and I wish them well in their new Endeavors and yes you will be over your head in water and you'll come out the other end and there's so many people somebody um was wearing somebody else's badge and

013it was funny and everybody was happy and I just think that we have an opportunity to share joy in the journey if we choose to and I hope that we do choose to um um I cannot get over how beautiful that choir was and I vote that they do it again I hope we make this an annual event that was beautiful thank you so much and our students are so fortunate to have teachers who are creative and willing to put themselves out there in front of a room full of adults and I just thank you very much one of the reasons I like being on the board is to see something like that that was wonderful thank you next on the agenda is Awards and recognitions um Dr Bells thank you president case it's always

014a pleasure to highlight our students and staff for awards and recognitions and tonight Mr drogy will emcee the honors so at this time I'd like to invite the governing board to join me in front of the diocese thank you foreign case governing board members Dr Bales 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 honorees to the front of the room for a recognition and a photo so when I call your name please make it to the front of the room our first honoree is one of 10 Arizona students honored as a winner in the inaugural AZ 529 my picture perfect career photo contest this student entered a photo of herself depicting her dream career as a future teacher

015as an Arizona winner and the only third grade winner in the entire State she was presented with a check of 529 dollars that'll go into an AZ 529 education Savings Plan this PV student was honored by Treasurer Kimberly e recently at the Arizona State Capitol here this evening please help me welcome from Quail Run Elementary School Sophia Porter thank you this next student has undoubtedly made a name for himself in the area of finance and investing as the state winner of the Arizona Council of economic education invest right essay competition Elementary division his essay left Lasting Impressions on the judges and set a high bar for other elementary students in the state of Arizona it's evident that his hard work and hours of learning have paid dividends please put your hands together from Sonoran Sky

016Elementary School Carter casarjan Carter was unable to be here but worth the recognition nonetheless our next honoree was named the 2022-23 AIA Coach of the Year this longtime coach has led her team to five state championships has over a thousand wins under her belt has won multiple Coach of the Year Awards and has and has dedicated 43 years to coaching at Horizon High School this last year was her final season please give a big round of applause for the 2022-23 Horizon girls volleyball coach and AIA Coach of the Year Valerie McKenzie this next educator has left an indelible mark on his students and colleagues his design his dedication and passion for teaching have made a resounding impact on the crest computer science Strand and the PV schools district network security program as winner of the

0172023 Career Technical education of Arizona new Career and Technical education teacher of the year award this PV Stu this PV Schools staff member was recognized as a new CTE teacher who's made a significant contribution toward CTE please help me welcome from Paradise Valley High School Joseph Troxel and lastly tonight I'm proud to have the honor of introducing the winners of the National School of Public Relations Association awards of Excellence I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to lead this dedicated and talented group of professionals and I'm happy to announce them tonight while our goal is to avoid being the story ourselves as a district we couldn't pass up the opportunity to highlight these pretty impressive accomplishments please help me welcome to the front of the room national leaders and recipients of two Awards of excellence

018in the categories of website design and video production and recipients of two honorable mentions one for e-newsletters and special purpose Publications the PV schools marketing and Communications Department website marketing specialist Kara Angeline digital and social media specialist Zach strophis The District's Public Information officer and Communications specialist Sarah Hackett our two translators who help us speak not only in English but Spanish Genie Montano Terry and Therese Maxis unable to be here this evening our Administrative Assistant Debbie Tice and since these projects lasted more than one year uh in the making I'd also like to give a shout out to pass to a few past members who had a part in earning this National recognition Andrew Gilstrap and Tony Manny okay and that President case concludes this evening's Awards and recognitions foreign those were some amazing Wards

019some to some deserving people are there family and friends of people who were uh we didn't have you do that raise your hand for family and friends that were here for the recipients there you go thank you very much we know you support people in order for them to do what they do so thank you um next on the agenda is call to the public uh 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

020hear 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 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 thank you tonight oh I

021didn't count them I apologize let's say excuse me I believe it's 10 people who have submitted comment cards for the um comments plus we have eight uh for during the discussion time of our meeting each week will have three minutes for remarks those who've have asked to speak on agenda items but we recognize that the appropriate time during the meeting those agenda items that were removed from the consent agenda will be moved to items for approval following the last agenda item in that category as a reminder we ask that you please direct your comments to the board please State your first and last name when you come to the podium are and if I mispronounce your name it's because sometimes I can't read your right handwriting I'm so sorry I'll do the best I can

022um the first speaker will be David I think it's lurksen and the second will be Caitlyn grateful I'm not sure Caitlyn Vogel evening excuse me I was here last meeting unfortunately ran out of time um very concerned about the material that the Nea is promoting that your staff your teachers are reading this material and inevitably disseminating this to our minor children I have two minor children that are in this school and I'm very concerned about adults speaking to sexually related matters with children and I want to touch on the lgbtq movement lesbian that's a sexual preference G gay sexual preference be bisexual that's a sexual preference queer I guess that's a sexual preference transsexual that's a promotion of gender mutilation why are these matters being discussed in any regard even through the expression of a

023rainbow flag which these activists have hijacked so I'm asking this board like I did in the last meeting to make a public declaration against this pedophilic content this is pedophilia when you have an adult speaking to children or promoting any material to a child that can that consists of this type of material that is against the law and at some point there will be legal action and as a man from Kenya in his transsexual spouse once said change has come to America it's coming and when Trump returns he is going to adopt a lot of guidelines which will directly affect this District in all districts across the country among many other things will be this disgusting vile evil material so I ask that the board be proactive and eliminate this eliminate all rainbow Flags mandate

024that all Educators stop or do not engage with their students about any of this material because otherwise that is illegal and you're acting like a pedophile if you want to talk about that with my daughters any of you speak like that with my daughters this is unacceptable it's all I'm going to say and lastly I'm going to talk about term limits there are those of you up there that like to tweet about the murder of babies when you're here to protect the children your children have long since left it's time for you to go Miss Greenberg time for you to resign and for you AOC you need to resign as well you do not represent this District when you talk about transgender ideology excuse me your time is up Caitlyn Bruce Fogle and then Debbie

025waxelbaum hello my name is Chris bryfogle this is Caitlin breifer where we have children in this District I'm here to speak about an incident that happened uh a week ago so that's pretty close to the beginning of the year okay sorry um the the issue is very simple these computers are not safe they're not simply put they're not I emailed all of you I don't know if you've read the email but I will Enlighten the rest of everybody in your class in your building with your teacher right next to it on your device a child showed the rest of the class somebody's self-annihilating on live stream on your computer on the campus Wi-Fi that shouldn't be possible a 13 year old beat the brakes off of your entire I.T team that's unacceptable in the technology

026that did this it's an embedded engine that anybody who remembers Myspace that's Myspace technology it's not okay that anybody who figures out what this 13 year old did and if you think he's the only one who figured it out you're not paying attention it's mind-boggling I don't know how many kids in this District have computers but I'd like to think there's enough that a percentage have figured out ways around your firewall now of course I hear things like VPN and cell phones that's great I control my son's cell phone right now on my phone he can't look at what I don't want him to look at he can't play what I don't want him to play and he can't download what I will not accept why can't the school's laptops do the same thing my

027son is 12 he watched someone blow their head off that's insane in fifth period if you saw his face when I I had to come pick him up specifically because in my family I'm the only one who was witnessed severely horrible things as a combat veteran and I'm telling you I've never seen stuff like this this is insane and he's not forgetting it and as far as what the school did in response it was uh I don't know they didn't know what to do because it's never happened before because everything else that's happened has been in regards to well you've got porn and things like that well this is as bad if not worse my son's first dead body 12 years old in fifth period this can't happen you guys need to fix this fast

028we trust you we trust your employees I'm not getting that call again thank you Debbie waxhawbaum followed by lead lead Michaelis I'm not sure how to say that Nancy case governing board Dr Bales cabinet my name is Debbie waxelbau I'm an early childhood special education teacher at the Lee Center J.P Lee I've been a teacher there for 19 years very excited that we are one of nine schools that was awarded the Arizona PBIS award for kindness sharing and teaching little humans how to self-regulate their behavior and navigate the world we live in let me take my glasses off to see and we've had this Oneness award since four years we keep just climbing up in terms of all the hard work and Excellence that we do in spite of all the challenges that we are

029facing in the world today and at PB we understand the importance of special education I truly believe JP Lee even though we're a program we're the foundation of special education we get them when they're turning three we work with them until they're five and we Tran transition them and find Excellent programs for them as they enter into kindergarten and go on to grown-up big boy and girl school we teach our children to be self-reliant oops caring and kind little ones our curriculum is play-based and encourages and explores science math academics in our play I want to thank the board for attending events and listening to what students and adults have to say I would like to extend an invitation for you to come to JPL and participate maybe in circle time story time or maybe

030some Hands-On activity like apple volcanoes and Oobleck and then I look forward to hearing about your experiences at JPL you might have to brush up on the wheels on the bus though you got to know those words on behalf of JPL we are very proud of this award and I also want to stand congratulations to the other eight schools the big boy girl in schools because we're a program in their middle and elementary schools to the Arizona PBIS award thank you Leo Michaelis I don't know if that I think it's Leo Leo Michaelis almost got it Gina Gina Griffis thank you uh dear school ball members the appearance and other attendees last meeting I didn't check the length of my comment and head to stop in the middle of it right when he's it was

031getting interesting uh I had mentioned last meeting that I grew up in a socialist dictatorship in Eastern Europe maybe the worst one in the whole War show pact and I can definitely speak about how totalitarian regimes looks look and feel like especially given the oppression levels it achieved and the lack of freedoms we were practically slaves in our own country we were not allowed to leave the country we were not allowed to say anything about the regime unless you wanted to end up in prison one of the most important things I took with me from the time is the knowledge about totalitarianism and the goal and my own goal to never let it happen again to me that's why I also got rid of the citizenship as soon as I was able to get another

032one as a legal immigrant um so what does freedom seeking have to do with schools and education well we see that the coffee lockdowns in 2020 and the following vaccines and mass mandates have done to the society it has not only impacted government employees companies working with or for the government but also schools and with that the children and with that the parents but it's actually what you see in totally totalitarians regimes too not America however when the parents started to question those strict school policies especially the mask mandates which were probably the most uninformed decisions ever made those parents were deemed terrorists at least the FBI thought so the FBI is one of those institutions which would help install the return regimes nationally by the way um beware the corrupt intelligence agencies anyways I

033think that the most Insidious thing to do towards loving parents who only want the best for their kids it's their duty to and also their freedoms for the parents to decide what their kids should or should not do not the schools um which of you were part of the school board in 2020 Norris you don't need to answer the policies adopted in that time were kind of spineless please do not Buckle again to political pressure um but I hope we all learned from that short-lived dictatorial time in our country I am assuming that everyone in this room loves America and it's people with all their similarities as well differences with other racial and ethnic backgrounds Etc United States is the most multi-ethnic national in the world America means common sense and understanding to one one

034another and I assume that the school board members know now what decisions make sense and how they can keep the education environment stay free of restricting and damaging policies thank you very much thank you next is Gina Griffiths and after her is Lily Grisham good evening president case and members of the governing board and Dr Bales and cabinet thank you so much for having us here um and thank you for your service you all do this because you're helping the community be better and I am grateful that you take your time and commitment to do that what I want to talk about tonight is why Public Schools as some of you alluded to there are a lot of options right so why my kids are in public school my name is Gina Griffiths I forgot

035to say that I'm a parent in the district I live in the district I have a graduate from PV a senior at PV and a seventh grader at Sunrise and we love PV um so why we choose Public Schools because strong neighborhood schools lead to strong communities that's how we build community when everyone comes together as Mr Pantera was talking about earlier that's what makes our communities stronger because public schools have to educate all kids which means public schools are more diverse and that prepares my kids for the beautifully diverse world that we live in all people of all backgrounds of all orientations of all religions when we're in public school everyone needs to learn to get along together and we need to respect each other as president case was talking about that's one of

036the reasons we choose public schools actually have mandates and standards for teachers that private and Charter Schools do not and I'm grateful for that you have top-notch educated teachers out there with my kids who are creative and smart and use best practices because they're trained to educate I'm not that's why I trust them public schools are bigger and because you're bigger the economy of scale lets you offer more academic options it offers more choices for what our students can do and where they can go when they grow more vocational training more extracurricular activities and I'm grateful for those options I did a little research and I didn't realize that public school initially was developed to help alleviate social class barriers I know that was news to me I don't know if everyone's aware of that

037that's one of the reasons it's to help bring everyone together and tear down the divides it also is to serve the purpose of preparing our youth for participation in our democracy in a democratic citizenship we want to have educated people participating in that making informed choices based on their experiences with others in diverse environments um Public Schools attract better teachers public schools have greater fiscal responsibility public schools are reliable and they have to be available to everyone and you do a great job so thank you very much thank you next is Lily Grisham followed by Annette economics I'm not sure foreign thank you for the opportunity to speak first I'd like to say that I was appalled earlier and I don't think you should allow people to come up here and talk if they are

038so rude and personally attack board members and call them out by names that's not civilized and it's not how we share different views or concerns and I want to talk about woke being woke woke is not a bad word it means awakened aware enlightened especially to racisms and social injustices to be well-informed thoughtful compassionate humble and kind some people use the word woke as if it's supposed to be an insult but probably they use it because they can't spell empathetic educated enlightened or aware the purpose of a public education in public school is not to teach kids only what parents want them to be taught it is to teach them what Society needs them to know the client of the public school is not the parent but the entire community when a school board a

039library or estate bans books it is not a show of strength or to protect kids it is a sign that they're ruled by fear fear of knowledge fear of opposing views and fear of democracy and I'm not sure where this parent should control what is taught in schools because they're our kids mentality but parents have the option to send their kids to a private school and it should be at their own expense and now they even have the esa vouchers so no matter how hard some people try we can't just choose to learn what we want to know and not what we should know we should learn everything The Good the Bad and the truth of who we are as a nation reading a book about Einstein isn't going to make your kids smarter acknowledging

040that some kids have two dads or two moms isn't trying to make them gay it's helping them learn about the world around them Albert Einstein is quote three great forces rule the world stupidity fear and greed um not a single kid has ever died in a mass reading yet books are being banned instead of guns I'd rather see two men holding hands and two men holding guns when you ban books in the classrooms but not guns you're admitting that you're more afraid of your children learning than you're afraid of them dying history is not there for you to like or dislike it is there for you to learn from it and if it offends you even better because then you're less likely to repeat it it's not yours to erase it belongs to all of

041us and diversity equity in the inclusion program parents are against because they're afraid that white children are being made to feel bad Banning Dei might score points in the culture wars but it won't erase the facts of or the legacy of America's history acknowledging reality is not being woke and there is a drag show bill in Arizona that um uh the state law says as the dangerous crimes against children and it would criminalize drag in the presence of a minor and um but guess guess what the men addresses abusing children aren't drag queens they're the clergy because that's all Annette economides followed by Josh Atkins good evening everybody my name is Annette economitis difficult to pronounce my husband's Greek I'm Italian I'd like to just share I'd like first of all I'd like to say

042thank you for the opportunity to come up here and speak to all of you secondly I'd like to just share a little bit about myself I have five grown children three sons and two daughters two of the sons were adopted as special needs kids so we have been part of this community serving for many many years I I came to Arizona in the late 70s of our three our three sons are all Eagle Scouts and of course you know what that what that means when you're the mom of an eagle scout you're involved in a Boy Scout Troop and you're helping in every way you can possibly help um our oldest daughter received the Congressional award gold medal from Washington DC and that was a two-year program that was um quite accomplishing quite an accomplishment

043our youngest daughter worked with 4-H and made it to the leadership team of the state so um I've encouraged all of our kids to reach for the moon and they're all financially independent adults at this point so I'm I'm happy that we worked and I was intricately involved in my kids lives I was the party house I fed everybody I knew all their friends um but it was a it was clean stuff it wasn't weird stuff um the thing I'd like to say to all of you tonight I don't have a specific agenda except that I think I heard somebody say that the governing board can vote and approve the agenda I'm assuming that's for tonight's meeting because they saw that Agenda 24 hours in advance and my my wish or my my challenge my

044Challenge and how dare I challenge you I'm just a mom but my challenge for all of you tonight is that you have an incredible position of power in the community how are you using that do you know both sides of the coin are you aware because you can't you can't rule if you don't know both sides do you know the folks that want medical Freedom do you know all the all the um all the different things that they believe so that you know how to vote is 24 hours if indeed you had 24 hours to review everything is that enough time to make an intelligent informed decision about all the issues are being thrown at you what are you doing with your position of power that's what I want to ask you tonight thank you

045Josh Atkins followed by Remo Antonelli I'm not sure good evening president case board members Dr Bales and cabinet my name is Josh Atkins I am the proud music and culinary teacher at Greenway Middle School and I want to stand here tonight and thank you all for your support of the Fine Arts in our district the Fine Arts in this District are some of the best in the state I know I teach three of them band strings and choir and I am so fortunate to work in a district and at a school that supports our Fine Arts and our Fine Arts students the Fine Arts are an amazing way for all of our students to be able to express themselves to be able to enjoy the world around them and by spending time in the Fine

046Arts they leave the world a little more beautiful than they found it and because of a district like this we are able to grow and nurture those students in things like Visual Arts as you see around this room all the stunning art that our students produce it's mind-blowing I can barely draw a stick figure and so one of my favorite things is every year when we do the art purchase to see the amazing artwork that our students put together our our amazing musicians taught by some of the amazing teachers you saw up here tonight my my esteemed colleagues who work tirelessly to make sure that their performances for our kids to learn the grit and the perseverance and the the fortitude it takes to stand up on the stage and present something that they've worked

047on to our drama and dance and all of those teachers and I would be remiss to not thank our amazing leader Maureen Minnick director of Fine Arts who does an amazing job coordinating all of those disparate programs and making sure that whatever funding we do get is spread out so that we can help our students and to thank the community the last Bond we passed gave over a million dollars to the Fine Arts so that I was able to buy things like instruments for my growing Band program that desperately needed them so I just wanted to get up and take a second to say thank you thank you remote and Tony nilio I'm not sure close And Then followed by Alan Walker is that good yeah president case members of the board superintendent Bales uh

048also remaining members and everyone here in attendance uh thank you for this opportunity uh my name is Ramo antonioli uh been a resident here in Scottsdale for 12 years with my wife moved here from Michigan and we attended our first meeting uh two weeks ago I've always been a big proponent of K-12 education and uh just wanted to get involved so we attended the meeting and after that meeting I was shocked to hear the discussion around the the three amendments or the three motions that are whatever that are coming up tonight in reference to the Rules of Order meeting times and meeting agenda now I could have addressed all three of them separately and I just figured I'd do this all at once here in this forum um I really feel that the board is

049making these meetings exclusive instead of inclusive okay and I'll I'll explain my position okay rather than opening it up to other opinions you're actually closing it down so the first thing is was to change the start time and it was centered around a board member wanting to get home earlier for the children what about those people and families that want to have a family dinner and come here at seven o'clock aren't you taking into consideration their schedule isn't that important every one of you when you sought your positions knew the time demands on your schedule and now here you want to change them I think that's very unfair secondly the requirement to have a second an emotion that is amended I think that limits the discussion I think that's what these people want to hear

050is your opinions on things so all of a sudden now you're going to amend a motion you don't get a second boom end of discussion I think these people want to hear your opinion I want to hear we want to hear where you stand on these items okay so again exclusivity instead of inclusivity the last thing is was moving this forum okay the the call to public later on in the meeting okay and so the thing is it would be offensive it's like tonight you know there was young children around we don't want to be offensive to that I understand that but why not move to the awards to the beginning of the meeting there's no reason why you have to go through certain things in order to give Awards and then ask that they

051be excused so the thing is is what we would do you're asking that people stay here until late to express their opinion and then one board member last time said oh some people leave after you know expressing their opinion so you're forcing people to stay just so they can express their opinion I think next is Alan Walker president case governing board members Dr Bales and members of the cabinet my name is Alan Walker and I am a music teacher here in the Paradise Valley Unified School District and I just want to Echo some of the sentiments of my colleague that spoke just a few minutes ago uh Josh um and uh thank you for the support for Fine Arts in our district um I'm I love working here and uh the other teachers uh the

052other Fine Arts teachers and everyone um but I especially want to just give a shout out to um Mrs Minick and I think that she's one of the best things that has happened to this District I want to just thank you for hiring her um we see maybe a few things on the surface but we don't necessarily see what's going on in the background she must be working hours late hours I don't know how she does it but she comes back with things that are just put together in a way that is like wow how did she do that and allocating resources is budgeting and things that provide the the tools that we need to do our jobs so I'm very very grateful for our director of Fine Arts um I wanted to speak about

053a concern that I had regarding maintenance and before I say too much I want to say that the district does a great job with construction with new buildings new construction um I'm wondering if there's a way that we could um maybe adjust and reallocate some resources for maintenance the reason is um usually at the beginning of the year of course every school every classroom is you know wanting more air conditioning this is just Phoenix this is what it is is we need air conditioning so I get that I understand but then every once in a while something else comes along I was at one of my schools and um after having worked there for a few years I'm used to walking into the classroom lights come on air conditioning comes on everything's working fine right

054as the year began when I walked into my classroom nothing happened the lights didn't kick on it was Pitch Black there wasn't even a window in the classroom my concern is that it was going to take a long time before a work order a work order was submitted but uh the word was that I was going to take a long time I'm not sure if it was a couple of weeks or however long because the district had somewhere in the ballpark of 150 um work orders that they were working on and they only have a crew of six I I don't know if those numbers are accurate um it just seems I'm wondering if there's a way maybe that's not possible I'm wondering if there's a way that we can maybe boost those numbers at

055the beginning of the year when it's needed and there's a higher demand and then um I don't know you can work it out I guess in terms of budget but um I just I just wanted to uh just express my concern that it seems always you know at the beginning of the year and I've been working in this district for 14 15 years and it just seems like there's always something at the beginning thank you thank you next on the agenda is uh superintendent comments Dr Bells thank you president case foreign schools we engage Inspire nurture students through high quality instruction meaningful educational opportunities and dynamic learning experiences one of those experiences is Middle School Festival Sports an opportunity for students to learn athletic skills and teamwork girls softball and boys basketball begin practicing on

056all begin practicing on August 28th so if your child is interested in participating make sure that you contact your school's Middle School's athletic director for more information with a journey of Excellence for every child we're proud to support education both on and off the field the court and the stage next I'd like to recognize some recipients of a very prestigious award and so I would like to congratulate the following schools and I would like to ask that the principals who are here from the schools that I mentioned please stand and then I'm going to ask any teachers some of those sites to stand also or the representative so if those schools congratulations this is the PBIS Arizona award congratulations to Cactus View Campo Bello El uh Desert Shadows we'll get them all standing first okay

057I'm stand up we'll do that that way they have to stay standing yes principals you have to stay standing all right stay standing Fireside Elementary North Ranch Elementary Sun kids preschool Whispering Wind Academy Eagle Ridge Elementary Gray Hawk Elementary Greenway Middle School these schools are a recipients of the 2023 Arizona positive behavior interventions and supports award for implementing PBIS with rigor and High Fidelity and for finding effective outcomes for PBIS Frameworks that benefit all students PBIS is a proactive approach to establishing the behavioral supports and the culture needed for all students in a school to achieve success it's also one of our districts for initiatives so that all schools can get this to this level of implementation thank you to these schools and the teachers support staff for being leaders to helping us make this

058amazing work come true with the teachers from any of these schools also please stand and join your principles and let's give them a round of applause thank you so much all right next donuts with the district all right yes check out donuts with the district this is an opportunity for parents and Guardians and community members to meet with my cabinet myself board members if available in an informal setting throughout the district this uh casual meet and greet setting offers the community a chance to hear from District leadership as well as provide feedback on timely educational topics that are not future board agenda items this event supporting the PB School strategic plan promotes Community strength and collaboration within the district check out Donuts events it's on our calendar they're all scheduled out in the first event

059of the year is scheduled for September 28th at Sky Crossing Elementary it's open to everybody next for the fourth year in a row PV schools has been named one of Forbes America's best in-state employers America's best employers were identified in an independent survey taken by approximately 45 000 American employees the evaluation was based on a direct and indirect recommendations for respondents who were asked to rate their willingness to recommend an employer to friends and family I'd like to point out that there aren't too many educational institutions on the list especially K-12 school districts making this an honor even more meaningful looking for a new career you find your place here in Paradise join us join team paradise and find more information available at jobs.pbschools.net with the 2023 bond election in November PB schools wants to

060make sure that you our community has the latest information and facts about the bond in PV schools we want to keep our community and voters informed and that's why we are offering five town hall meetings during the month of September the same presentation will be provided at each Town Hall they are at our high five Comprehensive High Schools a recording will be made of one and posted on the website to make the information easily accessible to all members of our community in addition to these meetings we have a page on our district website where you can access important Bond information in more details about our town hall meetings to learn more visit pvschools.net forward slash Bond and those are my comments for tonight president case thank you so much Dr Bells next on the agenda

061is items for approval H1 the first item is consideration and approval to move the start time for governing board regular meetings to 6 30. this is the second reading so we've had the start time of our meeting at seven o'clock and it was suggested that we go to 6 30 the meetings have become longer and we are concerned that there's many uh principals Who start very early the next day and there's so there's many considerations but um we do not have any cards from the public may I have a motion to approve moving the governing board regular meeting start time to 6 30 as presented so moved any board members wishing to make a comment I kind of made a comment I I attended board meetings as a parent for 10 years before I ever

062ran for the school board I like the seven o'clock time but our meetings did not go as late as they do now and so there's a difference with um the length of time our meetings have turned into so with principles needing to be at schools early and teachers needing to be there it's it's become more difficult so school boards can set their time whenever it works best and many school boards started five and six there's all different times so we kind of made it halfway in between making it 6 30 any other comments from any school board members because they have one okay um I'm retired so to me it doesn't matter when it starts no it doesn't matter I'm going to be here and so um I generally will defer to the earlier time

063only for what you said uh president case that the meters are going longer gives more time to fit all in that's all I want to say about that no any other comments are we ready to vote then okay we already had a motion um all those in favor say aye aye all those appeals say nay any absent abstentions I can never say that word abstentions any abstentions motion passes unanimously um this recommendation was approved so our next meeting on September 21st would begin at 6 30 and hopefully you'll take note of that in your calendars it's on the agenda consideration and approval of revisions to governing board policy b-e-d-d Rules of Order this is the second reading um this has to do with uh each action shall require motion if a motion is subject to

064a to Amendment such a motion to amend requires a second if the motion to amend does not receive a second it fails if the amendment is seconded then it may be considered and passed by a majority vote if the amendment passes by a majority vote then the original motion as amended shall be considered may I have a motion please Mrs Baker so moved um any board members wishing to make a comment on this Mrs Christensen but I'll be brief we've already discussed this um the original intent of removing all motions the governing board is for the minority board member and um you know I've discussed it with other individuals that have known the history of why we have removed seconding and the intent was to remove secondine for all motions it doesn't matter if it's

065a amendment to emotion or an original motion thank you any other comments all those in favor say aye aye aye all those opposed say nay nay any abstentions motion passes with four eyes and one knee next on the agenda is H3 consideration and approval of revisions to governing board policy bedb agenda this is the second reading um so this has to do with moving the public comment to the end of the meeting instead of having it where it is right now and as I said I came as a parent for 10 years before I was ever elected to the board so I often made comments because that's my nature and um we we choose to allow the public to make comments and um some of there's been some commotion at some of the public comment

066and and sometimes there's children in the room but before I go on we probably need to make a motion don't we we have public cards and we need to do that before the motion thank you you get up here and your brain leaves your brain okay first is we have many public cards on this I think eight Jessica Landon followed by David I'm not sure what how to say that liquid I'm not sure how to say that the handwriting is different this time hello my name is Jessica Landon I have two children who are part of this district one is elementary and the other is Middle School a few years ago I really started paying attention to what things were taking place in schools and school districts across the country it made me curious as

067to what was happening in our own District so I started attending meetings both in person and online over the years I've seen a trend and to be honest I don't like it time and time again I feel that this board has attempted to silence parents and community members who speak out one example of this is back in September 2021 when the board members chose to no longer show public speakers faces or audience in video recordings why was there the need to change how things were being recorded and shown on our YouTube channel I assume because we're focusing on damage damage control and limiting what information people were allowed to see it's clear that this board doesn't want to hear from parents plain and simple the fact that pushing public comments back until the end of

068the meeting is even on the agenda tonight is just another example of that you know especially like you said a lot of times these meetings run for well over three hours I think I understand we're moving it back to 6 30 now but but asking parents and community members and teachers you know all of the above to be standing here at 10 pm and and Beyond to try to make a public comment is ridiculous clearly we're putting those priorities last um so Dr Bales I have one question for you I thought that one of your strategic goals I'm sorry one of your strategic goals was to increase parent and Community participation I'm wondering how by pushing back the time for public comments to the very end of board meetings like I said possibly past 9

069and 10 pm would help you accomplish that goal thank you for your time David Hixson sorry I cannot read your writing followed by David Genji Genji I don't have good handwriting I apologize I had shoulder surgery it's my excuse um I wanted to add to it just um a moment of silence perhaps a report issue today over 2 000 students in Hawaii are still missing so it's a school district and you know that's what you do so at least I'll be keeping them in my prayers so I won't say much about this this topic you'll you'll hear a lot but uh it's pretty commonplace for any public meeting that uh public comment be held at the beginning and uh as a taxpayer and parent and for all taxpayers and parents in this District I believe

070that we should be heard at the beginning not at the end and any excuses that you make really just an expression of cowardice that you don't want to hear from us uh that you they hope that you can just run on your meetings until we get tired and don't want to come in because it'll be too late so don't be cowards and again I'll say if if you really firmly believe that we shouldn't be allowed to come up here at the beginning instead of the end that's a message to your constituency that you don't want to serve them so do us a favor and resign next is David Genji I'm not sure how to say that followed by Alan Walker all right so David Genji it's all right thank you board members president case superintendent

071Bales thank you for the opportunity to speak um I'm a father to three girls in uh in the district and though I have been advocating and active for many years my oldest just joined the PV school district um Hubble president principal Hubble I just gave you a promotion this is a great man I just want to say that um my daughter has had it has a very positive move into greyhawk I'm at this meeting two weeks ago as we're talking about the board proposed the idea of moving call to the public to the very end several attendees as referral line who voiced their concern that this will in effect silence some of our voices thank you to miss Christensen for actually advocating not to move it to the back two weeks ago so to the

072board members advocating to move call to the public to the end this appears to be a play to suppress public comments by we the parents by the taxpayers by the voters it increases the chances that online attendees will log off before a public comment it increases the chances I mean we've seen a lot of people leave I'm surprised there's this many behind me I thought I was going to turn out a fewer it increases the chances that the attendees here will leave it increases the chances that we're all just getting ready to pack up and go so I fear that this will suppress and deter more parents to speak and it's not whether anyone agrees with me or if I agree with them that's not the point a lot of us disagree but it's critical

073element of the agenda for the parents the voters the educators our voices need to be heard pushing comments to the end will suppress the ability to address the board your constituents deserve to be heard not pushed to the end of the agenda after the crowd has waned I implore you to make the right decision thank you president case and the governing board Dr Bales and cabinet members again my name is Alan Walker I had a concern about in a few minutes you will be voting on this agenda and I hope that it does not pass uh I think I Echo the basic sentiments that other people have been sharing that uh if this does move the call to public to the end of the governing board meetings that it's essentially silencing our voice and I

074realize that there's still opportunities to address specific items on the agenda but there may be other items that need to be heard and I think if you want to make a change how about putting it at letter F instead of uh where it is but don't put it at the end of the um at the end of the meeting and that's all Jessica Landon followed by Wendy Mahler oh I'm sorry I apologize Wendy Muller followed by Jeff landday good evening president case my name is Wendy Muller cabinet and board all attending I'm probably just repeating what many others have spoken about today by moving the public comment to the end you're discouraging participation with all stakeholders um one of the superintendents goals is to improve communication and I think that this would greatly diminish communication

075between stakeholders and the board and the school district this is not a way of reducing contention either which I know that's something that you guys worry about is the contention that's going on within our constituency this is not a way to do it this seems like another move um like the YouTube channel that you put on the school board meet School Board what we're here doing now up in the corner there's like a when it's public comment it's this little screen tiny little screen with words written over it and so people that are watching from home it seems like it's just waiting interaction with that um so basically let's not move it let's just keep it where it is keep public comment where it is there was also the time being brought up and worrying

076about principles needing to go home well you want to keep them till the very end late at night when you want them to go home you're moving the board meeting up earlier but you still want to move the public call the public to the very end so it seems like two different messages here so let's please just keep it where it is or earlier thank you Jeff landday followed by Mary Beth cynical I thank you my name is Jeff landday um so sorry I've spoken a couple times up here before I have two kids who attend schools in the district I appreciate being able to speak in front of the board in the administration I wanted to comment on the topic of moving the call the public to the end but first I'd like to

077mention a few things that maybe you're feeling like why you need to do this um when parents like me come up here and comment on our concerns please know that though we might disagree on some things done by the board in the district we do in fact appreciate the hard work and sacrifice it takes to be a board member and the hard work and dedication it takes to be a superintendent administrator teacher principal Etc the goal is not to attack nor belittle anyone but to participate in making pvusd the best District it can be after all we send our kids here so we all have a stake in this parents like me are stakeholders and taxpayers in the district we have an expectation that the Bourne Administration Steward the resources and time it has responsibly

078we aren't asking anyone to work harder but smarter the majority of us parents want what is best for all the kids especially our own we want them to be seen as individuals treated equally what we don't want is for them to be grouped or talked about according to skin color orientation as if that had anything to do with their Scholastic education it does not button parents like me aren't able to ban books anywhere just to have age-appropriate things in our schools I don't think that's too much to ask as far as moving cold to the public to the end of the meeting it's a it's a very main way for us parents to partner with you and our in our shared goal of educating our kids well I just can't understand the reason for wanting

079to move it to the end of the meeting unless as was pointed out there's some desire to silence voices or keep people from wanting to speak it can't be because of inappropriate comments made during this time I mean really I've seen way more inappropriate content in my click some of my kids things are being taught even in third grade than what I've seen at these meetings we know they run late even Mrs Baker it talked about not always being able to put there to put her kids to bed on school board meeting nights don't public comment public can comment during the meeting agenda items the ability to make other comments here will be hindered if this change goes through as a board if you truly want to show us parents and constituents that you value

080rather than fear our input and partnership I strongly recommend that you vote this down thank you thank you Mary Beth cynical I'm not sure if I'm saying that right followed by Donna house key finish all yes thank you my name is Mary Beth sonushal good evening School Board president case Dr Bales and cabinet members I am very very much against you moving the call to the public to the end of the school board meeting and here is why first of all look at all these people behind me and certainly there's many more people that could not be here this evening but truly these are your constituents that live in the Paradise Valley School District and come here to share information and to also be informed about what is going on in their school district so

081don't they deserve to know what others in their District think about and what's going on in the schools that we all the people that you're looking at pay for out of our hard-earned tax dollars I've stayed to the end of your meetings and there are often few people this has been mentioned there's very few people left at the end um so a lot of people would be discouraged about coming to share information and um we're just wondering like what's the true purpose for this because it definitely looks like there's an agenda behind this why you don't want people to be able to come and speak and be heard by everyone and also I've learned that if this vote does pass you're going to put the call to the public at the very end which would

082be after the vote which would really negate the purpose of people coming up to speak because you've already voted on it and if I'm missing something here I don't sometimes I know you guys speak on things twice but maybe a person couldn't make it to both meetings they lose their opportunity to talk so there's really no point from what I can see there's no point in people even coming to speak at all if you're going to put it after the vote so I'm very concerned about this because from what I understand you guys took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States and the very first Amendment of the Constitution we all know is freedom of speech okay do you realize how egregious this appears to all of us your constituents okay that

083have put many of you where you are I'm shocked by this and again if I'm missing something please let me know but it makes it look like the board really doesn't care much about what the taxpayers in front of you these people behind me people watching online um the people that put you in your positions have to say and lastly president case I know you had mentioned last time you had a principal friend and this has been mentioned that people don't want children if they have to hear these things my question and other people said this to me too I just hit a nerve it's like why do we have to come up and talk about these things in the literature the filth in the literature the pornography people are finding parents are finding if

084it wasn't there if it wasn't there there wouldn't be this not child friendly atmosphere okay you'd have a very happy find friendly child-friendly atmosphere here where people could come and speak their minds if we didn't have all this garbage in the literature so it seems very clear that getting rid of the inappropriate materials in the schools should be your objective in that case and not silencing your constituents the people that pay for the schools that you are governing thank you very much Donna Donna katowski good evening president case superintendent Bales and board members my name is Donna gatowski thank you for having the public comments early in the meeting I attended Deer Valley Unified School District meeting last night and didn't get home until 11 30 p.m that's okay it was worth it lots of

085information was released at the later portion of the meeting and I'm retired so it really doesn't matter however young parents spoke early in the day in the evening as well they the two mother and father partnered with their three-minute allotments to discuss their child's being bullied at school their interaction with the school and the lack of response another woman spoke of a recent pedophile case involving a Deer Valley Unified School District employee all three of these speakers parents had to leave before the meeting ended they have children to return home to babysitters who have time limits and early morning schedules that include school kids and jobs by choosing to move your public speaking to the end of the meeting you are purposely silencing these parents what on your agenda is more important than hearing what

086your community and parents and sometimes students have to say you have study sessions for long discussion items and multiple Communications nothing is more important at a school board meeting than listening to what the public has to say thank you thank you may may I have a motion to approve the revisions to the governing board policy bedb agenda as presented so moved thank you I'm gonna make my comment first I usually save it for I have to leave to make an airplane tonight but um I I just want to bring up some issues that like I said I've been attending board meetings for almost 30 years now and during my time attending board meetings we have never had as much inaccurate material presented at board meetings and I've been doing this a long long time and

087there has become a division nationally and um uh an issue is brought up tonight that is a national issue it is not going on in our district and if something is going on in our district I want to know but just because it's happening nationally does not mean it's happening in our district we strive very hard to have good material in our classrooms we have teachers who are have dedicated their lives and if there is a particular problem I want to know this board wants to know but because it's happening happening nationally does not mean it's happening in this District you have to know that your comments are discouraging our teachers there is a lack of teachers now in our district and we need our teachers to stay we want our principals to stay we

088want to provide the best education we can I've had seven children go through this District I have found it to be wonderful I want it to stay wonderful if there are problems we take care of them we don't ignore them we take care of them we want the best education for our children that is possible and we are not trying to step on anyone's toes and one of the thoughts I've had maybe we could try call the public to the end and then revisit again in January and see let me finish points excuse me you may not speak you had your choice to speak we cannot handle this meeting is for the governing board and we invite the public participate you have had your time and now it is our time let's be polite I

089listen politely to you so if there are difficulties in our district we want to hear about them Dr Bells wants to hear about them we are committed to taking care of our children I am a mom I have 31 grandchildren I want what is best for children I don't want things presented to my children that I disagree with so if there are particular concerns we want to hear about them but to restate National activities as if they're going on on our district is inappropriate and oftentimes the words used the book shown it is not appropriate and by the way we have not always broadcasted our school board meetings this has been happening is it four years with the pandemic it came in and we changed to having a YouTube station so people had to come

090to the board meeting they couldn't watch it at home so this is a new thing so when you say we've changed something what's new to us how to handle this this board meeting is for the governing board to take care of the business of the district so we can go forward we as a board and as the superintendent and as a Cabinet want to do what's best for children we are striving daily to improve their reading ability to improve 8th grade math for instance we are doing so many things our teacher are being trained the PBIS that we recognize tonight I have taught in my home for years children if they're disruptive you cannot teach them so you we are trying to Institute positive behavior rewards and can tell them they're doing a great job

091they are kind to a neighbor we give them something to acknowledge that we want to enforce positive behaviors so that we can have classrooms where teaching is permitted um foreign and someone mentioned that you can't and I can respond to this because it was on an item that we can't um you can always speak on the the items like H3 is not a public comment it is an item and you can always sign a blue card to speak on it so we're not trying to take away the Public's ability to speak we want to hear what you have to say as a as a member of the public as a mother in this District I spoke many many times I wanted the board to know what I thought when they changed report cards I thought

092they were it's a terrible idea and I spoke about that and then they went back to a better report card so I just um I I don't think that you understand that we are doing all the things that we possibly can part of it is it's it some of the comments and I was talking I've had and as many people who spoke tonight I have read letters from people who wanted the public comment move to the end so you've heard from the public that wanted it left where it was but I have received many many letters and I talked to principals last night at the administrative activity they wanted it moved to the end so there just because you haven't heard from people doesn't mean there's a difference of opinion so as a governing board

093we try very hard to listen to everyone I I truly tried to do that on a personal basis I perhaps could uh move this to um after items for approval or after the superintendent's comments perhaps but I would like to keep the celebrations and the new hire of people before public comment and I don't know how that can be best done like I said we can revisit this again after the public has shown that yes you can be respectful and not say and oh no we're not that is not true excuse me you may not speak out in the meeting we have listened to you but you can't call out board members by name that is not appropriate we try to be polite to you and we would like you to be polite to us

094so uh I've made my comments um I'm gonna have to leave but I'm going to participate on my phone um calling into the meeting I'm sorry I have to leave and Mrs Baker will continue to um direct the meeting and preside over the meeting um I wanted to put my comments in before I left so I could look at you while I was speaking and not do it on a phone that doesn't mean I won't call back in and say more things but um thank you for your comments I appreciate um public discourse and I and in case you don't think I think about the Constitution I I made sure all seven of my children received a very strong education personally on the Constitution so I just wanted to relay that and I believe that

095we have a democracy and we should listen to people so thank you thank you president case any other board comments well I'll I agree with what oh sorry could go here I can talk now okay yes I agree with what a lot of what president Kay said here uh the purpose of people being here at board meetings is to witness what we decide here what we vote on that's why it's the public meeting laws um when you speak to the board you're speaking to the board you're not speaking to each other out in the in in the seats out here so it doesn't matter when you speak you can send your emails in uh again what Mrs K said was uh correct as far as the emails I emails I received was like two to

096one in favor of making this change so it's not just uh um and not her saying that it's free speech you still get to say it you're not missing out giving your input to us on something that we vote on that's the blue card those are things on the agenda we vote on those agenda things your voice is heard then so some of these objections I heard too that's my feelings about what I'm hearing on those objections it's uh Free Speech you're going to say whatever you want to say we'll listen to it I've listened to many things said here I listened and give feedback I even bought a book recently because based on feedback here to find out what's really going on with some of this literature so yes I'm I'm for this change

097and for the reason Mrs K said and and the ones I mentioned thank you thank you any other board comments Mr Christensen I'm kind of saddened am I hearing what I'm hearing right now um moving call to the public I think it's a big mistake I think that um maybe it doesn't silence voices but there's an appearance there's an appearance of of suppression of participation silencing voices um I personally felt that um I well I respect president case I felt that um that was a big scolding and this is why parents are and community members and teachers are get frustrated I think with us as a governing body um well I do agree that we need to have discourse in a way that we're um respectful to one another these are difficult times and I

098understand that President case and Mrs Greenberg but they've served this District well for 20 years we're in a very different time now and we need to hear the voices we and you know I've been called out too personally I think it's it would be difficult for parents with young children as some of you have already mentioned and and our Educators I want my teachers to teachers of the district to be well rested if they want to oh we had two teachers at least two teachers today come up and and give public comment and it it just saddens me it saddens me that that we're doing this and um I don't agree with that um we'll see how the board vote but um even if it's if it doesn't silence voices there's an appearance that we

099don't want to hear from our constituents I personally want to hear from all of you whether you agree with me or not and I always encourage individuals to come to me personally or speak on public I'm in thank you Mrs Greenberg yes I just want to um remind everyone that call to the public is not a dialogue um we can talk about discourse Etc but it is for the public to bring to our attention items not listed on the agenda as it says we can't respond we can't discuss uh we can't engage we can't interact um so no matter where it is on the agenda it is an opportunity for you to for the public to address non-agenda items um but I agree with many of the comments that Mrs case and Mr Pantera made

100we have received number of we've received input that you know like they both said folks here are asking us not to move it many people are asking us to move it uh this does not infringe on anyone's First Amendment rights by any stretch we are simply moving it on the agenda if this goes through that's it um we have been told a speaker last meeting talked about we shouldn't move it because individuals may provide misinformation quite honestly I found that to be truly disheartening that someone may choose to use that opportunity to provide misinformation purposely we can't be up here we're here to um we can't react quite honestly if somebody were to provide a a piece of information during call to the public a we can't fact check if it B we can't respond

101to it anyway so um there's really nothing we can do if somebody does that during you know a blue card session we can't fact check it either but I just found I I found that incredibly discouraging and disheartening that that may be the reason that somebody wants to come to call to the public I sincerely hope it's not um but moving it or keeping it where it is isn't going to change that there is no suppression of voices there is you know no reason we are listening to constituents um and you know certainly we can see how it goes but at the moment this is the agenda item before us thank you Mrs Greenberg um so as I'm listening to all these voices and all these opinions I um I'm wondering if there's some sort

102of compromise if we amended it and I don't know if I can do the stuff to bills to um put call to the public before items for discussion so it's after the agenda items I don't know if that's something people would be interested in a spirit of compromise or if that's something we can talk about take a motion um yes that's what I was thinking can you hear me yes okay um that's what I was talking about that we could move it to a different location um we could move it to after items of for approval or right before items of approval Okay so I'd like to make a motion instead of putting um call to the public after items for discussion I would like to move it to after items for approval um so

103it would become H yes I believe items for discussion would become I is yes correct um I think it would be she is consent H's items for well Mrs case I'm looking at the the where it would be revised so if we do move it everything moves up because it would no longer be yes okay yeah so the amendment would be to yes the amendment is to move it after items for approval would anyone like to second that I second that okay any discussion around any comments I'm thinking about it right now because you know I'm trying to wrap my head around this first time I heard about it so you're trying to move I'm sorry I didn't mean to spring it but I was I was just trying to you you were voting to

104amend it yes well I'm trying to decide if I want to vote for order perfect thank you that's all I'm trying to say here and you're saying right before items for approval no after items for approval oh after items for approval bill after items for approval but before discussion items okay so I'm making my arrows also if I continue to hear outbursts from the crowd you will be asked to leave thank you they came up a lot in the email too about rude behavior of people yeah it did oh okay so after items for approval is right before items for discussion all right thank you I'm ready to vote on the amendment yeah yeah yes yes okay um all those in favor of moving call to the public to after items for approval is that

105correct amending amending the motion amending the motion so this is my first amendment thank you for bearing with me and state the whole thing that okay um all those in favor of the amendment for moving call to the public to after items for approval and before items for discussion say I I I all those opposed say your name okay motion passes four two one the amendment is four to one okay the original motion said as a you got this so what am I writing the motion has been amended so we have it's the main motion as amended okay so the motion has been amended am I asking for approval we're going to vote on that yeah may I have an emotion to approve the revisions to the governing board policy be DB agenda as amended

106there I got it um Mr Christensen can you so so moved thank you Mr um any discussions I saw us for discussion any discussion around yes Miss Christensen I still think that's too late I would I would like to see it stay as is but that's all my discussion any other comments on that okay all those in favor say aye aye all as opposed say nay nay motion passes four to one okay next on the agenda is Dr bales thank you president pro tem Baker governing board members cabinet and guest tonight we present an approval resolution 544a a revision to the IGA the intergovernmental agreement with the city of Phoenix for school resource officers for the 23-24 school year this is a welcomed revision since PV schools was awarded SRO positions that were not going

107to be staffed by either Phoenix PD or Scottsdale Police this revision adds Horizon High School to the grant since Phoenix PD decided to staff several more schools across the city and Horizon High School was selected as one of those to be staffed in this grant since our last IGA was presented for your approval just a couple weeks ago Dr osmussen is available to answer any questions but we do recommend approval thank you Dr Bayless do we have any public comment on this okay um may I have a motion to approve resolution number 544a a revision to the intergovernmental agreement with City of Phoenix for school resource officers for the 2023-2024 school year as presented so move any board members wishing to make a comment Mr Christensen um I'm really happy about this I think this

108is a a great thing for our district and um we just I can't say enough about our school resource officers every time I pass one and I don't know where Sergeant Wilson is I always talk to him during the meeting but um we we just appreciate them so much for keeping us safe for keeping our staff and students and everything so we wish we could have more of them but this is a welcome change so thank you any other comments yes I do applaud the uh having these officers these um folks on our campus Because it fulfills that uh part of our strategic plan to take care of the emotional safety of our children taking care of their mental health and this really helps a lot so I'm very much for this thank you Mr

109okay um all those in favor of this motion say aye aye aye motion passes unanimously next on the agenda is gifts and donations I just have a few I would like to um review um Echo Mountain Intermediate School received a donation for a thousand dollars from Dorito partners for their caught being kind store Indian Bend Elementary School um received a donation from Larry Seaman and Lois Seaman in for the amount of two thousand dollars for school use and Paradise Valley High School received a donation from Justin's in the amount of three thousand dollars for faculty appreciation and staff development so we're always grateful for any gifts and donations in any denomination may I have a motion for acceptance of gifts and donations please so moved any board member wishing to make a comment all those

110in favor say aye aye aye motion passes unanimously um is the next step items for discussion uh Dr Bales thank you [Music] board members president pro tem Baker cabinet guess we are excited to share with you kind of building on that SRO Grant an update so you know where we're at in developing our safety protocols across the district and so Dr Corson Dr osmussen will present an update regarding our safety efforts for the 23-24 school year and I think you'll be pleased thank you thank you do I Advance it oh it's up okay thank you uh president K uh president case telephonically president uh Ms Baker members of the board Dr Bill's cabinet and our guests my name is Chris osmussen and I am pleased to present information in our District's efforts uh to increase

111and maintain high levels of Safety and Security this evening I will review information and answer questions about the emergency response teams the emergency response plans they craft and Implement and I will describe the role that social workers counselors and school resource officers play in maintaining safe learning environments I will share the information about the school safety program Grant which pays for many of these positions I will also share information on how our district prepares and would respond to an active assailant on campus and finally I will discuss our continued steps to maintain safe and secure schools but before I begin or before I continue I'd like to emphasize to the board and to our community that PB schools has a long-standing and strong commitment to school safety our district has been on the Leading Edge

112of best practices for many years PB schools is not in the development mode we are in the review evaluate and improve stages of our preparedness dirt is short for the district Emergency Response Team and each site has a cert or a school Emergency Response Team dirt is made up of the district level directors that play a pivotal role in responding to a large-scale event or whose Department may be activated to support a site that is experiencing an out of the ordinary need in addition the dirt team includes parents educational support staff teachers site-based administrators emergency responders community members a school nurse and a school psychologist dirt meets quarterly to discuss the safety needs of the district the bulk of the committee's work is to review evaluate and refine our current practices in addition the committee

113develops tabletop exercises for the school-based teams to discuss and challenge themselves with the exercise makes the school team think about how they would activate their emergency response plan and put their incident command system into place school teams will vary slightly from site to site but generally they are comprised of an administrator teachers educational support staff parents the awarded position from the grant the nurse and a school-based mental health professional each member of the school team brings their lens and their perspective to the committee the team is responsible for coordinating all of the safety efforts and prevention programs on their campus and each member of the cert committee must have completed FEMA's is 100 training which provides an introduction to the incident command system excuse me an immediate goal of the cert committee at the beginning

114of each year is to review and revise the school's emergency response plan throughout the year they are charged with discussing the safety needs of their campus and addressing any issues or challenges that may have been identified they plan and Implement evacuation and lockdown drills and coordinate all of the school's preventative programs to create a comprehensive approach to school safety the cert committee fills the leadership roles of incident command in the event that the school's emergency response plan is activated schools that have been awarded a grant position are required to establish a school safety and assessment and prevention team which must meet quarterly to discuss the school's safety needs and how they will use the awarded position the school's cert team will meet this requirement the school's emergency response plan or Serb is their guide to

115handling events that may take place on campus the plan houses the school's instant command structure Maps Master schedules rosters and staff skill inventories the document provides guidance and response protocols to over 30 potential hazards the protocol has addressed a whole wide range of potential challenges from an active assailant to what we would do if a swarm of bees landed on a playground tree the serp gives details and describes when it is appropriate to call for a shelter in place a lockdown or when to call for an evacuation in June we celebrated Dr Stacy Anderson a PV school psychologist who co-wrote an article that was published on the front page of the National Association of school psychologists communique publication her article discussed the Arizona Department of education's efforts to train School Personnel on the prepare model

116prepare is a model that helps Educators and school-based mental health professionals provide mental health triage in Mental Health First Aid to our students and staff following a crisis event prepare also advocates for including school-based mental health professionals on Emergency Response teams and involving them when planning drills in addition mental health professionals help ensure emergency plans cover all all staff and all students including those with cognitive delays physical disabilities and language barriers in may we trained roughly 30 mental health professionals many of whom serve on our care and concern team and we have another training planned in late September foreign in Paradise Valley we take all threats seriously and investigate every threat that we are aware of we have a team-based approach to conducting threat assessments when individuals make any threat against the school or individuals

117the threat assessment process is initiated at the school level the site team may consult with a district team during the process threat assessments are meant to determine the likelihood that the threat will be carried out and to assess the root cause of the threat there are two goals first to ensure the safety of those on campus and then also to provide support to the person making the threat the goal is to provide support and interventions and take away the individual's need to aggress toward the school or or others similarly when individuals Express thoughts and actions of self-harm PV schools has a team-based approach approach to a suicide risk assessment with a goal of providing support to the individual counselors and social workers will often serve on the school's PBIS committee and work in other ways

118to connect school students to their school in school campus when students have a connection to their school Community they are less likely to aggress toward others counselors and social workers provide or direct tier 2 and tier 3 supports which may include daily check-ins leading small groups or developing or excuse me developing individual Behavior Support plans in this way mental health professionals support school safety through preventative measures the board just approved or revised the IGA between Paradise Valley schools and the City of Phoenix the agreement provides Phoenix police officers to several of our campuses serving the role of school resource officer please note that the school safety program covers 165 dollars of the total cost of the sros and with now 16 sros that equates to roughly 2.6 million dollars annually the IGA also provides for

119one Phoenix police officer that serves all schools throughout the district this officer is based at Sweetwater Community School the officer is not paid out of the grant The District covers this Express this expense which is why they're referred to as a school safety officer and on the screen we had Off Duty Officers supporting Horizon High School now that will change over to a school resource officer 35 of our schools applied for the current Grant cycle of the school safety program Grant offered through the Arizona Department of Education schools could apply for school resource officer social worker or counselor schools used a wide variety of data to support their need for an awarded position they use discipline data the Arizona Youth survey and stakeholder stakeholder surveys to support their schools need the Arizona Department of Education

120also gathered some data and pulled County crime rates as well as looked at our school's compliance to the previous Grant which was very good 32 of our schools were awarded a position and however we're still working to fill some of those positions that have been awarded currently the grant is now supporting 16 school resource officers and 11 social worker and counselor positions shifting our attention to the physical safety of our campuses threat vulnerability assessments identify the gaps and weaknesses that undermine a school security the assessments are completed by trained police officers and the school's Administration this past summer we worked with the Phoenix Police Department and conducted 25 assessments around the district and scheduling is currently taking place to conduct tvas at our remaining sites assessment information is uploaded to a database that First Responders

121have access to when they arrive on scene the information is also used by the cert teams as they develop and implement the school emergency response plans based on recommendations from dirt schools are now providing in-person active shooter preparedness training that focuses on situational awareness staff are asked to remain calm and alert at all times taking in information through their senses and being prepared to respond should they feel that something is out of place if something looks off or smells off we Empower our staff to investigate our staff are also empowered with the ability to call for an emergency lockdown they may exercise an option-based response when faced with a possible threat staff may choose to evacuate or lock down their classroom based on the information they have this means that we provide in-plane and clear

122language the nature of the threat when activating an emergency lockdown we have also begun to announce our lockdown drills to our families this allows parents and Guardians the ability to talk with their children to reduce anxiety to take them seriously and to follow direct teacher Direction on the first request our goal is to be prepared not scared we're not anxious we are relaxed calm and alert there are many products available to schools to support their safety efforts the dirt team has been evaluating our needs against what these products can offer in terms of increased safety we already have a lot of measures in place to maintain safe and secure learning environments our schools have a perimeter fencing during the school day we have a process and procedures in place for a single point of entry

123where visitors are required to sign in and wear a badge all of our classroom doors are equipped with an interior single action lock it is simple and easy to engage the lot however best practice is to ensure us to ensure a safe learning environment is to teach with the door closed and locked threat vulnerability assessments and the cert team evaluations May yield recommendations where commercial products may be employed to provide increased levels of security these products will have to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ensure that they are addressing the safety concern that is otherwise going unaddressed if it is a people and process challenge then we need to address the people and processes before we add products and we need to ensure that the products actually make us safer rather than make us

124feel safer by assessing our sites for vulnerabilities and using data to lead their discussions certain teams are continually evaluating our school's levels of preparedness and with that I will answer any questions that you will have thank you first of all for the presentation as a parent and a board member I love hearing this update I've worked in and with other districts that don't have any sort of plan let alone one this detailed and outlined and so I just appreciate the hard work that went into it does any board member have a question or Mrs Christensen yes wow thank you that was very comprehensive I really it seemed very thoughtful and you know well thought out and I loved be prepared not scared I really liked that a lot because um that's very important for for

125all of us including our children and teachers I went I just had a question um on I just I heard counselor social worker school psychologist can you explain the difference in roles and Licensing between the three and I I think it's great that we're surprising I'll support not just the physical self but you know also supporting the children that way too but I just I'm trying to understand what the different roles are for Behavioral support thank you board member Christensen so um our I may not be the best one to answer the question fully um however as we transition to this new Grant cycle one of the things that the grant is now asking is that in addition to the licensure of a counselor or the licensure of a social worker that they also are

126then certified by the state so that's one new addition to to um to the Grant and to the requirements that we have um counselors um and social workers their their roles do vary different uh very slightly social workers often are supporting students and making referrals out to supports that might be found out into the community and our counselors are are supporting the the social emotional needs of our students as well as helping them with our academic trajectories so I would just add for some clarification certifications in the school setting are different than a clinical setting and so uh Ade of course you know certifies uh school counselors and they're really trained and certified to provide diagnostic evaluations for educational reasons not medical reasons counselors they're not clinical as well they're school counselors they're more uh

127trained on the academic Counseling and Advising social workers have a different background and experience but it's not therapeutic thank you Dr bills any other comments or questions well just that I've uh as a teacher in the district I remember going through these videos we see the beginning of the year about you know the types of evacuations about uh Shooters on site all those kind of things found them very valuable I know one time I had to call once not about a shooter okay there was it was like a fire issue and I was able to call on the phone and we evacuated the school based on what I said just like that you know no questions about it the the emphasis was on do it first and check it out later and make sure that

128you do the right thing the safe thing so I'm sure this is even better now from the presentation the very good presentation you gave by the way uh two and a half satin and go even further with it so thank you Mrs Greenberg yeah I just I want to add my things um you know we have advanced quite a bit um I remember once upon a time sitting in a a meeting with the Department of Homeland Security um who were here because they recognized what we had done even at that point and that was a few years ago so to see where we are now and to know how well we support our our students and our staff and our families and Community this way I just I really appreciate all the work that you

129and your team do and that we all do thank you okay thank you very much thank you we appreciate it um before we adjourn I would like to remind you that the next regular board meeting will be held on Thursday September 21st at 6 30 p.m instead of seven um and may I have a motion to adjourn so moved all those in favor say aye aye aye motion passes unanimously thank you everyone