[0:16] September
[0:24] to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic which stands
[0:30] one nation under God, indivisible,
liberty and justice for all.
[0:44] So exciting.
All right.
[0:50] request to address the governing board.
We have request
[0:55] pursuant to Arizona revised statute
[1:00] 38-431.01.
[1:04] This agenda item open to the public
allowing individuals an opportunity to
[1:08] address the governing board on any issue
within the jurisdiction of the governing
[1:13] board. Members of the public wishing to
address the governing board are required
[1:17] to complete a public participation form
and submit the completed form to the
[1:20] superintendent prior to the meeting.
Individuals recognized by the board
[1:25] president must state his or her name.
Speakers may comment on any item on the
[1:30] agenda or topics not listed on the
agenda. No personal attacks on the
[1:34] governing board staff or other community
members will be allowed. Individual
[1:39] comment will be limited to no
and no more than 30 minutes will be
[1:44] devoted to the public comment of the
agenda.
[1:48] If I can please have Christine Walker
come forward.
[2:00] » Thank you governing board. I appreciate
your time today. My questions are uh
[2:05] multiple and I don't expect answers
today but I want to bring to your
[2:11] attention the teacher retention rate in
the United States is at 7% in Arizona we
[2:16] are at a 14% attrition rate. What is
Aguafria Union High School District
[2:20] doing to retain teachers and keep them
qualified and certified here within the
[2:26] district?
Second question, bell schedules. I was
[2:30] looking today to find the bell schedules
for the published of 202728. They are
[2:36] not, but your community calendar is or
your academic calendar is. I was
[2:40] wondering where the bell schedules can
be found.
[2:44] Summertime meetings, you move them to 4
p.m. I really want to try to understand
[2:48] why that's a 400 p.m. instead of a 6 pm
because I'm pretty sure all of us are
[2:52] working until four or five. Why does it
go to four o'clock on the two months
[2:57] that are probably the single most
important two months of your decision
[3:01] making before the school year? And I
want to understand why it's not at 6 PM
[3:05] as you can see a full room of people.
[clears throat] And I understand there's
[3:07] other things on the agenda today for
that. And I'm sorry that I'm bringing up
[3:12] such questions. But these are things
that I really want to find out. Why is
[3:16] it four o'clock and not six o'clock?
The biggest thing I'm here for today is
[3:22] I want to understand what your failure
policy is for your students. Do you
[3:28] allow them to fail? If they have earned
a failing grade, are our students
[3:32] allowed to fail the class? This is the
utmost important time of their life to
[3:38] learn how to fail. Take the criticism,
take the critique, learn, grow, develop,
[3:44] and understand what they did wrong. this
is the safe place for them to do so. Do
[3:49] you allow students to fail or is it
because you want an Agrade school that
[3:55] you don't allow that to happen? That's
the biggest concern I have here today.
[4:00] Second concern.
No. One, two, three, four, excuse me.
[4:04] Fifth concern, class sizes. What are we
doing about class sizes? Are you
[4:07] ordering trying to gain more teachers?
Are you ordering more classes to be
[4:12] filled so that when teachers have their
off period that they are teaching a
[4:17] class? Do we have furniture accom to
accommodate this growth that we are
[4:22] seeing here in the West Valley? Those
are the major concerns that I have and I
[4:26] don't know if the other public does but
truly just clarity on those types of
[4:31] policies would be fantastic. One thing I
do want to know regarding the attrition
[4:37] rate here, is it going to be a published
number or is that something you're going
[4:40] to have to research somewhere? Somebody
has the statistics for that. And I would
[4:44] just love to know where Iowa Frea stands
as far as the rest of the nation is
[4:48] concerned. Are we at 14%, are we at 24%,
are we at 3%. That's the numbers that
[4:53] I'm looking for. Thank you.
[5:00] » Thank you.
[5:04] 4.01 recognition.
[5:16] » Good evening, governing board president
Actton, governing board members,
[5:19] superintendent ESOS, and this amazing
Alfria community. Thank you for um
[5:24] allowing us to be here this evening. We
are excited that our uh superintendent,
[5:29] academic superstars, is back uh to be
represented here at our governing board
[5:33] each month. And so we're excited to be
able to shout out the academic
[5:38] excellence among our students across our
entire district. And so we will start to
[5:42] do that each month going forward. Um
tonight we have Dr. Sarah Pearson coming
[5:46] forward to um shout out our first
superstars for the year.
[6:02] There we go. Thank you, Superintendent
Eastless, Governing Board Actton,
[6:06] governing board members and our Fria
community.
[6:10] Excited to be here tonight to kick this
off this initiative. The launch of the
[6:15] academies of the southwest valley has
brought many tremendous partnerships and
[6:20] our celebration tonight is a testament
to the commitment of those partners
[6:24] investing in our students. Through our
ongoing medical summits last year, every
[6:29] medical partner voiced the need for more
healthcare workers in the West Valley,
[6:34] an area with tremendous opportunity for
high demand, high wage careers. One
[6:39] identified barrier is admission to
nursing programs and healthcare programs
[6:43] sometimes for joining weight lists and
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona made a
[6:47] $40,000 investment in our students to
help address this barrier. So the Afria
[6:52] High School District, Blue Cross Blue
Shield of Arizona and Accelerate ASU
[6:58] formed a strategic partnership to
develop a structured healthc care and
[7:02] nursing pathway with the goal of
strengthening Arizona's future
[7:05] healthcare workforce and expanding
college access to West Valley students.
[7:11] So through ASU universal learner
courses, these students that we'll
[7:15] recognize tonight will be uh taking
nursing course uh nursing foundation
[7:20] courses that are all prerequisites for
applying to ASU's uh nursing program.
[7:26] And these are all credits that also
transfer to instate uh colleges. So, at
[7:31] a recent awards celebration hosted by
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, our
[7:36] students were recognized for their
poise, attentiveness,
[7:39] uh, and communication skills. So, we're
grateful to have Alio Gainer from
[7:44] Arizona State University and Washington
Coina, the vice pres president of
[7:48] commercial verticals and strategy for
Blue Cross Blue Shield with us tonight.
[7:53] We are excited to celebrate our
students. So, with that, students, uh,
[7:58] I'm going to call up by school and our
school principal will join us, hand them
[8:02] their certificates, and we'll get a
group picture of everyone afterwards.
[8:06] So can I hear principal Daniels come
[8:17] from aa high school we have Dianis Valer
[applause]
[8:34] Natalyia Dominguez
>> [applause]
[8:41] » Pearl Ruby Martinez
[applause]
[8:48] and Reagan Stevens
[applause]
[8:59] » and we have Mr. Santenno, assistant
principal from Cany View, who will be
[9:03] standing in for Principal Reed,
[9:15] » Chamilleia Garcia, [applause]
sorry
[9:23] Devin Howard,
[applause]
[9:29] Nadia Barrera,
>> [applause]
[9:34] » and Paige Merrill. [applause]
[9:40] Principal hand,
[9:55] DESIREE CAMARO [applause]
[10:03] EVA LARA, [applause]
[10:09] Jayla Malone,
[applause]
[10:15] and Kimberly Menhavar. [applause]
[10:24] As principal Bundy makes her way up
here, you see that the students have
[10:27] beautiful engraved plaque that Blue
Cross Blue Shield provided them. So, did
[10:32] a great job
recognizing these students for this
[10:35] great accomplishment. All right. Elani
Shabaria,
[10:40] [applause]
[10:44] Bella Martinez, [applause]
[10:50] Destiny Lopez,
[applause]
[10:55] and Matteo Curiel. [applause]
[11:04] and Principal Le
[11:19] from Verado High School. Allison mimeto,
[applause]
[11:26] Isabella Gaxiola, [applause]
[11:35] Natalie Rose, [applause]
[11:40] and Nicholas Maldonado. [applause]
[11:48] Congratulations to these students.
Everyone stay up here. We're going to
[11:51] grab a picture with you guys. Might need
to scooch in a little bit. Let's give
[11:53] them a round [applause] of applause.
[12:12] » Yeah.
[12:18] people here.
[12:28] [applause]
[12:32] » Sorry, one more. Sorry. Sorry.
[12:41] » [applause]
[12:45] » Thank you.
[13:13] Okay, we'll move on to more student
recognition.
[13:19] » President Actton, members of the
governing board, Superintendent Heless
[13:23] and our extended our Pria community
packed house tonight. It's always great
[13:28] to celebrate students and the continued
work that they do. Um, I'm going to
[13:33] introduce Dr. for Kristen Tiffany to
come up and talk about our freshman
[13:36] mentor program. Uh we have some students
here. They're going to talk to you about
[13:40] the impact that the freshman mentor
program has had in just a short time in
[13:45] our district. So, Dr. Tiffany, if you
want to go ahead.
[13:50] » Thank you so much, President Actton,
Vice President Landis, Superintendent
[13:55] Elas, and our incredible AARA community.
I'm honored to be up here tonight uh to
[14:00] introduce the representatives that are
going to be speaking to you. um one from
[14:04] each of the five schools that have our
freshman mentor program. So, come on
[14:08] down.
Come on.
[14:12] [applause]
[14:17] Excellent.
[14:22] All right. this group, oh,
this group of wonderful uh mentors will
[14:29] share some information with you guys
tonight about our mentor program that's
[14:33] been districtwide for about five years
now. Um, as well as share some
[14:37] testimonials about uh how the freshman
mentor program has impacted them and
[14:42] impacted the freshmen on their campuses.
Um, what who we have tonight is Nathan
[14:47] from Desert Edge. There's Nathan.
[applause]
[14:52] Uh, we have Carly from Millennium.
[applause] Yay, Carly.
[14:58] Josie from Verado.
[15:02] Luis from Mafria,
[applause]
[15:06] Alexa from Canyon View, [applause]
and then to represent our incredible
[15:12] adviserss that work with these uh
wonderful mentors, we have Sabrina Booth
[15:16] uh representing our adviserss from
Breto. [applause]
[15:21] Awesome. So, I'm gonna turn it over to
Nathan to kick us off.
[15:27] » Uh, hello. My name is Nathan. Uh, I go
to Desert Edge High School and I'm here
[15:31] to tell you guys why the Freshman Mentor
P program matters to me. Uh, the move
[15:36] from 8th grade to 9th grade brings new
opportunities, relationships,
[15:40] expectations, and challenges as students
begin to find their place in the high
[15:45] school community. Our freshman mentor
program connects connects incoming ninth
[15:49] graders with juniors and seniors senior
student leaders who have helped them. It
[15:54] helps them navigate the transition from
eighth grade to 9th grade. I know for me
[15:57] personally coming from a completely
different school than anyone else. It
[16:01] really helped me connect with the new
students, make new friends and bring the
[16:05] community all together. uh you get to
build relationships and a sense of
[16:08] belonging by just getting involved with
the school helps with that by uh
[16:12] extracurriculars like marching band,
theater and all that. It helps you get
[16:16] involved with community and know more
people um be become connected to the
[16:21] people activities and opportunities on
campus. Like I said, we had our club
[16:25] rush two weeks ago and we got so many
new people for all those different clubs
[16:29] and really help those freshmen get get
with those people that have that same
[16:33] interest with them. Uh, and they get to
develop confidence and skills for
[16:37] success in high school. If it wasn't for
theater, I don't know how I'd be doing
[16:42] this because it's a bit scary, but being
able just to talk in front of people and
[16:47] doing all this helps communicate with
the with others and it really helps you.
[16:51] [snorts]
And then every freshman should have
[16:54] someone at school who knows them,
supports them, and helps them find their
[16:57] place. Just by getting to know people
who have the same uh likes as you, it
[17:02] can help bring in the group of friends
that you never thought you would have in
[17:05] the beginning. Thank you. [applause]
[17:12] » Hi. Um I'm Karly Johnson. I go to Ming
High School. I'm talking mainly about
[17:16] the peerto-peer model of support. Um
for freshman family, um we call it Pride
[17:23] Pack. Um juniors and seniors apply to uh
act as mentors to the freshmen. Um
[17:30] specifically, we go in like once a
month, talk about things going on at the
[17:34] school. Um and at the very beginning of
the school year, we go and do
[17:38] presentations and stuff and get them all
settled in. We give them tours and
[17:42] stuff. It's
really um at least it was for me when I
[17:46] was a freshman, impactful. It kind of
helped you to get a better understanding
[17:50] of like where you are and what's going
on. Um, for the freshmen, uh, especially
[17:55] since we're there full year, um, we act
as like familiar faces, especially in a
[18:00] school where you kind of don't really
know anybody, especially in my case
[18:03] since I came from El Thomas Hec. Um,
there's not a lot of kids at Millennium
[18:07] who come from El Thomas Heek. Um, we act
as guidance and encouragement um,
[18:13] throughout freshman family. When I'm
there, I open it up to Q&As's
[18:17] frequently. um it's helpful to the kids
especially when they have a lot of
[18:21] questions that they're kind of
embarrassed to ask teachers or something
[18:23] like that. Um so I think that that helps
in general. Um a greater awareness of
[18:28] school resources and opportunities. We
give a lot of presentations about a lot
[18:33] of things that happen at the school. Um
so resources and opportunities being uh
[18:36] counselors um different numbers that
they may need to call what whatever the
[18:41] situation may be. Um and a stronger
connection to the school community.
[18:44] Again, like he said with the uh clubs
and stuff, the club rush, uh we had a
[18:49] whole long list of all the clubs and and
sports and teams and whatnot that they
[18:54] were able to join and a lot of kids
found um that they wanted to join a lot
[18:59] of those clubs. And so that was quite
nice. And then for us mentors, uh it
[19:04] provides great leadership experience um
throughout learning and being a freshman
[19:10] family member and a a mentor to these
freshmen. Um I have grown a lot as a
[19:18] person. Um, I I used to be super anxious
and stuff and I still am, but at this
[19:24] moment in time, I find it a lot more a
lot easier to, you know, go up and talk
[19:29] to people despite the fact that I may be
a little shaky. Um, also an opportunity
[19:34] to positive positively influence younger
students. Um, a lot of kids come in
[19:39] really anxious. A lot of kids don't know
what they're doing, don't know where
[19:42] they're going. Um, I know the first day
of school, one of my freshmen from my
[19:46] class came up to me and she was like, "I
don't know where I'm going." So, it was
[19:52] I think I I'm hoping I have and we have
positive impacts on these kids um
[19:57] especially as they're coming into high
school because this is such a pivotal
[20:00] point for them. So, you know, THANK YOU
[applause]
[20:17] Good evening, governing board,
president, president Actton, board
[20:20] members, superintendent, Islas, and
community members. My name is Josie
[20:24] Owens. I am a senior at Vado High School
and a secondyear freshman mentor. I am
[20:28] honored to be able to speak with you
about my privilege to be your freshman
[20:31] mentor during my time as an upperassman.
When I first joined, I will admit it was
[20:35] a little intimidating. Uh it's a little
intimidating to attend freshman day and
[20:40] then stand in front of a class of
freshmen I didn't know um who I will be
[20:43] working with all year to try to connect
with and guide them. But as time went
[20:47] on, it got easier. I was able to form
bonds and still talk to freshmen that I
[20:52] met last year. Uh I catch up with them
where they currently are and still give
[20:55] them advice when they need it. It was
such a privilege to become a safe space
[20:59] for people who are in a spot that I was
once in, giving them constant support
[21:03] and advice that I felt I personally
needed when I was at that point. We were
[21:07] also able to attend our FMP summit last
year um which hosted FMP members from
[21:11] across the district which allowed me to
formulate connections with different
[21:14] mentors from different schools and
areas. Another rewarding aspect of the
[21:18] program uh was also the part of giving
tours to new students. Uh when new
[21:23] students arrive, they will typically get
assigned a freshman mentor to give them
[21:26] tours and take them to their classes
throughout the day. Uh, I have done a
[21:29] few myself and I have to say that being
a support system for someone going
[21:32] through a massive and often scary change
is an incredible experience and
[21:37] responsibility. You truly become a sort
of rock for many people while in this
[21:41] program. And that relationship lasts
much longer than the scheduled time you
[21:45] were given with them. And being able to
watch the people you get the privilege
[21:48] to mentor grow and find their place in
high school is amazing to witness and is
[21:52] something
um that I hope will continue to grow
[21:56] even further with the program after I
graduate. Overall, this program has
[22:00] gifted me more than I ever thought it
would. It allowed me to form allowed me
[22:03] to help many different people grow in a
new and scary environment while also
[22:06] forming new connections. It gives many
people besides myself a sense of purpose
[22:10] and gives others a support system for
where they feel they may not be
[22:13] comfortable speaking to an adult. they
can instead speak to someone who is
[22:16] still experiencing the high school
experience and very recently was also a
[22:20] freshman themselves. The program is
rewarding to both parties and I
[22:23] encourage others to join whenever I get
the chance to. Um, all in all, this
[22:27] program has done me a great service to
me and others and I'm extremely grateful
[22:31] for the opportunities it has presented
me. Thank you for this opportunity to
[22:34] speak about my experience in a program
that now has 291 members. I hope this
[22:39] sheds some light on Bar and the
district's FMP program and all it has to
[22:43] offer. THANK YOU.
>> [applause]
[22:54] » GOOD EVENING, GOVERNING BOARD.
[22:58] This first question asks, why is the
freshman uh freshman mental program
[23:02] important to us? I believe it's
important to us since most of us I agree
[23:08] uh if you guys can agree with me that we
all really enjoy supporting and
[23:13] welcoming others to the school really.
So we can all agree that when we all
[23:19] first came into high school we had that
big intimidation when we first walked in
[23:22] through those gates, walked through
those metal detectors and see all these
[23:26] big buildings, big classrooms. We all
that big intimidation and like oh we are
[23:30] so scared. What are we going to do with
ourselves? And I believe it's important
[23:34] to me because I can now step in with
these freshmen and really help them
[23:39] build that bridge between that middle
school setting into this high school
[23:42] setting and really help them build that
bridge between them because we all
[23:45] understand how it felt when we first
came into high school, right? And it was
[23:49] it was a really great experience to
really step in and help these freshmen
[23:53] all the way around all the way around
through the year and really get to know
[23:56] them and build a really good connection
with them for them to be comfortable
[23:59] with us. not only with us but with their
teachers and their peers and know how to
[24:03] get through navigate through high school
altogether.
[24:07] Question to ask, what impact do they uh
what impact do they hope to make by
[24:12] being a part of the freshman mentor
program? Well, I hope to uh make create
[24:17] an impact for is to pass on kindness to
with these freshmen. Obviously,
[24:23] um, when I was, uh, a little younger, my
freshman year, I didn't really know how
[24:28] to talk to people. As a freshman, they
don't know how to really put themselves
[24:33] out there and really use our voice,
right? And so, with us stepping in, we
[24:39] can help them, encourage them to really
get out there and get out and do stuff
[24:43] for them. So, with us,
we welcome them. We assure them that
[24:50] everything's going to be okay. And with
that kindness, we can really motivate
[24:54] them to pass that on. And when I say
pass that on, I don't mean for them to
[24:58] pay back to us. I encourage them to pass
it on, to really encourage them to do it
[25:02] to the new generation of class that
comes in. And I really believe that can
[25:06] leave a like a great impact into the
program because it could be a new
[25:10] tradition that we could build upon these
like new grade levels that come in
[25:14] through year through year through year.
and I really believe that it would be a
[25:18] really great benefit to
high school in general.
[25:23] Thank you. [applause]
[25:29] » Hello, my name is Alexa and I want to
talk about the FMP program and how it's
[25:34] given me time and time again the
platform to promote unity, strengthen my
[25:38] leadership skills, and foster schoolwide
community. I've been able to make a
[25:42] meaningful and deeply personal impact on
Canyon View and not just the underassman
[25:46] like the freshman I mentor but also all
Canyon View students. I've had the
[25:50] opportunity to grow closer to a lot of
my own peers, a lot of mentors, um
[25:55] become friends with them and establish
those connections and also making them
[25:59] feel seen, heard, and ensuring that they
feel connected on campus. Whether it is
[26:03] a freshman that's trying to find their
way or it's another mentor trying to
[26:07] find still trying to find their place on
campus. FMP has allowed me to explore
[26:11] new opportunities and expand my
interpersonal skills all whilst being a
[26:15] strong leader for underassmen. Thank
you. [applause]
[26:23] » Good evening members of the board and
superintendentless. My name is Sabrina
[26:27] Booth and I'm the FMP adviser for Vado
High School. I have been a part of the
[26:31] freshman mentor program since it first
began and it has been amazing to watch
[26:34] the program grow and see the connections
that have been built over time. One of
[26:38] the most positive impacts I have seen is
the sense of connection it creates for
[26:41] our nth grade students. Starting high
school can be very overwhelming and
[26:45] having a trusted person they know they
can go to gives students an additional
[26:48] layer of support as they adjust
academically, socially, and emotionally.
[26:54] What has been especially rewarding is
seeing those relationships continue
[26:57] outside of scheduled mentor meetings.
You see mentors and students connecting
[27:00] in the hallways, checking in with each
other and building relationships that
[27:04] may have not happened otherwise.
This program has also had a positive
[27:08] impact on our mentors. It gives staff
the opportunity to connect with students
[27:12] outside of their traditional roles,
celebrate their successes, and be
[27:15] another person on campus who is looking
out for them. It has been very rewarding
[27:19] to watch this program grow and to see
the relationships it has created between
[27:23] students and staff. Ultimately, it helps
our freshmen know that they have people
[27:27] on campus who know them, support them,
and overall want to see them succeed.
[27:32] Thank you for the opportunity to share
the impact of this program and for your
[27:35] continued support of the work being done
across our district. I am excited to see
[27:39] how the freshman mentor program
continues to grow and positively impact
[27:42] our students and staff in the years
ahead. Thank you. [applause]
[28:07] I know. I know.
[28:25] » [applause]
[28:40] » Okay.
[28:50] Who's presenting that one?
[28:57] trying to get through everybody.
>> Great job, guys. Thank you for coming.
[29:03] [applause]
[29:14] » Recognition.
[29:31] Good evening board president Aton
President um superintendent is and the
[29:36] community. Sorry my voice is a little
soft so I do apologize. On behalf of
[29:41] everyone involved in this AIU
partnership, we would like to express
[29:46] our sincere gratitude for the
opportunity to partner with AIU. This
[29:51] collaboration has provided a meaningful
opportunity for our employees and myself
[29:56] to continue our education. Tonight, we
are honored to recognize our graduates
[30:02] from the class of 25 and 26
earning a master's degree.
[30:07] [clears throat] Congratulations. I would
like to introduce Azie and JC to come
[30:12] up.
[30:16] » Um I I just want to say uh obviously to
[clears throat] Superintendent Eles and
[30:20] and the board um it's an absolute honor
to to be part of this partnership. It
[30:25] has uh given educators the opportunity
to continue their education and um it's
[30:32] something that that as a superintendent
and as a board you guys see the the
[30:37] importance of that and we uh it
obviously it it it makes a difference in
[30:43] the classroom and beyond. So we are it's
an absolute honor to be part of this
[30:47] program and partnership and uh look
forward to continuing that. So thank you
[30:52] very much.
>> [applause]
[30:58] » If we can get everybody that's graduated
to please stand up so we can
[31:02] [clears throat] kind of clap for you and
congratulate you and all that stuff. So,
[31:05] [applause]
[31:16] » thank you. We appreciate it.
[31:21] I love the recognition. That was great.
>> Moving to
[31:27] item five, information construction
project updates.
[31:39] » Good evenings, uh, President Actton,
members of the board, Superintendent
[31:42] East, and members of our community. I
was looking for a clicker here.
[31:46] um just here like three weeks ago I
think it was giving you a construction
[31:50] update. A lot has happened during these
three weeks. You'll see uh you guys can
[31:54] kind of slowly scroll through the
Millennium pictures. Here you can see
[31:58] the Millennium High School. Last time we
focused on the eight new classrooms and
[32:02] two new locker rooms that had gone in
underneath the auxiliary gym. This week
[32:05] we're showing you several aerial
pictures of the giant hole um where a
[32:10] spectacular classroom is going to grow
out of that hole starting very soon. Um
[32:16] it it's on time right now. Things are
going great and we really look forward
[32:20] to coming back with the completion of
this first phase. Uh as these pictures
[32:25] wind down, you can see they've got all
the underground utilities and everything
[32:29] in. And as it comes up on the last
picture here in just a second, all of
[32:33] that's in ready to go. It's covered over
and ready to start pouring kind of
[32:37] slabs, foundations, and and start coming
out of the ground. Now,
[32:44] next up is going to be there's the final
picture of of Millennium. Next up is
[32:49] going to be the Aua Fria project. Um, it
was almost finished last time and and
[32:55] and it's h complete now. Here you see
the new window into the school along
[32:59] Daart Road. We did a lot sprucing up the
landscape, some new signage, and it's
[33:03] just kind of fresh and new as you pull
up to the school now, which is which is
[33:07] awesome. We like that landscape so much.
I don't think Adam knows this, but we're
[33:10] going to try and expand and do a little
more landscaping to kind of complete and
[33:14] tie tie some of our projects together.
Here you see the entrance to the
[33:18] auditorium. Last week when the last
month when the auditorium was just about
[33:21] complete, uh it was shown wide open at
its full capacity. What you're going to
[33:26] see here is the pods are flipped around
in the auditorium to where they kind of
[33:30] serve as individual learning spaces and
classrooms. Um so it's kind of the
[33:34] smaller version of the auditorium that's
set up there. When I popped it in
[33:38] yesterday to take a few of these
pictures, uh Kim Hill, the department
[33:42] chair and theater director and speech
and debate and a bunch of things at
[33:44] offer you, she was there and she was
just giddy with excitement over her new
[33:49] space and she actually offered to come
in tonight. She goes, I I'll be happy to
[33:52] come in and tell the board how awesome
this is. And I'm like, I will be happy
[33:55] to convey your message um that you're
enjoying your new space. Um we look
[34:01] forward to getting the board over there
sometime soon. I believe we're going to
[34:03] do our grand opening in October uh to
coincide with their first big
[34:07] performances of the year at Aua Fria.
And then finally, um I'll tell you when
[34:13] to go through these, please. Um the
Hilltop, it's 29 days
[34:18] » till opening day at the Hilltop. Um
that kind of makes me a little nervous,
[34:23] but but super duper excited. Here you
see this is what the entrance looked
[34:28] like today. Uh they're doing the ephus,
the kind of the coating of the building
[34:32] right now. They're working around the
building. This scaffolding is going to
[34:36] start coming down literally in the next
couple days. Um and you'll see the
[34:40] completed front of the school, which is
going to be awesome to see. Uh next
[34:45] slide, please. Um here you see the
lobby. The lobby's pretty close to
[34:50] finished at this point. Uh starting on
Monday, the flooring's going to go in
[34:54] and that's going to take about eight
days. Once the flooring is in, then by
[34:59] then all of our large hanging lights
will be in uh and we'll start installing
[35:04] those and then that space will be be
pretty much complete at that point. Next
[35:09] slide.
Here you see the theater and concert
[35:13] hall. Um this picture is actually taken.
This is the back right section which is
[35:18] actually called the Goodyear section.
There's six sections in the auditorium.
[35:22] Each one of them's named after one of
our current schools. Uh which is kind of
[35:25] cool. So, this is from the back of the
Goodyear section. You can see the stone
[35:29] caps are on the railing there. The
carpet is in in the lower section. It's
[35:32] it's covered to protect it for right
now. The carpet is just being finished
[35:36] in the upper section. The chair company
is working on laying out where all of
[35:41] the seating is going to be and drilling
holes as we speak. And uh seating is
[35:46] going to come in somewhere around the
12th or 15th. And that's when it's going
[35:49] to be installed. That will take about a
week. Also, you can see here the big
[35:53] speakers in the front of the auditorium
are up. All of this sound treatment, the
[35:57] fabric on the walls to make the sound
work better. Is uh it's in place now.
[36:02] You see the beams in the ceiling. So,
things are moving fast in this space and
[36:07] they're ready to kind of start tying
everything together in there as well.
[36:11] The next picture, go ahead. you'll see
is is this is actually on the stage and
[36:16] this is where I would say really the
vast majority of the work is taking
[36:20] place now is in all of the audio visual.
Um there's a lot of technology in this
[36:25] building and I think that the lighting
and sound is going to be uh outstanding.
[36:29] Um our contractor and subcontractor are
entering the final stages of this
[36:34] install.
One of the interesting things is is
[36:37] literally literally about the last thing
they do as they walk out of the
[36:40] building, the contractors paint the
stage. Uh that's about the last thing
[36:44] that you'll see happen. Um I think
there's two more pictures. This is
[36:49] actually the serving area for Modern
Grind Coffee Shop. So there are partners
[36:53] in this project and there are tenants
and um some of their equipment is
[36:58] actually starting to be installed now
and they're training to be open on the
[37:02] same day that we open. And the last
picture is just looking the other
[37:05] direction from that space. So you can
see it's really starting to come
[37:08] together. Now, one of the cool things
about this space and our partnership is
[37:12] is that this is also going to double as
a student art gallery. So this is going
[37:16] to give our student artwork a lot more
exposure and maybe the opportunity for
[37:20] some art sales along the way as well.
And that's my update for tonight. Any
[37:24] questions?
[37:28] » All right. Thank you.
[37:49] Yes.
>> Both. Yes.
[37:57] » Action items. We have an approval for
expendure.
[38:09] I'll come up and this is normally a
procurement item. So, usually Mr.
[38:12] Sheepard addresses it. Um, but I told
him I' since it's an action item this
[38:16] month, I'd be happy to to talk about
what's on here. Tonight's item is for a
[38:21] uh upgrades to our air conditioning
system at Desert Edge High School. Um,
[38:27] we'd had some minor issues over time and
that became more significant issues and
[38:31] we found the source of what we believe
those issues are which was some changes
[38:36] that need to be made in the piping and u
that's what this item is for. Um, this
[38:42] item is not eligible for school
facilities division uh funding which is
[38:46] why we are funding it out of our bond
funds and the procurement is through the
[38:50] one GPA cooperative.
>> Thank you for addressing
[39:10] Yes. Thank you.
[39:21] Yes.
[39:25] » Moving on to our
[39:30] discussion.
[39:37] » None tonight.
[39:48] » Yes.
[39:55] as an active members of the board. With
your approval of the consent agenda
[40:00] items, we recognize that you have
promoted some employees in our district
[40:06] that we're very proud of. I'm going to
ask
[40:10] deputy superintendent of academics uh to
please take that over. Thank you.
[40:14] » Okay. Thank you, President Actton and
members of the board. Superintendent
[40:18] Heless and the Owl Fria community and
especially the Owl Fria High School
[40:23] community. I knew that I knew I was
going to get the hoop. Um, you know
[40:28] what's great about being a part of this
school district is if you're here long
[40:32] enough, you get to see some really great
things. Uh, we got to see some
[40:37] absolutely awesome student
presentations. And you know what's the
[40:41] only thing that's second to that is to
be able to celebrate long-standing
[40:45] members of our Awolf Fria district
community. Uh put their hard work,
[40:50] perseverance into being the very best
employees they can and to be rewarded
[40:54] with that work. And so um both gentlemen
that I'm going to talk about tonight um
[41:00] have been a part of our leadership cadre
which has been a absolute great program
[41:05] to really help foster and continue to
grow our own. And so that dedication um
[41:10] is isn't um taken for granted. And so
the first person that I want to talk
[41:15] about is I want to talk about Mr. Josh
Jovenelli. Mr. Jovenelli, can you come
[41:19] up here please? [applause]
[41:26] » Mr. Joanelli has been with us for what
13 years now.
[41:31] » And so uh he's been he spent that whole
entire time at Alfria High School.
[41:37] um I won't tell his whole story, but um
there was a certain point in time where
[41:41] Josh didn't believe that he was going to
be at all for or maybe even be a
[41:44] teacher. And so um now we fast forward
13 years and I know I've had the
[41:51] pleasure of working personally with Josh
on so many different projects um both as
[41:55] a math teacher in our district and as an
assistant principal and athletic
[42:00] director. And um you want to talk about
a man of character. Uh this is
[42:04] definitely um when you open the book,
this is a man of character right here.
[42:08] And so I I appreciate everything that
you've done for our district. Um and I
[42:12] know I'm going to give opportunity for
Miss Daniels to principal Daniels to
[42:15] come up here as well. Um but uh from the
district, um we're excited to have you.
[42:21] Uh I know Alfria High School is a little
probably upset with me when I made this
[42:25] announcement um because he's meant so
much to that Alfria community, but we're
[42:29] excited for him to come up uh and lead
our safety department here as a district
[42:32] office. So congratulations, Mr.
Gentlemen.
[42:36] [applause]
[42:40] Principal Daniels. Um I I feel like you
know we did uh even though that we took
[42:47] someone away from her campus, we also
gave her opportunity to uh give a
[42:53] muchdeserved promotion uh to to an
individual who has uh really been great
[42:58] for us here in the district. And so I
will let her talk about Mr. Bill Babiar.
[43:04] Um, and so, Principal Danny, you want to
come up and introduce your new assistant
[43:08] principal and athletic director?
>> The honor to introduce our um, newest
[43:14] owl to our leadership team. We have
renamed our group chat booty crew. It
[43:20] was deciding between the A team or the
hoodie crew. So, who do that? Um, one of
[43:24] the greatest privileges of leadership is
watching leaders grow and thrive. Um and
[43:29] so it is an absolute privilege to um
have him join our team who he's been
[43:35] part of our team. He uh has been an owl
and part of our owl family for a really
[43:39] really long time. Um it is a full circle
moment for me tonight. Uh especially to
[43:45] recognize Bill who I first knew as Billy
as a former student. Uh and when he was
[43:51] a student even then his energy, his
leadership and his investment in school
[43:56] were impossible to miss. He was in clubs
and sports and officer um and going to
[44:02] all of these conferences and always so
well spoken and presentable. Uh he was
[44:07] allin or as we callin at Awafria and the
same passion has followed him throughout
[44:14] every stage of his career. Later I had
an opportunity to be his athletic
[44:18] director where he was an incredible golf
coach uh and also a phenomenal film and
[44:23] TV teacher and actually won us a
excellent award. um through AIA through
[44:28] the spirit award which was fantastic. So
we got to collaborate. It's been a p
[44:33] privilege to also see him thrive as our
academy coach asmies of the southwest
[44:39] valley and he has been such a leader
amongst his team and it was really tough
[44:44] for him to break the news to um such a
dynamic team that he has really sh
[44:49] helped shape and lead. All of these
qualities make Bill a natural leader
[44:54] who's driven, passionate, creative,
dependable, and full of owl pride. We
[44:59] call him Mr. Al Pride. He won that award
last year at our lunchon. You can always
[45:04] count on him for an hour of slow clap or
a hoodie who you heard much of tonight.
[45:09] And the ability to balance having fun
with knowing when it's time to get
[45:13] serious and get the job done. Uh, one of
his greatest strengths is his
[45:17] efficiency, organization. uh he leads
field trips to GCU. He coordinated
[45:22] graduation. He established Olympics
which is a community event of teachers
[45:27] to get together and join in friendly
competition and community as an al
[45:32] family together. At each of these events
that he is the lead of you know that
[45:36] there's a spreadsheet or a checklist or
a to-do list, a plan to keep everything
[45:40] moving and going in the right direction
and he thinks ahead and one who makes
[45:45] things happen. He's also uh a has a gift
for building community and strengthen
[45:51] stren strengthens our AL family. He's a
great networker, develops partnerships
[45:56] and constantly is investing in we over
me and how can I help? He has jumped in
[46:02] so much. Um and this time last year if I
asked him are you ready to jump into
[46:07] this? Um he probably wouldn't have had
both feet in but I know that he is all
[46:12] in and he's going to give 100%. Um those
qualities that I just shared make him
[46:18] who he is and they will serve him so
well in this position as he steps into
[46:23] ADAP. Um last year I talked about Bill
who Billy who's now Bill last year was a
[46:30] full circle where we got to take a
graduation picture together and years
[46:34] ago as Billy we took a graduation
picture as um a TOSA and a student. So
[46:40] having him lead graduation and all of
the logistics and operations, he just
[46:45] knocked it out of the park. And that was
such a proud moment to stand behind him
[46:49] years later. Now I get to stand beside
him and lead with him. And I am so proud
[46:54] of you and I'm so excited to see the
impact that you're going to make on our
[46:58] students and staff and community and the
great things that you do. And to my Bill
[47:03] aka Billy Woody who baby.
[applause]
[47:17] Okay,
since we did the consent agenda, we are
[47:21] going to comments andor.
[47:34] Thank you, President Actton. Uh,
governing board members, members of the
[47:38] community. How cool is it when we get to
celebrate the promotion of people that
[47:44] work really hard as Mr. Non and
M. Daniels put it, it's sense of pride,
[47:52] right, to see people grow in our
district and for you to support
[47:57] and the
movement.
[48:01] So, very proud moment for us our
district. Congratulations to Josh and
[48:05] Bill. I know they're going to do a great
job in their
[48:10] um also very proud of our school
district for many things. And one thing
[48:15] that's going on tomorrow is that we have
a national conference. It's actually a
[48:20] national conference that's going on
and as you know
[48:29] to make sure that our school district
[48:35] and how could we be of service
and Peggy Overton
[48:41] is actually last couple days has been
bringing all those participants from all
[48:47] over the country.
[48:51] from the airport here.
[48:56] So, Peggy, thank you very much to you
and your team for doing that. I know
[49:00] that it's a lot of coordination and it's
really great to see how she goes above
[49:06] and beyond. There's people inside the
airport.
[49:24] lots of work that we put into that.
Along with that, tomorrow right in
[49:29] downtown Israel Park,
the street will be closed
[49:36] social
[49:41] and we have a
broad gentry via
[49:48] working to set up tables, chairs,
sort of hosting social
[50:10] and how we're working.
[50:15] Also want to mention one thing as as all
of our schools are getting started
[50:22] and as you know
first
[50:29] school for the arts
you know from presentation
[50:38] and last night was extremely impressive
for Alex
[50:43] put together a hilltop volunteer
[50:47] She
members of mostly parents
[50:57] that came over to
[51:10] special thanks to
her staff. Elsa Chapa Sanchez and Angie
[51:18] Merley
[51:22] from the district office
[51:29] equip.
[51:34] We had I think 80 packets
[51:43] between
[51:47] We also had
[51:57] last night
[52:11] atmosphere.
[52:14] And kudos to everybody. Thank you so
much for everything.
[52:24] Thank you.
[52:53] You're standing there
really impressed
[53:00] very impressed with I actually got to go
[53:08] And it was really neat to see
[53:18] my teacher
[53:29] going.
[53:49] Um, so we've been cutting a lot of
ribbons lately in this world, but I
[53:54] actually had the opportunity to attend a
partner ribbon cutting last week.
[53:59] school district.
[54:03] Um I was honored to get to represent
alongside Peterson and Mr.
[54:10] members of our team as well as mayors
from cities around
[54:16] uh wing leadership from the air force
base and of course leadership from
[54:22] school district.
Um on a professional note that was a
[54:26] beautiful thing to be a part of it
really
[54:29] looks like. On a personal note, my
husband station,
[54:35] which is the same squadron that Trojan
was a service member of and my
[54:40] brother-in-law was with him and I were
crushed. So, on a personal note, it was
[54:45] a beautiful honor to experience
watching, his wife, and her children be
[54:50] honored by their district and our
community as a whole in such a beautiful
[54:55] way. So, aviators, all the little ones
little
[54:58] sunglasses on the house upside down. So,
it was a beautiful experience. I was
[55:02] thankful to represent our district.
[55:11] » Okay. Can you hear me? All right.
>> I can, but I am sitting right next to
[55:17] [laughter]
>> I'll give it a shot. Good evening
[55:21] everyone. Sorry I can't be there today,
but it's great to be here with you live.
[55:27] I just wanted to congratulate all our
teachers, staff, administrators for such
[55:32] a great start to the school year. Also
like to provide congratulations to our
[55:37] healthc care and nursing pathway
students as well as it was nice to hear
[55:42] the presentations from our freshman
mentors and a huge shout out
[55:47] congratulations to our staff uh and
their graduations.
[55:52] Secondly, um part of the reason I'm not
in tonight's meeting in person is I had
[55:59] a wonderful opportunity and I'll share
the details next time but I was asked to
[56:05] um participate attend and tour the
United States uh base here in San Diego,
[56:12] California. And my purpose in coming was
one simple thing and that is what is it
[56:19] our United States military
branches offer our students in workforce
[56:25] development opportunities. And so um
during these four days have the
[56:30] opportunity to see every phase really of
every component of our of our Navy and
[56:37] also be able to see how the very things
that we're creating for opportunities
[56:42] for students uh in our district whether
it's four-year institution, community
[56:47] college, workforce development options,
trade schools, you name it. um how what
[56:53] I'm seeing is such incredible
opportunities for our students who
[56:57] choose to serve uh the United States
military in our country um with a
[57:02] specific skill or talent. And when I was
yesterday on the United States uh
[57:08] Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier to
see that there were up to 5,000
[57:14] different people with a purpose and a
job and to see how it is that um
[57:21] students can have a a really incredible
life with some great choices, great
[57:25] options and those that want to travel
the world can do that too uh while
[57:30] serving their country and using their
craft and their skills. So I'll a little
[57:34] bit more about it next month. But such a
thrill to be here finding out about
[57:39] another great option for our students
[57:46] » fun.
[57:49] So I got the opportunity to
thankful
[58:01] I know that
there's a lot of
[58:09] I saw that
[58:14] some of the food that night and great
[58:21] uh tonight really enjoyed the student
presentations. As I sit there, I picture
[58:25] them already.
[58:36] Um, I want to give a shout out to our
AIU graduates and superintendent who
[58:41] brought forward this partnership with
some of our public
[58:50] teachers and other district
[59:05] And with that being said, I would say
thank you all for all your hard work and
[59:11] hard workers
ready
[59:22] to
[59:28] just to make a comment on the healthare
and nursing pathway. Those students as a
[59:34] nurse in our community, they we need
nurses so bad, everyone in healthare.
[59:40] And so to be fostering that at a young
age and putting them on that successful
[59:46] giving them resources, it builds my
nursing heart.
[59:53] So great opportunity
[1:00:04] Josh and Bill, congrats. When I got
updated, I think I was like, "Yes, I
[1:00:10] mean, there are better choices." So,
congratulations.
[1:00:16] And then, um, to everyone who helped
recruit and getters,
[1:00:24] everything that
further
[1:00:28] having 80 plus people show up to
volunteer for our students and
[1:00:35] to me it's just further confirmation
that
[1:00:46] that's all I have and we will move on to
future items.
[1:00:58] We will
[1:01:08] » second.
[1:01:16] We're going to move into session.
Everyone is welcome to
[1:01:22] around.
[1:01:27] We'll take a minute.
[1:01:46] Thank you.
[1:02:14] board adjourns the executive session
board meeting.
[1:02:22] » Yes.
>> Um be it resolved the governing board
[1:02:27] adopts the superintendent goals for the
2026 2027 contract year as presented in
[1:02:33] executive session.
>> Second
[1:02:38] acting yes resulting board address board
meeting September 2nd 2026.
[1:02:46] Yes.