[0:00] this board meeting. We're going to start with roll call.

[0:09] » Uh roll call. Uh Linda Bo is here. Britney Buchanan

[0:14] » present.

[0:17] » Colette Chapman >> present.

[0:20] » Thank you. >> Michael Gordon

[0:23] » I'm here. >> Can't hear you.

[0:26] » I'm here. >> Just

[0:30] » [laughter]

[0:32] » Uh Randall kid, where's he? Oh, there he is.

[0:37] » Shauna Tomico, >> I am present.

[0:40] » All right. Thank you. Thank you. And carry carry on, Britney.

[0:46] » All right. We're going to move to 1.2. Uh we have a new board member that we're

[0:50] very excited to have on our board and expand our board a little bit more. Um

[0:54] I'm going to let uh board member Kidd introduce himself.

[1:04] All right. Hello. My name is Randall Kidd. I am a second generation deaf

[1:09] person from California. I moved to New York and now I'm here in Arizona. Uh for

[1:13] about 20 years I've been here now. Uh I had worked here previously at Phoenix

[1:17] Day School for the Deaf for 15 years with the agency.

[1:22] So uh I am a proud also a proud parent of a deaf and heart of hearing child uh

[1:27] my fifth child and I look forward to supporting ASDB into the future on our

[1:32] path at at this challenging time ahead. So hopefully we're able to work together

[1:37] well for a better future. Thank you.

[1:42] » Fantastic. We'll move on to 1.3 call to the public. Uh, Secretary both.

[1:53] » Um, we have a comment from Trish.

[1:59] Pardon, let me say that name again. It's Trish Ross. Pardon me. Um, and it is

[2:04] pertaining to 1.6.

[2:09] Is that Is that where we're at? Is that what I'm

[2:13] meant to be doing? Oh, here we go. All right. Yeah, I saw her. Okay, there she

[2:17] is. >> Good afternoon, ASDB community. I want

[2:21] to speak to you about the board's decision to change the salary schedule.

[2:25] I think it was a tremendously bad decision.

[2:29] It will hurt teacher retention and it will hurt teacher recruitment. The board

[2:34] was presented with a lovely slideshow that compared our agency with various

[2:37] agencies salary schedules. When do the teachers get to present their

[2:42] PowerPoint? something to support our view. I have

[2:47] commented on many plans the administration has made and it seems it

[2:50] really doesn't matter. If we, the staff, the people who are directly impacted by

[2:55] your decision to change the salary schedule, had an opportunity to present

[3:00] a slideshow, we would have presented with actual

[3:05] schools that we're competing with, other deaf schools. Our new pay scale ranges

[3:10] from 42,000 to 66,000, but 66,000 with a PhD.

[3:17] New Mexico's range, New Mexico School for the Deaf, their range is 55,000 to

[3:22] 106,000. California's is 52 to 105.

[3:28] Include Texas and Colorado. All those schools that we're competing against to

[3:32] get fresh people out of Galedet or other schools that are are teaching our

[3:38] training our teachers all earn over 55 as a starting salary.

[3:44] So a young new teacher coming out of Galedet or any other teacher training

[3:48] program would get 10 to$13,000 by joining another school. Why would they

[3:53] come here? especially since there's no guarantee that there's a they would move

[3:57] up on a scale. Once again, there is no way for us to have input.

[4:03] The administration makes decisions with no thought for those of us who have our

[4:07] boots on the ground doing the real work. And the fact that this decision was made

[4:12] by a two to one vote, that's a shame. It will have severe consequences.

[4:19] Welcome to the board member board member kid. Um, you once were one of us. So,

[4:24] I'm looking forward to support.

[4:28] » Thank you. >> Thank you. Is there any other public

[4:32] comment? Yes, there is.

[4:38] Trish Ross for item for Sher Taylor related to item 1.7,

[4:47] » I believe. Yes, that's the superintendent uh the assistant deputy

[4:50] assistants superintendent report. Um PLC requirements on a daily basis are

[4:57] killing our morale. They're impacting our planning and instruction on a daily

[5:02] basis. Sherry has taken the bullet points from

[5:05] the presentation and she says, "I support PLC's and

[5:10] data-driven instruction. My concern is specifically the requirements for formal

[5:14] PLC's every day, not the PLC process itself.

[5:20] What p what specific research or data was used to determine that a daily

[5:25] format PLC's were more effective than a PLC?

[5:30] When we were presented with the PLC reboot

[5:34] research and due four, it said um it provided staff and described

[5:42] research recommending PLC's meeting approximately 1 to two hours

[5:47] once or twice a week. The research presented to staff does not establish a

[5:52] formal meeting to occur daily. the materials referenced into four and the

[5:57] weekly collaboration meetings, but they do not identify research demonstrating

[6:01] that five formal PLC meetings per week produce better student outcomes.

[6:07] If the materials provided to the staff describe weekly PLC meetings for

[6:11] approximately 1 to two hours, what evidence what evidence led our district

[6:15] to implement a formal PLC meeting five days per week?

[6:21] Daily instruction does not require daily meetings.

[6:25] How how was it determined that teachers need to be formally every day meet

[6:29] formally every day to complete the PLC cycle rather than collect and implement

[6:33] data throughout the week?

[6:37] Leadership and coaching support. Sarah's board communication says leaders will

[6:43] join PLC's daily. Odd and CIA OD/CIA coaches are committed to supporting

[6:50] teachers daily. My concern is whether every department is actually receiving

[6:54] the daily leadership and coaching supported accountability for the PLC

[6:59] model itself. Accountability should apply to PS PLC structure itself. If we

[7:05] expect students to use evidence to determine

[7:09] what works for students, the district should use evidence to determine the

[7:13] daily formal PLC is really important. What student outcome data is the

[7:18] district collecting to evaluate whether daily formal PLC meetings are actually

[7:22] producing results and will the district reconsider the

[7:27] frequency of if the data does not support it? Teachers are falling far

[7:33] behind with IEPs and other work. We are asking that we reconsider the daily

[7:39] formal PLC meetings. Thank you.

[7:43] » Thank you. >> [clears throat]

[7:50] » We will be moving into 1.4 information and possible discussion in a V

[7:56] strategies presentation. Superintendent Recommend.

[7:59] » My gosh.

[8:22] Board members, it is my honor to introduce Shane Feldman.

[8:31] He is the CEO of Innov.

[8:37] We just signed a contract with him with his company to do the search for the

[8:45] next superintendent. He has agreed to come here today to give

[8:51] you a presentation and to answer any questions

[8:57] that you might have with his initial search for the next superintendent.

[9:07] So Shane,

[9:13] hello everyone. I am thrilled to be here to meet with

[9:17] you all. My name is Shane Feldman. I want to make sure that everyone has a

[9:24] clear line of sight for me. Okay, wonderful. This is my name sign

[9:31] and my company's sign looks like this. inv strategies and we're excited to be

[9:37] working with ASDB on your search process to support you in finding your next

[9:42] outstanding leader to connect su Superintendent Reichman's current work

[9:48] with your work ongoing. I am internally grateful that the board

[9:53] and Annette has invited me to come in person this morning. I had the

[9:57] opportunity to tour this school and this tour was led by students. These were

[10:03] three outstanding students full of energy and enthusiasm for their school.

[10:07] I can see that they truly care about and love their school here. I also met with

[10:13] some staff members including the leadership team and that helped me get a

[10:17] good sense of your school spirit and what makes people excited to work here

[10:23] and a potential new leadership what would make them excited to be here as

[10:27] well. I'm going to show you a few slides to

[10:31] talk about what you can expect from Innovy moving forward and then I'll open

[10:35] the floor to some questions about what that search process will look like.

[10:41] Next slide, please.

[10:48] Okay, we have three people on our team who

[10:52] will be part of this search process. You have myself, Shane.

[10:57] The second is Melissa Yangst.

[11:02] She is part of our team. She has helped with many search

[11:08] processes. And I was excited to learn that she is actually a former employee

[11:13] of PDSD in the role of school counselor. So, she knows the school well. She'll be

[11:18] part of the search process and will and has supported over 20 different search

[11:24] processes. We have done over 35 executive searches over the last few

[11:30] years. The third member of this team is Katherine Confield.

[11:36] She is our HR consultant. She is PRN certified and she will help

[11:43] make sure that our search process follows HR expectations

[11:48] as well as EEOC standards and is a specialist in removing bias from the

[11:54] search process. Melissa Hails from New York, Katherine Hails from California.

[12:01] Next slide.

[12:07] » There are five phases to this search process.

[12:12] After the board meeting, I would encourage you to take a look at the

[12:16] attachment online so that you can take a look at the slides to get an idea of

[12:20] these five phases. But I'll just give you a brief summary for now. The first

[12:26] phase is where we prepare for the search process.

[12:31] What first needs to happen is gathering all of the information needed to know

[12:36] about your school and your systems that will help initiate the process.

[12:42] When we go across the country to talk about schools, we want them to

[12:47] understand what ASDB looks like, what's important to you, your values, your

[12:51] strategic plan, your employee handbook, your sitebased programming. So me being

[12:58] here is part of that phase one. Once we get a full idea of your school

[13:04] and your agency's culture, we move on to phase two.

[13:09] » If I could take a moment to step back, part of phase one will be happening from

[13:14] January to February in 2027. This takes about two months to finish that initial

[13:20] phase. Then in the spring, we will start phase two.

[13:25] Phase two is comprised of sending out surveys for focus groups, collecting

[13:31] information about what they would like to see in the new leadership of this

[13:35] agency. >> The purpose of that is to get a good

[13:40] understanding of what your leadership profile should look like. We will be

[13:45] drafting that based on the information that we receive in those groups, sharing

[13:49] with the board, asking for board approval, and then advertising for that

[13:53] leadership profile. The leadership profile is a bit different than a job

[13:58] description. Your job description is more focused on the function of the job.

[14:03] So for example, budgeting being responsible for interfacing with the

[14:09] board, state legislature, while the leadership profile describes the current

[14:14] challenges and opportunities in front of that new leader.

[14:19] » That is more specific to the needs on the ground right now. And it helps

[14:24] executive leadership find whether they are an appropriate fit, but then also

[14:29] helps the board guide their decisions in making that selection.

[14:33] During phase two, we start the process of a search committee.

[14:38] » We build that search committee during phase two.

[14:42] » Once we finish with phase two, we then announce that we are opening the search

[14:47] process. >> That will happen.

[14:49] » That will happen likely late summer.

[14:55] » Once we start phase three, >> we will start doing two things

[14:59] simultaneously. First is our open recruitment period.

[15:04] Typically in our experience, two months is the right amount of time for that

[15:08] recruitment period. Anything less than that is simply too short. Anything

[15:12] longer than that simply is too long. 2 months is right in that sweet spot.

[15:18] » The second thing we do simultaneously is being focused on the search committee

[15:23] training, explaining their roles and responsibilities and building that

[15:27] capacity. I strongly recommend that your search community include parents,

[15:33] students, alumni, teaching staff, other associated staff, and I would ask for

[15:41] board representation as well. I'm not wellversed on your state law and I want

[15:45] to make sure that we're following the expectations between the board and the

[15:49] state and who delegates that authority to the search committee.

[15:56] Once we finish both of those things in phase three, then we bring out a group

[16:01] of people who people who will be doing pre-screening to make sure that those

[16:05] candidates meet the minimum criteria. We'll talk about that later about what

[16:09] those criteria or those requirements might be. But once the candidates meet

[16:14] those screening criteria, we start the phase four, which is round one of

[16:19] interviews. The search committee will be part of those interviews.

[16:24] They will decide who they would like to recommend to the board as a finalist.

[16:30] We would be taking care of the supporting of that process, making sure

[16:34] that they are meeting the expectation of the search process of the interview

[16:39] process, coaching them, supporting them in order to prepare them for the

[16:43] interview process, and then helping them with the interview itself.

[16:49] The second part of phase four is the finalist process.

[16:54] » The search committee recommends the finalists to the board. The board may

[16:59] look at those finalists and approve them as finalists.

[17:03] » Then we will make a final interview to make the board's final decision.

[17:08] » In phase five, we begin the transition. Part of that will be support using their

[17:15] leadership profile in order to set expectations for the first year

[17:21] and we can evaluate what that process looks like after that first year. But

[17:25] that leadership profile becomes a permanent part of what the leadership is

[17:29] holding themselves accountable for and what the community is going to hold them

[17:33] accountable for because the community is an important part of this process.

[17:37] » Three community touch points. There are three community touch points within the

[17:41] search process. The first one is that search committee. We want representation

[17:46] from a diverse group of people. The second one is those focus groups and the

[17:51] surveys. That's where we create the leadership profile. And the third touch

[17:56] point, if you decide to have an open search process, the community would then

[18:01] be interacting with those approved finalists in order to provide feedback

[18:05] for community preference. They may like strong leadership profile in candidate A

[18:11] over candidate B and they may make some feedback to the board to help guide your

[18:16] decisions. >> So those are the five phases that we

[18:19] would propose. Um I have a little bit more to talk about and then I'll open

[18:23] the floor for discussion. Next slide.

[18:29] These are the key roles and responsibilities.

[18:32] The reason why I bring this today is because I do want to make it clear that

[18:36] throughout this search process, our role as a consultant is to focus on designing

[18:42] and supporting your search process. But we would be asking ASDB to also support

[18:47] that venture. For example, we are not the experts in your school community. So

[18:53] recommendations for that search committee would be part of ASDB's

[18:56] responsibilities. helping to elicit survey responses would be an ASDB

[19:02] responsibility. Setting up and running those focus groups that we would help

[19:06] facilitate. >> We also would ask for some logistical

[19:10] support. So, for example, interpreting services, captioning, video production,

[19:16] helping with communication, so press releases, some logistical

[19:21] support that we would be asking for from ASDB while we design and facilitate the

[19:25] search process. The goal with the search process and the designing of the comm of

[19:30] the search process is to make sure that the community feels like ASDB is a place

[19:35] that can be trusted through this process. And then when we set up that

[19:39] new superintendent, they are set up for success. Often

[19:44] what I have seen happen in the search process, if the search process is not

[19:48] designed well, even if you hire a phenomenal new leader, at no fault of

[19:54] their own, the community meets them with suspicion due to the search process

[19:59] itself. So, it's important that we make sure that the search process is designed

[20:04] specially to celebrate and welcome this new leader into a place where they're

[20:09] set up for success. So, we'll review those roles and responsibilities in

[20:15] detail a little bit later, but I did want to just let you know that from us,

[20:18] we will be asking for ASDB's support in this process rather than just our own

[20:23] doing our own thing. It's a collaborative effort. Next slide.

[20:30] » Here I have some different phases uh within phase one and two.

[20:36] » Phase one will give you an organizational checklist.

[20:40] So this is to give us a full picture of your organization, your bylaws, your

[20:45] handbooks, your strategic plan,

[20:50] » anything else or u any sort of statutory requirements that might govern this

[20:55] search process. Knowing all of that helps us do our job and helps us comply

[21:01] with your expectations. One thing that I forgot to mention is potentially

[21:05] Department of Education may have some specific requirements that we would need

[21:09] to be made aware of as well. Um, if there's any sort of community

[21:12] requirements, I would ask for that information to be shared in phase one.

[21:18] » Phase two, we want to make sure that everything we

[21:21] do is fully accessible. And so, I would need your help knowing what access looks

[21:26] like for this community. I would be asking to support both our blind and

[21:31] visually impaired community and our deaf part of hearing community and our deaf

[21:36] blind consumers as well ensuring that everything we do is accessible to all

[21:41] parties. Every school that we've worked with has served both deaf and blind

[21:46] communities and there are standards for this expectation.

[21:50] » So I want you to help me understand how best to support and include all

[21:54] constituents in this search process.

[22:01] One other item I wanted to talk about was your perspectus.

[22:07] » I see this search process and what we can do to market this search process as

[22:13] an opportunity to achieve two things. one is clearly to hire a new

[22:19] superintendent. >> But the second one,

[22:23] » one thing that we've noticed is in previous search processes, this is a

[22:26] rare opportunity to put the stage focus on ASDB and to put you on the national

[22:32] map. people always >> people pay attention when the search

[22:36] process is is happening and it's a great opportunity to advertise ASDB and to

[22:43] market what's happening at ASDB. This is an opportunity to reframe and to create

[22:49] a message about what is happening at ASDB that is so exciting and why people

[22:54] should be want to be here. This is an opportunity to attract people to show

[23:00] people why this job is important. why is exciting and why people should want to

[23:05] work for ASDB so that you can attract top quality talent.

[23:11] » Next slide, please.

[23:17] » I would ask for your help as a board to confirm some information that we

[23:22] currently have or what we need to change before we begin this process in earnest.

[23:28] It's been my experience with other search processes that four things may

[23:32] styy things. We want to make sure that the title is confirmed as superintendent

[23:38] and the roles and responsibilities are the same. The second thing we need to

[23:43] confirm is the salary. >> I will be giving you a salary study. We

[23:50] do this for every search process comparing your schools for the deaf with

[23:54] other schools for the deaf across the country. So you can understand what this

[23:59] salary looks like in comparison to like positions. So that you can understand

[24:04] what other executive leadership may be looking at when they decide whether to

[24:08] apply or not. Salary does have a huge impact on the caliber of candidates you

[24:13] will attract. And so I will be making sure that you have the in the

[24:17] information needed to make that decision. The third one is any

[24:21] requirements that may needed may be needed to govern this decision. So, do

[24:26] they need to have a specific certificate certification an administrator?

[24:33] » Some states accept reciprocity from other states, some don't.

[24:38] » So, I need to know ASDB's requirements for that.

[24:41] » And the last one is HR expectations and requirements. Tell me all of those

[24:47] things so that I can support your HR process and the search process itself.

[24:53] Next slide, please.

[24:57] Okay, next steps. >> I've talked with Superintendent Reman

[25:02] yesterday and today and some folks here at this school explaining what these

[25:07] expectations are. The next things is to set up a core group of folks who are

[25:12] going to be meeting with us. This core committee typically is

[25:16] comprised of a board member at least a staff member and we meet every two

[25:22] weeks. We focus on many small issues that may arise like supporting surveys,

[25:29] supporting announcements, focus groups, announcement dates and other such

[25:34] information. If any critical information were to arise that needs to be um

[25:40] notified to the board, then we would be bringing the board that information and

[25:45] making those decisions as a group. So my recommendation would be to make sure

[25:49] that we set up this schedule in a team of four, which would be myself, Melissa,

[25:54] a board member, and a staff member. If you want to be flexible with that, let

[25:59] me know. But I want to make sure that we keep this group small and nimble as

[26:02] possible. One other thing I wanted to discuss,

[26:10] I'll be giving you an organizational checklist like I mentioned that will

[26:13] help guide our search process. That contract starts in January. So, as we

[26:18] celebrate the new year, I'll be coming to you with some information. I also

[26:22] would like to know when and how often you would like updates to the board.

[26:27] This could be virtual potentially. I came in person today, but most of the

[26:31] time we'll be meeting each other virtually.

[26:36] » I believe that there may have been one other slide. Nope. Okay. Okay.

[26:41] » So, one thing I want to ask the board about is I do want to have a talk about

[26:46] the difference between an open search process and what's referred to as a

[26:50] closed search process. Some states have different expectations and so tell me

[26:56] your expectations and we'll follow through with that. But if it's open for

[27:00] discussion, I can tell you about the pros and cons of each of these

[27:03] approaches. So for example, a closed search process. One pro of that is if

[27:10] executive leadership doesn't want to disclose that they are applying for this

[27:14] role, they can do so privately. However, the cons of that is that it

[27:21] lacks transparency and it's harder to engage the community.

[27:26] Just as a note, >> some search processes that we've been

[27:30] involved with with schools for the deaf and blind, even if we try to keep it

[27:34] closed, if we bring the person in person, word gets out.

[27:40] » So, this is a very small community that we're talking about. And so, you have to

[27:45] decide between open and closed processes. The pros of an open process

[27:51] is that you have your finalists come to show who they are, explain their mission

[27:56] and vision for the future of the school. The community can then see that and see

[28:01] if that fits with their leadership profile and then provide feedback about

[28:05] that while we collect that feedback to share with the board as a part of your

[28:09] decision-making process. The decision-m process is comprised of a

[28:14] lot of other things like for example community feedback, a background check

[28:18] which we take care of, reference checks which we also take care of and also all

[28:24] of the interview information that would be part of your decision-m.

[28:28] So that's a brief summary of what to be expected. I am available for any

[28:33] questions you may have.

[28:48] I guess I can get us started. Thank you very much for your presentation. I

[28:52] appreciated it. I do have a few questions. As you notice, I just joined

[28:57] the board, so I'm a bit green myself here. Um I prior to joining the board I

[29:04] did have information from the community in terms of how they felt that their

[29:08] trust in ASDB was not that great. So what would be your approach to dealing

[29:13] with that um that weakness in our agency that that community trust? How how would

[29:18] you address that in your process? Shane, I mean me myself, that's a great

[29:24] question. And how to do that is to figure out how we want to involve the

[29:29] community as part of that process. During my presentation, I mentioned

[29:33] those three points and I recommend to involve the community. The first one is

[29:37] creating that search committee that includes a representative from each of

[29:41] those communities. making sure that there is a balance between the deaf and

[29:45] the blind community and making sure that there's a balance between parents

[29:49] involvement alumni and I do recommend having the students as well

[29:55] the students have a value and a great point of view and

[29:59] they are the future the community can lead of what that looks like as far as

[30:04] how we help that and the leadership profile and the successful of in that

[30:09] and that will shape and form the leadership profile file and what that

[30:13] looks like in the future and we write that based on the feedback and once

[30:16] that's approved then we can see that what drove what that new perspective

[30:21] looks like. The third part of the community

[30:24] involvement and that process is having that open process invites them for that

[30:28] feedback and arrive to meet that profile >> and also to let you know it's an

[30:35] important point of the communication frequently. We identify about four to

[30:41] five key communication points

[30:48] » and we want to make sure that communication is ready at any point

[30:52] » the announcement like Annette's retirement and making a

[30:57] video outside with you that I just now to let them know

[31:01] and we're starting that search process then well secondly well let me back up

[31:08] the open the feedback from that second phase. And once we finish that, then we

[31:13] can open up that search process. And once we start that interview process,

[31:18] the announcements will happen less until we announce the two finalists. And that

[31:23] will help kind of keep the community informed, but at the same time make the

[31:27] community aware of the expectations and feeling anxious and wondering what is

[31:31] happening between the communication. My second question as an addendum to

[31:37] that is currently it's apparent that the ASDB's vision for the future and the

[31:43] community's vision for the future are divergent mostly in the community in

[31:48] Tucson. So we understand why decisions were made etc. But in terms of community

[31:54] goals not aligning with ASDB's goals how would you address that in your process?

[32:01] I think that's a great question to include part of that interview process.

[32:06] » Your goal is to identify what kind of leader will match and what kind of

[32:10] engagement from the new candidate would be. Our role in that process is not to

[32:15] make a decision. Our role in that process is to help kind of bring that

[32:19] leader and design that process to help them understand the challenges as well

[32:23] as how well they respond to those challenges.

[32:26] So I would invite you to make that part of the interview process to ask ask

[32:30] those type of questions. >> I definitely will do that. I agree

[32:34] completely. Thank you so much.

[32:43] » Hi, I'm Mike Gordon. Um ASDB is in certainly in a different

[32:49] position than uh had been for many decades when it comes to the blind

[32:54] community. Um, I appreciate you mentioning the

[32:58] accessibility for the material for deaf, blind, and blind individuals. Um, I know

[33:05] for a fact though as the focus groups are developed and

[33:11] and um and people are going to wonder how how

[33:18] you'll be able to represent the blank community, how you said. Now, I just

[33:23] want to know for my own clarification. You said you've done 35 searches over

[33:27] the last three years. Okay. I um I'd be interested to see some

[33:32] of the schools that uh that you you were contracted with um just for my own

[33:39] knowledge. But I think that piece about the blind community, knowing the uh

[33:44] advocacy of the National Federation of the Blind, um just the the uh

[33:51] you know the advocacy that they offer is in many ways as strong as the advocacy

[33:57] in the in the deaf community. So that's a piece that has at least through

[34:02] perception um has been ignored to some degree. So, uh,

[34:10] I'm just curious as to I I don't even exactly know my question as much as it's

[34:14] just putting that that perspective out there that the blind community wants to

[34:19] be represented. Uh, there's some some uh some powerful players in the community

[34:26] that will want to to have their their positions uh noted, please.

[34:36] » Yes. Thank you, Mike, for sharing your perspective and that's an important part

[34:39] of this search process. I'll give you two names of some schools that I

[34:44] supported both in the community of the deaf and the blind as well that I worked

[34:48] with closely. >> Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind

[34:52] as well as Iowa School for the Deaf and Blind.

[34:56] And then also um I previously worked with Arizona School for the Deaf and

[35:00] Blind at the previous project for the superintendent search,

[35:04] » assistant superintendent search. Um there are different perspectives in

[35:08] the blind community. For example, Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind.

[35:13] » They have an onampus blind school and an outreach program there. So I have to

[35:18] figure out how to fit that just because on that campus there's strong feelings

[35:23] about the blind that they feel like the deaf community has more attention than

[35:28] they do while the deaf community feels like the blind community has more

[35:32] funding. So there's controversy about that. So I

[35:36] help the school navigate that to figure out how to include that part of the

[35:40] search process. I want to make sure that they feel like they're all cooperative

[35:43] in the school. >> Iowa school for the deaf and blind. They

[35:47] are only an outreach program for the blind. And so having to figure out how

[35:52] to include those outreach programs and it was all remote. It wasn't on campus.

[35:56] So how do I make sure that the online the onampus feels they have more

[36:01] accessibility than those people that are on off in the off uh site programs. So I

[36:06] have to build that to make sure that all virtual and all have the involvement

[36:10] through that process. The third thing to say about NFB and

[36:17] NAD, >> they're organization for education in

[36:21] both >> blind and deaf.

[36:24] » And I've been involved with supporting both of those organizations

[36:29] » COSB council of organizational of education

[36:33] blind >> as well as CSD

[36:37] all of the deaf school programs teaching for the an educator for the deaf.

[36:43] So I've done both groups to do network and leadership to see who applies for

[36:47] those roles that both have blind and deaf community experience

[36:53] and I started our company support from both those both communities as well. But

[36:58] during the whole process I asked to hold me accountable. If you notice that there

[37:03] is anything that comes up that feels a little inadequate, please let me know

[37:07] and I will support both communities in in in whichever way.

[37:22] This is President Buchanan. I appreciate your time coming out and presenting to

[37:25] us. Um, and uh, we're very excited to have you uh, spearhead our search for

[37:32] us. We look forward to collaboration and working with you over this next, it

[37:36] looks like year um, to find our next superintendent. I appreciate you. Thank

[37:41] you. >> Yes, thank you for that. And thank you

[37:45] for the opportunity. We will have fun together and I'm excited for the who the

[37:50] new search will be and I'm sure the community will be thrilled as well.

[37:56] Thank you.

[38:00] We're going to move on to 1.5. It's an information item, superintendent report.

[38:05] Uh, Superintendent Reichman.

[38:16] Good afternoon, President Buchanan, board members, Assistant Superintendent

[38:23] Cooper, Deputy Assistant Superintendent Barbara, Executive Director Lily, and

[38:30] the ASDB community. Welcome to our September 10th, 2026 board meeting.

[38:38] I am really happy to see you all here. Before I do my board report, I would

[38:47] like to recognize at least four individuals,

[38:52] first person that I would like to recognize is Orin Catchoff.

[39:00] He uh just retired from ASDB at the end of June 30th

[39:08] and we didn't have the opportunity to recognize his retirement during the

[39:15] board meeting at that time because we cancelled the May board meeting.

[39:21] So, uh, Orin transferred to ASDB from the Arizona Department of Education in

[39:30] 2015. And at that time, he had planned to stay

[39:35] only for one year and then he stayed for 11 years.

[39:43] and he did different positions, different jobs, including the assistant

[39:48] superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

[39:53] So, I just really want to say that we miss um Mr. Ketchoff and I hope that

[40:00] he's happy during his retirement in North Carolina. I recognize his

[40:06] contributions to ASDB. The second person I would like to

[40:11] recognize is actually right here next to me and that is Leticia Cruz.

[40:20] She is also retired as well. Uh currently this is her last board

[40:28] meeting. She started working with ASDB quite a

[40:35] ways back in 1985. So she has been working for the agency

[40:42] for about 40 years.

[40:46] Her current position as the administrative secretary to the board

[40:52] and superintendent and she has been doing this since 2015.

[41:00] So if you know her, if you know Leticia, then she is the reason that our board

[41:08] meetings run as smoothly as they do because she has done all of the behind

[41:14] the scenes work, coordinating with IT, with the IT team, with facilities,

[41:22] having everybody involved with the plan to set up our board meetings. So I'd

[41:27] like to recognize her for she has contributed for so many

[41:33] years to the agency and her heart and her soul is here.

[41:40] She was recently teasing us saying that um she needs to leave before

[41:48] she becomes a body here before her burial is here at ASDB

[41:54] before we set up her plot. So, I thought it wasn't a bad idea. [laughter]

[41:59] [cough] The third person that I'd like to

[42:03] recognize, and I didn't have the opportunity to

[42:07] recognize them this last July board meeting,

[42:11] but would be Dr. Sarah Barbara.

[42:17] She is the deputy assistant superintendent of education

[42:21] and she has taken on the responsibility of working with both campuses

[42:27] with special education with ODD and with CTE.

[42:34] So you will have the opportunity later to hear from her for the first time this

[42:38] evening. And then the last person that I would

[42:44] like to recognize is Jason Lily who is the executive director of outreach

[42:52] program. He is taking on the responsibility for

[42:57] the itinerate services for deaf programs for blind programs for early learning

[43:04] program and he started in July at that same time

[43:09] that Dr. Dr. Barbara did. So again you will have the opportunity

[43:15] to hear from them this evening. Now for my board report

[43:23] and mine is going to be a brief one.

[43:30] I just wanted you to notice that the last six months there have been a lot of

[43:37] changes happening in the agency including the transition and move from

[43:45] Tucson to the Oro Valley campus and the start of a new school year at

[43:52] the Oro Valley campus. the reduction in force of 79 staff

[43:59] members,

[44:02] the setting up and coordination of three outreach sites, two that are with Tucson

[44:08] Unified School District and one that is in Chino Valley School District

[44:16] and more changes have happened around the agency. On top of all of the

[44:22] changes, we have been experiencing the most audited

[44:29] that we've ever had in the AY's history and in our experience.

[44:35] We are currently going through three separate audits

[44:41] and now those audits are coming to a close. They are almost complete.

[44:46] So right now the Arizona Auditor General is writing the report for all three of

[44:54] the audits. We expect that those reports will become

[45:00] available, published and posted and available to the public in September,

[45:08] September 29th. So about three weeks they should be

[45:14] published.

[45:17] with all of the changes, why would we do that? And that's because

[45:23] the agency has been experiencing just a lot of pressure.

[45:30] Pressure from the environment including the birth rates,

[45:37] public education, new requirements,

[45:42] limited budgets, political priorities

[45:46] and the stakeholders expectations.

[45:52] So with all of that, it has had deep impact on the agency.

[46:01] Thus far, we have been navigating through all of those changes and trying

[46:06] to address each challenge.

[46:15] But let me take a moment to step back

[46:24] and think. Let's do some thinking.

[46:29] I have three questions for all of you that I do want you to be thinking about.

[46:37] My first question is what is your vision

[46:46] of ASDB by the year 2030

[46:52] and beyond?

[46:56] What is ASDB going to look like at that time?

[47:06] A separate question that I have for all of you

[47:12] is when we look at our students who are deaf, heart of hearing, blind, visually

[47:21] impaired, deafb blind all over the state, statewide.

[47:27] What is going to be the best system for providing specialized instruction and

[47:34] education, technology, accommodations, access for all of our students.

[47:49] And when we connect to those questions, the third question becomes,

[47:57] what is ASDB's role in all of this?

[48:12] The reason I'm asking these three questions

[48:16] is because if we could

[48:22] have agreement on our vision

[48:26] on our ultimate plan for the future that includes all of you, the board, the

[48:33] ASDB leaders, the ASDB community, If we agreed on the vision and we agree

[48:43] on what ASDB is going to look like,

[48:48] then we can make decisions that align with that vision.

[48:59] The decisions we make now about our students, about our programs, about our

[49:06] facilities, about our sustainability, about our accountability,

[49:13] about student success. And we if we all align, if we have a

[49:22] common vision, then we'll be moving in one direction.

[49:28] together.

[49:36] So that's what I think about at night. That's what I think about and have been

[49:42] thinking about for the last two years. And for you, the board,

[49:49] at least from my view, you kind of have four priorities right

[49:54] now for the next two years.

[49:59] The first priority

[50:02] is the board and the ASDB leaders must design and implement

[50:11] accountability some sort of framework accountability architecture if you will.

[50:20] We have to embed our accountability with our strategic plan

[50:28] and we need to figure out how to do that pretty expediently.

[50:35] Second, we have the Tucson campus and that property, that land,

[50:41] and you as the board and the state legislature need to make a decision

[50:47] about what we're going to do with that property.

[50:54] The third thing is in 2027 the state legislative legislator

[51:00] meeting.

[51:04] So 27 the state legislator session. Pardon the interpreter.

[51:11] Those state legislators are going to have the opportunity to

[51:16] decide on the continuation of operation of ASDB

[51:27] and the board will need to be involved with the state legislators networking

[51:33] with them while they are making that decision.

[51:38] And then of course the search for the next superintendent.

[51:42] You just had a presentation and a discussion about the next leader

[51:49] who is going to be guiding ASDB who will align with that vision

[51:58] of ASDB for 2030 and beyond.

[52:06] So up till now we have been focused kind of on the fact that the number of

[52:15] students is rapidly declining and our budget is also declining. We have been

[52:21] trying to address each challenge individually.

[52:29] And again, if we can adjust our focus to that vision

[52:37] and then align our decisions to that vision,

[52:44] then maybe ASDB can reinvent itself.

[52:51] and become ready for the future. I'm happy to take any questions at this

[52:57] time.

[53:08] All right, I guess I'll go first again. You asked us to think about three

[53:13] things.

[53:16] first what our vision for the future is. The first thing that I thought of was my

[53:23] son. He was in preschool several years ago.

[53:29] Did great. Um yes, he has some exceptional things

[53:35] about him, but he's my kid. Uh apple does not fall far from the tree. Um but

[53:40] he's very smart. He's done everything. He's impressed the teachers and at the

[53:46] end of the school year at pre in preschool his teacher came to me and

[53:50] said I don't think he should stay here at PDSD

[53:54] and I were was working here at that time and I said what why do you say that and

[54:01] the teacher said he's too smart for this school

[54:06] as a deaf parent

[54:10] that was a a kick in the pants to me it made me feel uncomfortable

[54:18] I want ASDB in the future to not tell babies to go away. I want

[54:25] ASDB to be a place where babies, parents, hearing, deaf, blind, deaf,

[54:30] everyone wants to come. So that means itinerate programming. I I

[54:36] I agree in some aspects, but we do need to strategize about how

[54:42] to strengthen our campus-based programming because that is where the

[54:46] community, our deaf community outside comes from. Without the community here,

[54:52] the community outside is impacted and shrinks.

[54:59] Kids learn specific skills here like CTE programming for example. They're not

[55:03] going to pick up those skills from hearing teachers who don't understand

[55:06] their world view. They're not going to. Our blind and visually impaired students

[55:12] don't understand visual things that are taught in visual manners. Teachers who

[55:16] are cited are not teaching them things and expanding on things that focus on

[55:21] their their way of seeing things instead of things being cut out, instead of

[55:26] funding being cut out, finding ways to achieve it. As was mentioned previously,

[55:32] we are the lowest one of the lowest paid deaf schools. So, are we we're competing

[55:39] with hearing schools, but we need to raise the bar for deaf education and

[55:43] we're not going to be able to do that without salary. How are the best

[55:46] teachers going to choose us? So, those are

[55:52] that applies to my answer for the second question. Our vision should not be about

[56:01] the needs of the board. They should be about the needs of the student. Student

[56:05] success, whether that's on the college track, on the degree seeeking track,

[56:10] whether they're going to Galedet, whether they're going to hear in UN

[56:13] universities like ASU, it also could be CTE programming, job training,

[56:19] our graduates, many of our graduates are not prepared

[56:24] or not ready to graduate and we we need to ensure that we are changing that. So,

[56:28] those are my three responses to Annette's uh questions for us.

[56:44] » All right.

[56:47] Staying in the pattern. Um, Annette, you mentioned um in the uh the third

[56:55] uh third point um not the third question but the point about what's the immediate

[57:00] future in 27 that the legislature is going to make some decisions about

[57:06] seemingly I think you said the continuation of operations or the

[57:09] continuation can you expound expand on that a bit because that's that's a

[57:14] pretty loaded statement and and it has uh we have so much going on trying to to

[57:21] prioritize what should be step one 2 3 and four. That's what I really enjoyed

[57:26] on the the presentation that the phases and the steps were were clearly defined.

[57:32] So, you know, hearing that, you know, that board will be involved with the

[57:36] legislature in regards to the continuation of operations. I mean,

[57:40] that's about as big a statement as I've heard in a while. So, uh can you can you

[57:45] uh explain that a bit?

[57:52] Yes. [clears throat] The last time ASDB

[57:56] had a continual passing of the state legislative the continuence

[58:06] continuation bill passed the state legislature,

[58:10] » right, >> was in 2023.

[58:17] That continuation bill gave us the authority

[58:22] to run the agency for another four years.

[58:30] That four years is coming to an end June 30th, 2027.

[58:38] So that means that the state legislature in the spring

[58:44] during the time that they're in session, they will have to pass another

[58:53] continuation bill and decide for how many years that they

[58:59] want to give us the authority to continue operations.

[59:05] » Okay. Okay. I mean that's

[59:10] that part was clear. You know I know they shortened the period was became

[59:15] four years. Okay. So that's the piece about that they're going to have to

[59:19] decide about continuation. Okay. That's a little different than I was

[59:23] interpreting it. So okay.

[59:37] Annette, there's no more questions. Thank you so much.

[59:45] Next, we can move on to 1.6 uh information item, Assistant

[59:51] Superintendent of Agency Operations and Support Services, Assistant

[59:55] Superintendent Cooper. Good afternoon, Board President Buchanan, Superintendent

[1:00:00] Reichman, Deputy Assistant Superintendent Dr. Barbara, executive

[1:00:04] director Lily, members of the board, ASDB staff and community. As we begin

[1:00:10] the 2627 school year, our operations and support services team continues to

[1:00:16] prioritize our fiscal sustainability and operational efficiency to ensure a

[1:00:22] seamless educational experience for all of our students across the state.

[1:00:28] Following up on my July report, I am pleased to share that the relocation of

[1:00:33] the Tucson campus from Speedway Boulevard to Oro Valley was successfully

[1:00:38] completed over the summer thanks to the leadership of our director of

[1:00:43] operations, Albert Duff, alongside our facilities and IT teams.

[1:00:49] Operationally, our start of the year logistics have launched smoothly with

[1:00:54] route coverage for student transportation, drop offs, and pickups,

[1:00:59] and student and staff device distributions being completed and

[1:01:03] configured for classroom instruction. Initial student headcounts across the

[1:01:09] campus and early learning programs are tracking alongside our baseline

[1:01:14] projections. And concurrently, our regional co-ops

[1:01:19] are actively supporting the local school districts to ensure the students

[1:01:23] displaced by the recent closure of our residential and school for the blind

[1:01:28] programs have seamless IEP implementations,

[1:01:32] adaptive technology, and localized support in place.

[1:01:38] On the financial front, our business team is working on closing the 2026

[1:01:44] fiscal year with a reduced shortfall, which we're projecting to be closer to

[1:01:49] about $1 million and working towards building a balanced

[1:01:56] sustainable budget for 2027. The AY's 2028 budget package was

[1:02:03] finalized and submitted to the state's Office of Strategic Planning and

[1:02:07] Budgeting prior to the September 1st deadline, which is totaling about $61.1

[1:02:14] million. Following board approval in July, HR

[1:02:19] executed the roll out of the updated teaching related services and

[1:02:24] educational interpreter salary schedules which became effective August 1st. And

[1:02:30] newly hired staff for 2027 have onboarded using the new 10-year cap

[1:02:36] schedule while existing staff were grandfathered in with no change to their

[1:02:42] hourly rates. And finally, regarding audit oversight

[1:02:46] and preliminary findings from the financial and performance audits, the

[1:02:52] leadership team is actively addressing the identified deficiencies. And the

[1:02:57] leadership team is finalizing documentation for the auditor general

[1:03:00] sunset audit as we approach our scheduled October 1st sunset review.

[1:03:07] In closing, I want to express my deepest gratitude to all of our educators,

[1:03:12] specialists, transportation personnel, facilities, and administrative staff.

[1:03:19] Um, executing a campus move, working with less staff as a result of the

[1:03:23] reduction in force, onboarding new salary structures, launching a new

[1:03:28] school year, and preparing for three state audit reviews all at once requires

[1:03:34] incredible resilience. Thanks to their hard work, we've opened

[1:03:39] up our doors this fall, stabilized, compliant, and ready to serve all of our

[1:03:43] students. And thank you. That concludes my report for today, and I'm open to

[1:03:48] answering any questions or addressing any comments you may have.

[1:03:57] [laughter]

[1:04:00] Well, here I am again. So, I do have a question. in reading your report in the

[1:04:07] text you mention uh the master facilities plan and as I

[1:04:14] said I'm a new I'm new to the board so I am I I'm just trying to ensure where the

[1:04:20] board will have an opportunity to talk about that um I from what the community

[1:04:25] and the audit mentioned as as I understand it that that was not appro

[1:04:30] approved so that um that part is already done because it had to do with the old

[1:04:34] program, but is the programming, the master facilities, master facilities

[1:04:39] plan, does that include programming for the future of the residential program,

[1:04:43] pardon the interpreter, um addressing the residential program portion of that?

[1:04:48] Yes, we are actively working on updating and making changes to the master

[1:04:53] facility plan. If you have any additional

[1:04:59] » Sorry, go ahead. Let let you finish and then I will have a question. I was going

[1:05:04] to ask if you had any additional specific questions to the master

[1:05:07] facility plan. >> So I want to know whether that includes

[1:05:12] anything pertaining to residential programming in the master facilities

[1:05:16] plan because that is in the old one. Not just Tucson but Phoenix or anywhere else

[1:05:20] because as of currently we still have that um requirement to provide

[1:05:26] residential services. I believe that has been um discussed but maybe in a

[1:05:30] different capacity or a different manner but I do believe there's something

[1:05:34] involved something to do with that um deaf students around the state in rural

[1:05:38] areas who are not getting appropriate services that is a way to meet that need

[1:05:42] and even though our numbers have reduced we still have an obligation to meet the

[1:05:46] needs of those students and to provide every opportunity for them so that's why

[1:05:49] I'm wondering whether that has to do since it is mentioned in there it's

[1:05:53] discussed right now I know that we the board does not have any specifics? We

[1:05:58] did not specifically vote to close the residential program. We voted to close

[1:06:01] the Tucson campus, which is different. >> Um, Director Duff, do would you like to

[1:06:08] approach the stadium and address the specific questions brought forth by

[1:06:12] board member Kidd

[1:06:22] ASDB? My name is Albert Duff, director of operations. With regards to the

[1:06:27] residential program, that might be something more programmatically that

[1:06:30] Superintendent Reichman may need to address, but I can address the process

[1:06:34] for the master facility plan update.

[1:06:42] » This is Superintendent Reichman.

[1:06:47] When we reviewed the dorm,

[1:06:52] the first question was um what was our legal responsibility?

[1:07:00] We reviewed this with the attorney general's office

[1:07:04] and they gave us the formal interpretation of our legal

[1:07:10] responsibility

[1:07:13] and that interpretation said that we were not required to provide dorms for

[1:07:21] students in the state of Arizona.

[1:07:26] So there were sever there were analysis done there was the first analysis done

[1:07:31] rather. The second analysis that we did is we

[1:07:38] looked at the trend the number of students that were living in the dorm.

[1:07:46] And the highest number was, I think it was 1985,

[1:07:51] was around 90 students that were living on the Tucson campus.

[1:07:58] When I became superintendent in 2016, we had 45 students living on the Tucson

[1:08:07] campus.

[1:08:10] The last year we had 16 students that were living on the Tucson campus.

[1:08:21] So the numbers when we looked at the numbers of student there was a constant

[1:08:29] it had been consistent and inconsistently

[1:08:32] regressed. Um once that number went down it never went up. Not once. it always

[1:08:40] continued in a downward slope. So we projected four students graduating

[1:08:48] and the number being 12 at some point

[1:08:54] um we are not able to sustain the dorm program because we don't have

[1:09:02] enough number of students living on campus.

[1:09:07] And then the third analysis that we did is we asked the itinerate services,

[1:09:15] are you informing the school districts? Are you asking the parents why they're

[1:09:20] not sending their students to the Tucson campus

[1:09:25] and trying to encourage that? And the feedback we received again and

[1:09:32] it was pretty consistent that parents in the school district were

[1:09:37] not interested in sending their students to the Tucson campus and we didn't

[1:09:45] project that that number was ever going up.

[1:09:51] » Thank you. >> So we made the difficult decision to

[1:09:54] close the dorms.

[1:09:58] The reason why I bring it up is because it does um it did not specifically

[1:10:04] mention dorms. So, I worked with with the county doing reviews of a lot of

[1:10:11] different um permits and one thing that stood out to me is something called

[1:10:16] community residents, which is

[1:10:23] in in and out of the county. It's basically group homes. So, I thought

[1:10:27] that could be a great idea for us to look into establishing those instead of

[1:10:33] having a full uh robust dorm program where students are not coming. They're

[1:10:37] not it's impersonal. It's it's a dorm, you know, during the day. It it's like

[1:10:42] somewhat institutional, but a a residential program, a residence itself

[1:10:48] could be more function more like a home, be more embedded in the community, have

[1:10:53] someone teaching independent living skills, for example,

[1:10:57] cooking, etc., and that would have more of a home feel and that could attract

[1:11:02] parents more so than an institutional dorm setting. Um, and the current dorms

[1:11:07] being not in good shape, it does make sense that that was not attracting

[1:11:11] people. But if that could be become part of the master facilities plan, um,

[1:11:17] looking at residential programs, we understand the dorm is closed. That's a

[1:11:20] that's a moot point at this point, but looking at residential op options

[1:11:24] regardless and having that be part of the master's facility plan, but with a a

[1:11:29] different approach

[1:11:45] and this is something that can be discussed later. I just want to ensure

[1:11:48] that the residential programs just stays in the information and doesn't fall out.

[1:11:53] That's that's my question or the thing I wanted to address.

[1:12:05] We are doing the master facility plan. We

[1:12:12] did a feasibility study and we will do another feasibility study of the Tucson

[1:12:19] campus and with the public and figure out when

[1:12:24] we can. The main component here right now is

[1:12:30] that we have no funding to build anything.

[1:12:37] So that is another component here. Whatever we do with a master facilities

[1:12:44] plan will have to depend on the resources

[1:12:50] that we already have. >> Okay.

[1:12:54] » So does that pardon? >> No after you.

[1:13:00] » I have taken a lot of floor time. So you go right ahead.

[1:13:03] » Okay. And this will not be the whole meeting R.J. and then me. So, I'll stop

[1:13:09] before I do that. But Albert, um, we did the master facility plan. We did

[1:13:16] a couple different versions. I mean, one major one, which was like 80 million or

[1:13:20] something like that. Uh, which was fix everything, I think, or something like

[1:13:25] that. And then we talked about raising some and and redoing certain buildings

[1:13:30] or rebuilding. There was there was various uh various versions of it. Um, I

[1:13:36] thought that was kind of put to bed when we moved up to Oral Valley. Um, so the

[1:13:42] understanding would be as the lease runs out in Oral Valley, conceivably if the

[1:13:47] master plan was supported about uh rebuilding or renovating a smaller

[1:13:52] portion, we would be moving back to Speedway.

[1:13:56] So as of right now, what is being developed would be three options that

[1:14:00] would be presented to the board as well as we will have input from the community

[1:14:05] before you even see those. >> Well, you can see it as part of the

[1:14:09] community presentations. Uh that way you have full community input before having

[1:14:14] any of that aspect. Those three options as of right now are a revision of what

[1:14:19] we had done in 2024, the finalized master facility plan of essentially some

[1:14:24] new construction and renovation on the the Tucson campus in a much smaller

[1:14:28] footprint. >> Yeah.

[1:14:29] » Because of the new programmatic aspects and enrollment numbers, we have to

[1:14:33] design around those items. Um I don't determine those, but we definitely want

[1:14:38] to make sure that our form and function match. So as of right now, those

[1:14:43] revisions would take place. we'd see a very similar option in that that being

[1:14:48] presented. One of the other options is the board can actually maintain a lease

[1:14:53] and keep the full campus and they don't have to do anything. That would though,

[1:14:57] » right, >> be in contradiction of the auditor

[1:14:59] general's recommendation in 20 21 whenever we first had that particular

[1:15:05] audit of managing as well as addressing our surplus property. The third option

[1:15:11] that is also going to be presented to the board is a sale of all the property

[1:15:15] and then you could either build new somewhere else in some point in time or

[1:15:19] potentially just purchase the building we're currently in in Oro Valley. So

[1:15:24] there are options that can be presented or will be presented to the board and

[1:15:28] that's the intent >> and my understanding also is that the

[1:15:33] property that could be sold can be used for purchase for renovation. So there is

[1:15:39] the opportunity to uh to raise money so to speak. I know we're we're handcuffed

[1:15:44] on that, but but uh that money could be used without having to go for a general

[1:15:49] allocation. >> That is correct. And that was part of

[1:15:52] some of the uh um information that we're going to definitely have to ensure is

[1:15:56] clear is that the intent of the sale of any land if approved by the board would

[1:16:01] be then deposited into the new um property proceeds fund that has just

[1:16:07] been set up for ASDB. And then the intent of that fund is to be able to

[1:16:12] self-fund our own capital planning. Uh, no revisions to the Phoenix Capital Plan

[1:16:18] are being reviewed at this time because that was already set forward and

[1:16:22] approved by the board. >> And if you you look at the Tucson campus

[1:16:28] and I know it's kind of kind of sprawling, but there's kind of

[1:16:31] centralized also. Um, what's the acreage on say the outskirts

[1:16:38] so to speak? I mean, that's that's not, you know, that's kind of a vague

[1:16:42] question, but >> as part of this process, we've been able

[1:16:46] to actually pull all of the the particular parcel numbers that we sit

[1:16:49] on. We're doing title cleanup now, as there were four titles that were not

[1:16:54] titled into ASDB's name, although we do own them.

[1:16:59] » Uh, one of them was through adverse possession that we're managing and

[1:17:02] dealing with that now through another state agency. Uh with that being said,

[1:17:07] there are a total of 59 acres. Uh that also includes the Santa Cruz River Park

[1:17:13] that is just north of the campus that is actually ASDB property. Um and so that

[1:17:18] would be something as part of a consideration for sale as well.

[1:17:22] » So there's 60 acres for the the whole campus including the uh

[1:17:27] » Frisbee Park. >> Correct. Okay. Yes.

[1:17:30] » Okay. Well, it's interesting. I mean that

[1:17:36] it having the opportunity to actually sell property and raise money that the

[1:17:41] agency can use itself is uh seems somewhat unique for or unexpected

[1:17:46] because normally you would think that would go into uh into uh more general

[1:17:51] allocation. >> That is correct. ASB is unique in its

[1:17:54] legal stature as also a corporation and is able to actually buy sell uh its own

[1:18:00] property and retain the proceeds of those sales.

[1:18:05] » So very unique most state agencies those funds would go back to the general fund.

[1:18:09] Uh part of the um presentation or the information provided in superintendent

[1:18:14] uh assistant superintendent Cooper's report is the capital plan presentation

[1:18:19] for FY28 that um I provided to ADOA as well as um OSPB JLBC. Uh we do that

[1:18:27] every single year uh showing that we are fully in compliance with having a

[1:18:30] three-year projected plan. And so you have that information also showing not

[1:18:34] only what the capital planning is, but also what we have requested for building

[1:18:39] renewal, um, which is millions upon millions of dollars to go ahead and

[1:18:43] maintain and care for the campus that we're on right now, which is the Phoenix

[1:18:46] Day School for the Deaf. >> No, those plans are being determined.

[1:18:50] Uh, the low vision, deaf, blind, and uh, printing house would would still be

[1:18:56] transferred up to Oro Valley at some point.

[1:18:58] » As of right now, yes, that is the plan. And how many low vision students are

[1:19:02] there? Do you know? >> Not off the top of my head, but that

[1:19:05] might be something

[1:19:11] students >> later on as in total through the state

[1:19:14] or I think we'd mean to to get some more clarity on that one. But I also and then

[1:19:18] I think um board um board member Bove you made mention of wanting to have a

[1:19:23] work study session and I believe that there was a discussion about setting up

[1:19:26] a time to work on the master facility planning in which I would be able to

[1:19:29] present more of the initial draft information. Um and that's something

[1:19:34] that Dr. Barbara and I have been working with the architecture firm who did the

[1:19:37] original report and the original master facility plan. Uh we've been working

[1:19:41] with them currently to provide them with all the programmatic student account you

[1:19:46] know student information so that way they have an accurate um accurate

[1:19:50] information to do the best plan that can be put forward.

[1:19:54] » When did you start the first plan? >> I've been working on this since about

[1:19:59] 2019 I think 2018. Um actually would be 2019 whenever I became director of

[1:20:04] operations. That was the first thing I started on. So this has been many many

[1:20:08] years in the works and capital planning is never done um as buildings are always

[1:20:13] aging. So the idea that you have a capital plan and it's amazingly finished

[1:20:17] and we never have to talk about it again >> is just fiction. Buildings need to

[1:20:21] change along with the way people change. >> Thank you Rock. Any other questions?

[1:20:30] » I do have a question. This is board member both.

[1:20:35] You were speaking of the changes that have happened over time from the

[1:20:41] different factors influencing it. Understood. Um

[1:20:48] I have two things to ask. One is

[1:20:54] when it comes to selling the prop the sale of the property and the um proceeds

[1:20:59] from that sale, does legislators

[1:21:04] have do they have a a a plan or a process to put their money in that pot?

[1:21:09] That's my first question. Uh to put their hands in that pot rather. And my

[1:21:14] second question is,

[1:21:18] do we need that capital to keep what we have going

[1:21:24] running running as well? Is and is that included in the plan? Uh, pardon the

[1:21:29] interpreter. Here at PDSD, is that capital going to be part of this

[1:21:32] operation as well? >> So, some of that would be determined

[1:21:37] later on. as far as uh the legislature having access to the funds that I would

[1:21:42] have to defer to uh our legal council to give uh that information. So that might

[1:21:47] be something that we'd want to add to the work study session. Um the intent

[1:21:52] from my understanding with the legislature though was to create a

[1:21:55] specialized fund so that way that money could go in there so that way we could

[1:21:58] use it for capital funding. With that said, the legal language does state that

[1:22:03] we need to obtain approval to sell as well as expend those funds through the

[1:22:07] state legislature. So, it is not solely a board uh decision or discretion. So,

[1:22:13] we could say this is what we want to do and the legislature could say thanks but

[1:22:17] no thanks. You need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a

[1:22:20] different plan. So, I don't want to make it perceived as if we have full autonomy

[1:22:24] here. We do not. Um, with that also being said, I don't think the intent is

[1:22:30] for them to do some sort of money grab. I don't think that that was the intent.

[1:22:34] Um, and I don't perceive that happening. What I do see is just similar to the

[1:22:39] audits that we have had is extreme oversight.

[1:22:43] And so that way, and personally I welcome it as part of the public process

[1:22:47] to ensure that those funds are expended in the best way possible and for the

[1:22:53] best interest of our students, but as also the taxpayers of Arizona. As far as

[1:23:00] ongoing funding, that is the building renewal portion of the the document that

[1:23:05] you have for the CIP plan. We submit every year what we need for building

[1:23:10] renewal funds. The state allocates so much money for those funds and then

[1:23:16] divvies them up to agencies usually based off of category. So much for

[1:23:20] heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. So much for plumbing, so

[1:23:23] much for roofs. We receive quite a bit of money every single year from the

[1:23:29] legislature, but it has never been sufficient to fully

[1:23:33] deal with the preventative maintenance of either campus, which is why the

[1:23:38] campuses are in the condition that they are. This is pretty typical of all state

[1:23:43] agencies. I don't think any state agency gets all of their building renewal

[1:23:46] funded. That's why many school districts resort to bond funding and other sources

[1:23:51] in order to fund those ongoing projects and as well as building needs. We do not

[1:23:57] have the ability to utilize debt instruments, meaning we can't go out for

[1:24:02] a bond. So, we utilize general funds in order to

[1:24:07] support that. But still, despite having our general funds, it is not sufficient

[1:24:13] to cover all of the deferred maintenance on either campus.

[1:24:19] This is why we are resorting to such a drastic measure of finding a way to

[1:24:22] self-fund as well as reduce our overall cost in

[1:24:27] order to fund our capital as well as ongoing building renewal planning.

[1:24:39] Thank you.

[1:24:46] » I was going to Oh, I was going to have you kind of recap your FY2028 capital

[1:24:50] improvement plan, but I think you did that for us pretty much. So, thank you.

[1:24:55] Um, is there any other questions for

[1:24:58] Assistant Superintendent Shannon Cooper? Okay. Um, at this point we're it's uh

[1:25:06] 5:25. Uh, [clears throat] we're going to take

[1:25:08] about a 10-minute break and we'll be back at 5:35.

[1:25:18] [cough]

[1:36:04] We're back. Um, we're going to move on to item

[1:36:09] 1.7, information item, Deputy Assistant Superintendent of Education Programs

[1:36:16] Report. Deputy Assistant Superintendent Dr. Barbara,

[1:36:22] » thank you. I just want to check with everyone that you can see me. All right.

[1:36:27] Thank you. And good evening, President Buchanan,

[1:36:33] Assistant Superintendent Cooper, Executive Director Li Jason Lily, board

[1:36:40] president Buchanan, members of the board, ASDB leaders,

[1:36:48] our ASDB community.

[1:36:54] Many of you have already known me and some I have not yet met.

[1:37:00] My name is Dr. Sarah Barbara.

[1:37:05] I serve in a new role as deputy assistant superintendent of education.

[1:37:13] Since the past three years, my role before was director of special

[1:37:18] education. I was the first person person in that

[1:37:22] role here at ASDB. During that time, I have already

[1:37:28] experienced myself the dedication and support and care from our communities.

[1:37:37] Now, in this new role, I'm excited and I want to continue that positive impact

[1:37:44] and growth. My responsibility is to support our

[1:37:49] leadership team, my education team. My team who I have involved are five

[1:37:58] that consist of Paul Saunders, principal of ASDB Oro Valley,

[1:38:06] Sabra Taylor, principal here at PDSD campus,

[1:38:12] Mike Olivier, director of OD,

[1:38:18] and Dr. Scott Madson, director of CTE programs,

[1:38:24] and Abby Wagner, director of special education.

[1:38:32] The five of them are truly a best team. They're awesome.

[1:38:38] And now for my board report. I have sent that to you. And the report is not

[1:38:45] just a list of projects. The report itself is an example of how

[1:38:53] things are changing and how we are working differently,

[1:38:58] collaborating differently with the five of these leaders and that

[1:39:03] will continue. Our focus is simple. We must have a

[1:39:09] strong foundation in communication clarity,

[1:39:14] strong leadership team that aligns together,

[1:39:20] a strong operational system.

[1:39:25] If the team collaborates and aligns consistently,

[1:39:29] success will follow and the agency will follow

[1:39:35] with a positive impact for our students.

[1:39:40] together as the leadership team has already identified those five shared

[1:39:46] priorities using datadriven instruction,

[1:39:53] positive school culture, compliant practices,

[1:40:00] effective operations, and growing leadership capacity.

[1:40:12] All priorities supporting increases in student achievement.

[1:40:18] Rather than working together as separate departments,

[1:40:22] we are aligning. They are not individual departments.

[1:40:29] The collaboration is there. our goals and expectations

[1:40:35] and systems of accountability so that every decision supports

[1:40:41] our student focus outcomes. I am proud of the collaboration of our

[1:40:47] leadership team

[1:40:51] since I've started and developed systems and started sol and started

[1:40:57] helping with those solutions

[1:41:01] sharing resources amongst one another. Communication has improved,

[1:41:07] clarification has improved and the support is happening

[1:41:12] and school improvement as well.

[1:41:18] The leadership team is growing their skills and their cap capabilities to

[1:41:23] become excellent leaders. They're starting to set up clear goals

[1:41:29] that align with each other for the school for this school year of

[1:41:34] 2026 27.

[1:41:40] Two two of our programs involved NAU

[1:41:47] and our leader program and our AD program

[1:41:53] momentum.

[1:41:56] Both of those programs developed the collaboration

[1:42:00] with those team leaders and their capacity for success.

[1:42:07] Together they have established three different goals.

[1:42:14] Those are all in relation to student improvement.

[1:42:19] improvement the reading language improvement in math in their math skills

[1:42:26] and their growth with social and emotional

[1:42:31] learning.

[1:42:35] Each leader already knows their responsibilities

[1:42:39] within those three categories and those three goals.

[1:42:46] They know their roles and the responsibilities to reach those three

[1:42:50] goals.

[1:42:54] Now for the first quarter in this is in progress. I feel excited and I feel very

[1:43:00] optimistic and I already have the right leaders in

[1:43:04] the right place at the right time. Each leader has a unique skill.

[1:43:14] and I have special strengths in themselves.

[1:43:18] Together, they're a strong team and they depend on each other heavily.

[1:43:24] They have staff underneath each one of them that are dedicated and want to

[1:43:29] continue improvement. And now together, they're building that

[1:43:34] system to have a strong foundation for ASDB and

[1:43:39] ASDB's future. So, I want to thank you for our ASDB

[1:43:44] community and the supporting staff supporting our students and I'm happy to

[1:43:50] answer any questions.

[1:44:07] Anybody

[1:44:10] [cough and clears throat]

[1:44:13] else? Okay,

[1:44:20] this is board member kid. So, I have to bring up the public comment from

[1:44:26] earlier. Is there any way to

[1:44:31] change the requirement pertaining to the PLC's the PLC

[1:44:36] uh communities or I wanted to speak to that that's all.

[1:44:40] » Sure. >> Actually, really quick, this is board

[1:44:42] member um Buchanan. Sorry, I forgot my name for a second. I guess um

[1:44:48] to kind of piggy back off that, I I want to kind of understand why um what the

[1:44:55] PLC is and why this um was a specific public comment. Um especially if he's

[1:45:01] asking to loosen the loosen the requirement. I do not work in education

[1:45:06] in this capacity. So I would just like an overview of like I read the slides,

[1:45:10] but if you could give like an overview. >> Sure, I definitely can. Happy to explain

[1:45:14] it. PLC is an acronym um which is a it's a very very common practice within the

[1:45:21] education realm. That acronym stands for professional learning communities.

[1:45:27] Um this is typically guided discussion for four questions. Those questions are

[1:45:33] the team decides what do we want our students to learn? So what is the focus

[1:45:39] for our students? Um and that is a collaborative focus discussion. Question

[1:45:43] number two is how do we identify if a student has learned that? How do we

[1:45:50] assess? How are we checking? How do we know that the student has learned the

[1:45:53] goal? Um the third question is collecting data analysis and identifying

[1:45:59] students who have learned it and what do we do with them and students who have

[1:46:03] not yet learned that and how to how we differentiate.

[1:46:09] um to board member Kidd's question um or your comment about essentially your son

[1:46:14] um and your experience with him. Um and unfortunately being told he's too smart

[1:46:20] for the school. Um I have to say that that's embarrassing. Um I would never

[1:46:25] want a parent to feel like that. Um which is one of the reasons we want to

[1:46:30] address both groups of students. students who have already learned the

[1:46:33] material and need enrichment and students who have not yet learned the

[1:46:37] material because we can't leave them behind but we also can't leave the

[1:46:41] students who have already learned the material bored um and so that is a

[1:46:46] continuous cycle for our PLC groups um and that is to be done with intention as

[1:46:54] part of the daily planning in order to align instruction focusing on what is it

[1:46:59] that we're trying to achieve today. Um I understand the frustration from our

[1:47:05] teachers um that this is new and different as far as an expectation for

[1:47:09] them. Um in the past we have had PLC's. Sometimes those meetings happened

[1:47:14] monthly. Sometimes those meetings happened weekly or bi-weekly. Um there

[1:47:20] was a lot of variability with in that. Um but as far as those four questions in

[1:47:27] a continuous cycle that will address student learning and address those two

[1:47:33] distinct groups of students and those needs that cannot wait 3 weeks out from

[1:47:39] data collection. Um that has to be happening on a continuous basis until it

[1:47:44] becomes a daily practice in order to address and improve our student

[1:47:50] outcomes.

[1:47:54] So what is the format of that meeting? Are they an hour long? Are they 15

[1:47:58] minutes? What do they look like? >> It's a good question. Um so in the past

[1:48:02] it has been uh research was mentioned or research suggested that it can happen or

[1:48:08] should happen to be 1 hours or two hours a week. For our teachers, the

[1:48:13] expectation is they have time in the mornings and the afternoons. Um that's

[1:48:17] already built into their workday. Um and before it was just kind of open planning

[1:48:22] time for them individually. Um all of our teachuals teachers also have

[1:48:27] specified individual planning periods which are a 50-minute planning period

[1:48:31] during their day. Um they all have that daily prep period for 50 minutes

[1:48:37] individually. Our request at the beginning of the year was that that

[1:48:40] before school and after school time it's about 30 to 40 minutes on either end of

[1:48:46] the day that that would be their PLC time. That would be their group to meet

[1:48:51] with their same grade band. So that would be elementary, middle, high school

[1:48:56] um meeting together and sh those teachers who share those students to

[1:49:00] talk about what is our focus for this week with these students and making sure

[1:49:03] that we're aligning our focus. So for example, if we are working on specific

[1:49:08] vocabulary and we're building their understanding of this vocabulary,

[1:49:12] students who have that aligned exposure cross

[1:49:17] uh cross cabinet. So in math, in science, in reading, they're getting the

[1:49:22] same exposure to the same vocabulary words. um that only happens if we have

[1:49:26] that level of collaboration and planning um for our teachers in order to plan

[1:49:32] together for that crosscategory instruction.

[1:49:37] I am concerned about teacher teacher burnout because of having time to focus

[1:49:41] on all of their duties. When I was working here, I remember the days um we

[1:49:45] didn't have time until the end of the day. A lot of times we had IEPs going

[1:49:48] on. Maybe this structure [clears throat] is different than when I was here, but I

[1:49:52] am a little bit a bit concerned about the frequency. So addressing that

[1:49:55] instead of setting it as a requirement, I'm I'm concerned about that. Thank you

[1:49:58] for explaining. >> And my team also so the team of leaders

[1:50:02] um that I mentioned also is very aware and doesn't want to burn out teachers as

[1:50:07] well. Um the hope is that when we build this habit that we see the benefits and

[1:50:14] when teachers work collaboratively together, they're not then duplicating

[1:50:19] the planning um or overlapping each other. So if one person is responsible

[1:50:25] for part A and another teacher is responsible for part B, then that work

[1:50:30] actually becomes divvied up because we're collaborating together. So

[1:50:36] long-term goal, this would be a reduction of their workload. Um so with

[1:50:42] shared responsibility. Thank you. >> Thank you.

[1:50:47] » This is board member Buchanan. Um just just a kind of a point of clarification

[1:50:52] about these PLC's. Is it what what does their day look like? Like they have the

[1:50:58] they're on their mandatory PLC meeting. Is this just like all the elementary

[1:51:01] teachers together or is it just like all of math teachers together or what what I

[1:51:08] just want to understand the structure of why this seems to be a point of

[1:51:12] contention with the teachers. >> Sure.

[1:51:16] There are different structures and options for structures. What we are

[1:51:20] doing right now um is and this is a new process. This is still in training um

[1:51:27] but we are going into those PLC groups to provide supported training to provide

[1:51:32] guidance to what that should even look like. Um so for right now the last

[1:51:38] several weeks we have only officially started this for two weeks. Um so for

[1:51:43] the first week we had a video uh we had a training on PLC's went in and

[1:51:51] explained those four questions and now we are in the second week of this really

[1:51:57] starting and implementing the PLC template. So that is those those are

[1:52:02] those four questions that are in those templates. Um it is then up to the

[1:52:06] discretion of the teachers um how their team wants to address those four

[1:52:10] questions. how it is that they want to have that discussion. Um whether that be

[1:52:15] with the curriculum or whether that be with the state standards. Um so question

[1:52:19] number one, what do we want students to learn? That should be a collaborative

[1:52:23] discussion. Um and a decision amongst those teams. Um how much time that

[1:52:28] require is required is kind of up to the purview of those professionals. Um the

[1:52:33] assessments that we're using to check student learning, maybe those

[1:52:36] assessments are already available. Um the assessments may be something that

[1:52:40] the teachers need to come up with. They may be teacher made assessments and so

[1:52:44] that time is not intended for a discussion necessarily or to take notes

[1:52:51] but that is work time. So collaborative planning time for them during that PLC

[1:52:56] um in order to develop that assessment or they're splitting those

[1:53:00] responsibilities up in that time assigning tasks amongst each other um as

[1:53:05] to what will be completed for question number two. Um and then the same thing

[1:53:11] applies for questions three and four. Um what do we do for students who have

[1:53:15] already learned the content and what do we do with students who have not yet

[1:53:18] learned the content? um that is a collaborative planning period. Um and so

[1:53:23] if I'm the math teacher and I've got to figure out how to

[1:53:29] support these students with specific vocabulary that they haven't yet

[1:53:34] learned, I may be designing and planning what that looks like in my math

[1:53:38] classroom. And that might look different than what it looks like in the English

[1:53:42] teacher's classroom or the social studies teacher in their classroom.

[1:53:47] However, the planning is happening together and the work for that planning

[1:53:52] is happening together all at the same time. And so it is the same amount of

[1:53:58] time to plan, but the expectation is that planning is happening with a team

[1:54:02] and with support and with structure. >> This is board me. So is this going by

[1:54:08] grade level? >> Yes.

[1:54:10] » Okay. >> Um our elementary, our middle, and our

[1:54:13] high school groups. Um, our two campuses are structured a little bit differently.

[1:54:18] Um, for our Oro Valley campus, their elementary is K6. Here at PDSD, it is

[1:54:24] K5. Oro Valley's middle school and high

[1:54:29] school combines often um, and is 6 through 12 together. So, those teachers

[1:54:34] share all of those students. Um, here in PDSD, they actually split up middle

[1:54:40] school from high school and they have differentiated teachers. Um our specials

[1:54:44] teachers join in with the high school group, our related service providers. Um

[1:54:50] they have taken over some of the duties for some of these teaching roles in

[1:54:54] order to reduce their workload. Um so our related services duties are taking

[1:54:59] over like breakfast duty supervision um that type of duty um in order to

[1:55:06] alleviate the teachers duties in order for them to participate in this daily

[1:55:10] PLC group. So they no longer have those responsibilities for duty or

[1:55:14] supervision. Um related services are stepping in to do that. Um they may be

[1:55:19] joining the meetings once or twice a week with a grade level band that they

[1:55:23] support the most.

[1:55:27] » Okay. Thank you. Is there any other questions?

[1:55:34] » Dr. Barbara, thank you for your um report.

[1:55:37] » Thank you. Moving on, we have 1.8. It's an

[1:55:42] information item. Um, it's executive director of outreach programs. Um, Jason

[1:55:48] Lily. >> Sure. [clears throat]

[1:55:52] » Good evening, Superintendent Reichman, Assistant Superintendent Cooper, Deputy

[1:55:56] Superintendent Dr. Barbara, Board President Buchanan, board members, and

[1:56:00] ASDB community. ASDB has seen many changes starting in the 2627 school

[1:56:07] year. As mentioned by Superintendent Reichman, one of those changes has been

[1:56:12] realigning early learning programs, itinerant programs, blind programs, and

[1:56:18] deaf programs into ASDB regional outreach and cooperative

[1:56:23] services or outreach for short. In the midst of these changes and realignments,

[1:56:29] is important to remember the mission that the mission of ASB has not changed

[1:56:33] and ASB Outreach is committed to the AY's mission. As part of that with

[1:56:38] education uh via our contracts and agreements uh

[1:56:42] outreach provides services to children throughout Arizona who are deaf, heart

[1:56:46] of hearing, blind, low vision or deaf blind with leadership and service.

[1:56:51] Outreach provides guidance and supports as it relates to specialized education

[1:56:55] in conjunction with the schools the students school districts charters and

[1:57:00] other approved educational programs.

[1:57:04] As it comes to collaboration, outreach continues to work closely with families,

[1:57:09] regional communities, local school districts, charters, and other approved

[1:57:14] educational programs to provide services for the so to provide services for

[1:57:19] students from birth to graduation via our contracts and agreements with ASIP,

[1:57:24] FBC, regional itinerate services, and the

[1:57:29] establishment of regional cooperative sites as our full part of our continuum.

[1:57:36] The last one is partnership and utilizing other agencies to help

[1:57:40] children succeed now and in the future. And you will see some of these

[1:57:43] partnerships in our written report.

[1:57:49] Um, as part of that mission, outreach continues to enter into new partnerships

[1:57:53] and agreements with other agencies, school districts, charters, and other

[1:57:57] approved educational programs. um as well as maintain our current

[1:58:02] partnerships and renewed agreements. You'll see these today in 3.1 and 3.2.

[1:58:10] With our early learning programs, we have approximately about 25

[1:58:17] teaching staff that we're working with throughout all three regions. We have

[1:58:21] within our blind and low vision, we have about 32 teachers um throughout the

[1:58:27] three regions. And for our deaf and heart of hearing services, we have about

[1:58:31] 33 teachers throughout the regions.

[1:58:37] In conclusion, uh you have my written report. Um one of the things that

[1:58:42] Superintendent Reichman recently sent out was an article about change. And the

[1:58:46] part that really stuck out to me, um is that change is not a destination, but a

[1:58:52] journey. And so, you know, as we journey through these changes, I I'm excited to

[1:58:58] blaze the way forward for for our state and for our agency. And I'm open to any

[1:59:04] questions you may have.

[1:59:10] » This is board member Bob. I do have a question.

[1:59:15] My focus is often on ELP. Uh it's very important to me that birth to three age

[1:59:21] or birth to 5 age is critical and I'm still

[1:59:27] the program coming under you that you're now managing. What does that mean as the

[1:59:31] director? What does that mean for our ELP kids around the state um the region

[1:59:35] in the different regions? Uh, I'm very curious about ELP teacher

[1:59:43] qualifications and how they're um engaging in the

[1:59:48] school, whether that's the local districts or however they're engaging

[1:59:51] with those students education, those birth to five students, that social

[1:59:55] emotional development that's needs to happen. Um, all of those things that are

[2:00:00] critical for those age ranges. I'm wondering

[2:00:06] what is offered in terms of stimulation or or development in those areas. Can

[2:00:10] you talk to that? >> Absolutely. So, um we have the contract

[2:00:15] with ASIP. So, we provide those services via ASIP for those birth to three as

[2:00:21] part of IDA part C. So, we have certified teachers uh teachers of the

[2:00:27] blind and visually impaired. There's we also have teachers of the deaf and heart

[2:00:31] of hearing. Um blind programs have deaf mentors that provide services to those

[2:00:35] families. Um as well as we have some SLPs on staff that provide supports when

[2:00:40] needed. So when it comes to the birth to three component of that, we do that

[2:00:45] through ASIP um and go into go into those homes and to those communities to

[2:00:51] provide those throughout all three regions.

[2:00:54] when you're talking about the preschool services that is a mixture uh in the

[2:00:58] past that's been a mixture of ELP and itinerate services and that is where

[2:01:03] combining them does make a lot of sense so that we can make sure that we're

[2:01:06] providing similar supports throughout our state and what does that look like

[2:01:12] does it come from a birth to three teacher potentially does it come from an

[2:01:16] itinerate teacher and do we have similar training and support programs set up for

[2:01:20] the teacher so that the education is the same throughout the state and not uh

[2:01:25] focused in one area with more certified or more trainings. Right? So that's that

[2:01:31] is the idea with this with outreaches that we are making sure that we're

[2:01:35] providing the supports throughout the whole state, not just in specific parts

[2:01:38] of our state.

[2:01:43] » Uh and a follow-up question.

[2:01:47] So you're speaking of um K getting kids kindergarten ready, right? that's the

[2:01:53] goal, the the birth to three and three to five program that is to get kids

[2:01:57] kindergarten ready >> because if they're not I'm I'm wondering

[2:02:01] about data in terms of like um I'm very I'm very interested in that area and

[2:02:07] specifically that language acquisition that critical time where that child is

[2:02:12] starting their journey if they don't have access to that at home then the

[2:02:17] school has to provide access to that um language acquisition process us. So,

[2:02:22] what can you share with us about that tonight?

[2:02:24] » Sure. So, when you're talking about um the birth to three through ASIP, we

[2:02:29] provide that deaf mentoring services into the home, especially if we're

[2:02:33] looking at ASL acquisition, but again, we also have SLPs that go in support as

[2:02:37] well through the early learning programs, if we're looking at doing more

[2:02:41] of that listening and spoken language components. Um when you're talking about

[2:02:46] the transition to IDA part B when the kid turns three um that that becomes

[2:02:52] when the kid becomes preschool eligible then the district takes on the

[2:02:55] responsibility of those services and we provide supports to our member

[2:02:59] districts. Um not all not all districts in the state of Arizona have an

[2:03:04] agreement with us. So some of those districts take on that responsibility on

[2:03:09] their own. Those that have partnerships and agreements with us then we provide

[2:03:13] the supports. We also provide that deaf mentoring through preschool if that

[2:03:18] student needs that or through interpreting or through teaching

[2:03:21] services uh through assisted technologies. Um but it it really is

[2:03:26] that collaboration and that partnership with those um districts as well because

[2:03:31] it's not right we don't own any of those students. So it's really that what do we

[2:03:37] bring to the table? what do they bring to the table and really trying to be

[2:03:40] collaborative in our approach because they also have their own SLPs, their own

[2:03:44] OT's, PTS and other related service providers as well as general ed and

[2:03:48] special ed teachers that we go in and provide those collaborative supports and

[2:03:53] those um consult types of supports as well.

[2:04:00] » Okay, thank you.

[2:04:04] This is board member Kidd. Uh I have another question. Is

[2:04:12] so are teachers of the deaf and teachers of the T uh uh blind. They're all

[2:04:17] certified. These are all certified teachers.

[2:04:19] » Yes. All of our all of our staff is certified teachers. They may still be in

[2:04:24] other programs finishing up certification, but they all have to have

[2:04:28] at least some sort of certification to start uh with us.

[2:04:33] Thank you.

[2:04:42] I see no more questions. Thank you so much for your report.

[2:04:47] Moving on, we're moving on to 2.1. This is an action item. Approval of the

[2:04:55] consent agenda consistent with board policy to include. And there is a typo

[2:05:00] in this agenda item. Um the consent agenda item is going to cover 3.2

[2:05:06] 3.3 3.4

[2:05:10] 6.1 7.3 donations was incorrectly listed as

[2:05:15] 7.4. It is actually 7.3 for donations and 7.5

[2:05:26] which is also incorrectly listed as 7.6

[2:05:33] had a couple typos. So um this is an action item.

[2:05:40] Um, we need a movement to approve or if anything needs taken off, we need a

[2:05:44] movement to have that taken off and discussed at its own agenda item.

[2:05:51] » Uh, this is I I move to take out the minutes because I have a concern with

[2:05:57] one of one aspect of the minutes, but other than that, I would like to move to

[2:06:00] approve action items 3.2, 3.4, 3.3, and 6.1, and 7.3.

[2:06:10] Is there a second? >> I second.

[2:06:14] » All in favor? I >> I

[2:06:16] » I >> I I

[2:06:20] » um 2.1 passes with the removal of 7.5 minutes.

[2:06:29] We can move on to 3.1. This is also an action item. Approval of new district

[2:06:35] agreements. executive director of outreach programs, Jason Lily.

[2:06:40] » Sure. These um these are three different uh charter schools that we um are

[2:06:46] looking to have new agreements with. Uh the first one actually is two

[2:06:51] virtualmies. So, they provide services for students throughout the state. Um

[2:06:55] and they're seeking our support as well as the two basis programs in Tucson.

[2:07:03] » Perfect. Is there any questions? Okay, I'll take a movement to

[2:07:09] approve these new district agreements.

[2:07:14] » This is board member Tamiko. I move that we approve the two district agreements,

[2:07:19] the three new district agreements. >> Is there a second?

[2:07:23] » I second. This is Linda. I second. >> All in favor? I. I. I.

[2:07:28] » So moved. Um, so we skipped 3.2.

[2:07:37] 3.4 um is a consent agenda item. Approval of

[2:07:42] a additional student out of state travel deputy assistant superintendent Barbara.

[2:07:50] » Did we? >> Oh, we did approve this one. Sorry.

[2:07:55] » There's a couple typos in my own thing. We approved that one. My my apologies.

[2:08:00] We are at 4.1. Information item finance report. Kimbitridge, director of

[2:08:04] business services.

[2:08:09] » Good afternoon, uh, board president Buchanan, Superintendent Reichman,

[2:08:13] Assistant Superintendent Cooper, Deputy Assistant Superintendent Dr. Barbara,

[2:08:20] and Executive Director Lily. Board members and ASDB community. It's a lot

[2:08:25] of people. You have been provided our most recent board report that covers the

[2:08:31] financial data for June 2025 and 2026. The finance committee meeting was held

[2:08:37] on Wednesday, September 2nd with board President Buchanan and board member

[2:08:42] Gordon, also in attendance with Superintendent Reichman and Assistant

[2:08:46] Superintendent Cooper. During this meeting, we reviewed the financial

[2:08:50] reports in more detail. The fiscal year has been closed and the

[2:08:55] budget was submitted to the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, OSPB,

[2:08:59] and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, JLBC.

[2:09:04] The total student count provided in the board report is for August 3rd, 2026,

[2:09:09] totaling 1,738 compared to 1,87

[2:09:14] as of August 1st, 2025. A total decrease of 69 students. The

[2:09:21] campus count decreased by 55. Cooperative student count increased by

[2:09:26] eight. Preschool decreased by six and birth to three decreased by 16. Student

[2:09:33] registration was still in process at this time and because August 3rd was the

[2:09:38] first day of school. And I just wanted to let you know um board member Gordon,

[2:09:43] we have 368 total visually impaired including the birth to three students as

[2:09:48] of this time. >> I'm sorry. Say it again.

[2:09:51] » 368 visually impaired students including the birth to three.

[2:09:55] » Could you had asked that question? >> Yeah. Okay.

[2:09:58] » Yeah. >> Thank you.

[2:09:59] » Um, as of August 1st, we had 469 full-time equivalent positions which

[2:10:06] included the 8.5 at FBC, Foundation for Blind Children.

[2:10:11] As of August 1st, we employed 522 staff and at this time last year, we had 655

[2:10:19] staff. The reduction of 133 staff is from the reduction in force that

[2:10:25] occurred on June 30th and from not filling positions when they became

[2:10:29] vacant from resignations or retirements. The highlights of the June 2026

[2:10:35] financial report shows a total revenue of 43.5 million was 5.4 4 million higher

[2:10:42] than the June 25 2025 revenue of 38 million. The major difference is the

[2:10:48] increase of the institutional vouchers of 4.4 million and the classroom site

[2:10:53] fund of 1.2 million. The classroom site fund revenues are based on the number of

[2:10:58] students that we claim the voucher institutional voucher for.

[2:11:02] The budget fiscal year 2026 obligated expenditures of 64.6 6 million or 4.3

[2:11:09] million lower than budget fiscal year 2025 obligated expenses of 68.9 million.

[2:11:17] The decreases are in salary and professional and outside services.

[2:11:22] The decreases in professional and outside services is caused by the

[2:11:26] decrease in contracted transportation for students offset by an increase in

[2:11:31] contracted staff required by students IEPs due to not filling positions when

[2:11:36] they became vacant. The financial report shows an increase

[2:11:41] in fund balance of 2.7 million due to the increase in the cash received from

[2:11:46] the institutional vouchers. The voucher reimbursements provided to the districts

[2:11:51] at the end of the school year total 5.4 million. At this time, 4.1 million had

[2:11:57] been reimbursed and since then the balance of 1.3 million has been refunded

[2:12:02] to the districts. This concludes my financial report and

[2:12:06] I'm available to answer any questions.

[2:12:13] Thank you. >> Thank you.

[2:12:16] We have no agenda items for um five. We can move on to

[2:12:24] 7.1 information item on buds person report.

[2:12:29] Um Rebecca Janzis Janzinski or on buds person.

[2:12:42] Hello. Good evening everyone. I am Rebecca Jazinski. Nice to meet you all.

[2:12:49] I'm just going to give you a brief summary of my report.

[2:12:53] My report is from April 2025 through August 2026.

[2:12:58] At that time period, there were seven formal requests submitted through our

[2:13:03] request form website. Seven of those, four of them were from

[2:13:08] staff, two were from parents, and one were from an other category. and that

[2:13:13] other category just means that that person didn't fit into parent or staff

[2:13:17] categories. So, of those seven uh requests, um three

[2:13:22] involved policy concerns, two involved procedural concerns, and two were

[2:13:27] categorized as other often relating to perceived unfair treatment.

[2:13:35] Of the all of those sevens have been resolved with no problems. And of those

[2:13:39] seven requests, we also got 18 email um uh concern requests. And of those 18,

[2:13:46] most of them just asked for clarification or guidance.

[2:13:51] Two of those 18 did require a third party intervention to help resolve those

[2:13:55] issues. In summary, or for the past 16 months, there were 25 total requests and

[2:14:01] that averaged about one to two per month.

[2:14:06] And that concludes my summary. and I'm here to answer any of your questions.

[2:14:14] » Rebecca, I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I think this is the first time

[2:14:16] that we've actually face to face with you. Would you mind introducing

[2:14:20] yourself? [laughter]

[2:14:22] » Yes, of course. Yeah, my name is Rebecca. I'm here I've been here since

[2:14:27] February of 2024. I took over this in April of 2025. My main role is ASB

[2:14:33] complaints ADA complaints manager. Um, now I am the student complaint resource

[2:14:42] manager and I took this over back in April of

[2:14:46] 2025. >> Fantastic. Thank you. I appreciate you.

[2:14:52] » Yes, of course. Thank you.

[2:14:57] » Moving on, we're moving on to 7.2. This is an information and discussion item.

[2:15:02] Introduction and possible discussion of policies GCB,

[2:15:08] GCB D, GCC, GC FCA,

[2:15:15] IC and regulations GC FCA-

[2:15:20] RA and GC FCA-RB. Maria Murphy, [laughter]

[2:15:27] well done. Uh, good evening, board president Buchanan, members of the

[2:15:32] board, Superintendent Reichman, ASDB leadership, and members of the ASDB

[2:15:36] community. You have before you the red line of all of the policies and the two

[2:15:43] regulations. Uh, as a reminder, this is a first read, so changes and revisions

[2:15:51] can still be made at this point. um for GCFCA-R

[2:15:57] and RB. Those are regulations and those are being brought to you for your

[2:16:01] information. They do not require an ASDB board vote for approval. And with at

[2:16:07] this time, I'd like to make myself available for any questions or

[2:16:10] discussion.

[2:16:17] This is um board member kid. I have a question. uh concern I have

[2:16:24] with let me look at which one I was speaking of. Um GCFCA-RB

[2:16:31] apparently you are not going to provide financing for uh for staff who want

[2:16:37] training to um continue growing. Is that what I'm reading that you will not

[2:16:43] provide financial support for that? Um,

[2:16:50] which paragraph would you be specifically referring to board member

[2:16:54] kids? So I can answer that.

[2:16:59] » Is it the second paragraph? >> Courses and training.

[2:17:03] Courses and trainings. Let me read it. Hang on. I I had concerns. Let me find

[2:17:09] the phrasing. Hang on. You removed the whole section pertaining to credit for

[2:17:14] trainings offered by the school will be um the one will be accredited at one

[2:17:21] point service time etc etc. That means that you're not providing

[2:17:27] training that some some agencies do provide training to help their staff

[2:17:35] advance. And are is this policy change or this um regulation change saying

[2:17:39] that's something we're not doing here anymore?

[2:17:42] » So it's my understanding that what this is meant to say is that credit for

[2:17:48] training offered by the schools will be earned at the rate of one to one. But

[2:17:53] hang on one second.

[2:18:00] 7.

[2:18:06] The reason why I'm asking for clarification is that I don't want us to

[2:18:11] box oursel into not being able to provide options for training for folks

[2:18:17] to get certified. Some agencies do offer options to as a draw, right? So, um

[2:18:23] that's that's key. we're going to need new teachers and we if we can't train

[2:18:27] them and they have to do everything on their own, that's another benefit they

[2:18:30] lost that they're not going to come here for. So, I'm wondering what the intended

[2:18:34] purpose of this is or maybe I'm reading it wrong. Well, it it's my understanding

[2:18:38] that these are requirements for grade advancements to be um to to receive uh

[2:18:44] additional pay for grade advancement. Um Anita, is that correct? Is am I reading

[2:18:49] that correct? Yes. So this is this is specifically requirements for grade

[2:18:54] advances to receive additional pay. So it's not that ASB is not providing

[2:19:01] training. We are providing training but this is specifically in regards to

[2:19:06] training um for to receive an advancement in grade for the purposes of

[2:19:13] increases in salary.

[2:19:17] I would recommend clarifying that because reading it to my ears sounded

[2:19:22] like it were not allowing them to advance their salaries be because they

[2:19:26] did their coursework. So I it it's not clear clear to me. So I know I'm not an

[2:19:32] attorney but to my eyes that's not clear.

[2:19:35] » Board member kid if you would like to offer some substitute language I would

[2:19:40] be very amendable um to that to make it a little bit more clear. Thank you. Of

[2:19:45] course,

[2:19:50] » this is board member Linda. You're saying this is the first read.

[2:19:55] » So, >> sorry, the microphone was not working.

[2:19:58] You're saying that this is a first read that we are to

[2:20:02] » What do you mean by that? That it's a first read that that means we are

[2:20:05] changing this or what do you mean? >> So, so for the policies, this is a first

[2:20:09] read. So with ASDB policies, they are required to be read twice.

[2:20:17] First time for discussion, second time for approval. What board member Kidd is

[2:20:24] referring to is actually a regulation and we are bringing this to the board as

[2:20:30] a courtesy to make the board aware that this is something that ASDB is planning

[2:20:36] on doing. These are changes that are going to be made and the regulation does

[2:20:40] not require two reads or board approval. Um, but if it is unclear and board

[2:20:50] member Kidd has some substitute language that he thinks would clean it up or make

[2:20:55] it a little bit clearer, I'm absolutely open to that and to making some more um,

[2:21:02] edits if they need to be made. So,

[2:21:07] Thank you.

[2:21:13] » No further questions.

[2:21:17] » Thank you, Maria. >> Thank you.

[2:21:25] » I Okay, I with the typos in the agenda, I do not believe that 7.4 four setting

[2:21:32] the calendar for the 2027 regular board meetings was part of the consent consent

[2:21:37] agenda. It was mislabeled as donations. So um I do not believe that was um on

[2:21:46] the consent agenda. So we are at 7.4 discussion and action items. Set the

[2:21:50] calendar for the 2027 regular board meetings. Um board members in front of

[2:21:56] you, you've had the you have the calendar. If there's any discussion that

[2:22:00] needs to happen, um, it can happen now or we can have a motion to approve this

[2:22:06] calendar.

[2:22:10] This is board member. I move to approve the calendar for the 2627

[2:22:16] period. Is there a second?

[2:22:19] » This is Kidd. I second. >> One question.

[2:22:22] » Yes, Britney. So, Tucson's back in the rotation.

[2:22:27] » Yes. Um

[2:22:33] yes that is the goal is for 2027 calendar year that we will

[2:22:39] go back and forth between the two campuses between Tucson and Phoenix.

[2:22:44] Yes. >> At Oro Valley.

[2:22:46] » Oro Valley. Yes. >> Thank you.

[2:22:51] » Um we have a second I believe. Um all in favor?

[2:22:56] » Yes. I

[2:23:01] » I perfect. I I do have a question. Uh I want to clarify something. This is

[2:23:05] Linda. I also I want to say um that this is a good way for us to look at the

[2:23:10] campus in Ora Valley. Those of us who haven't been there get the the lay of

[2:23:13] the land. Um so that will be a nice opportunity to go early and have a look

[2:23:18] at the the the facilities. So that's what I'm looking forward to.

[2:23:24] All right. And this is um board member kid. Also,

[2:23:28] there are some people in in the Tucson community who do feel that they have not

[2:23:32] been uh since the close of the campus that we have been disconnected. So,

[2:23:36] that's going to be really important. I do agree and I

[2:23:41] fantastic. It passes. Um 7 we are at 7.5 which is um was on

[2:23:49] the consent agenda but it was pulled off by board member Kidd. Um, board member

[2:23:54] Kidd, would you like to discuss your point?

[2:23:57] » I would. Yes. In the special meeting, let me hang on

[2:24:04] one second. On August 13th,

[2:24:11] 1.2,

[2:24:15] nope, sorry, 1.3.

[2:24:19] On the second the second paragraph, it says that uh Superintendent Reichman

[2:24:25] proposed that we discuss only chapter 8 and we discuss the whole thing. We did

[2:24:32] discuss the whole thing. So I don't want us to put ourselves in a legal situation

[2:24:37] um because we did discuss the whole thing even though it was a quick

[2:24:40] discussion. So that's an error of the of the timeline.

[2:24:52] I don't this is board member Buchanan I don't think that is an untrue statement

[2:24:55] that superintendent asked us to specifically focus on eight because she

[2:25:00] did ask us to specifically focus on chapter 8 there was discussion after but

[2:25:06] that [clears throat] is not an untrue statement

[2:25:10] » it it it is misleading I want I don't want the the public to think the

[2:25:15] perspect the percept ception is that we only focused on that. I don't have an

[2:25:19] issue with the what happened, but that's true that that did happen. Um the

[2:25:23] proposal was to limit it to chapter 8, but we did in fact have the discussion

[2:25:27] of the whole thing. So, it's misleading.

[2:25:32] It's just the phrasing that could be misleading and I'd like to change it a

[2:25:35] little bit.

[2:25:39] Um okay. Uh

[2:25:44] I'm I'm sorry. I am unsure how we amend minutes.

[2:26:06] What was that?

[2:26:10] » Yes.

[2:26:16] » I mean, I think that um board member Kit is just asking that maybe a sentence be

[2:26:20] added that says that the rest of the audit was also

[2:26:25] » partially discussed. >> Yes, [cough] that's what I'm asking. I

[2:26:29] think that's pretty reasonable. >> That's all.

[2:26:32] » Okay. >> Yes.

[2:26:34] » Perfect. So, um we'll have those minutes amended

[2:26:42] 7.5. Um

[2:26:46] are we moving to

[2:26:51] » to approve with an amendment? Okay. Um, I'll take a movement to approve the

[2:26:58] board the minutes with the amendment made it to the special meeting on August

[2:27:03] 13th draft. >> This is board member Kidd. I move that

[2:27:08] we approve the minutes for August 13th with that amendment.

[2:27:12] » Is this >> that uh that the all the entire audit

[2:27:18] was discussed? >> Is there a second?

[2:27:22] » This is board member Bo. I second. >> All in favor? I

[2:27:25] » I >> I I

[2:27:27] » It's um approved. >> I do have another motion. This is board

[2:27:31] member Kidd. I also app move that we approve other the

[2:27:37] other two agenda items as written.

[2:27:43] » Minutes as written. >> Yes. Sorry, that is what I meant. Yes.

[2:27:49] » Okay. Let me I'm not a lawyer. So, [laughter]

[2:27:53] » um, you made the motion. I need a second to approve the other two minutes, draft

[2:27:59] minutes as written. >> This is board member Tamco. I second

[2:28:04] that motion. >> All in favor? I.

[2:28:06] » I. >> I.

[2:28:07] » So moved. That arrives us to 8.1. It was a call to

[2:28:12] the public on non-aggenda items. We received no calls to the public. calls

[2:28:17] from the public on non-aggenda items. Which means that we will move on to 8.2

[2:28:21] discussion and possible action item agenda items for the next regular board

[2:28:26] meeting and that is scheduled for November 12th.

[2:28:30] Um typically um board member kid, I know that you're new to our board. Typically

[2:28:35] in November, we have um uh nominations and elections to um the position of

[2:28:42] president and secretary at that board meeting. Um so that is something that

[2:28:47] the board needs to collectively think about um arriving to that board meeting

[2:28:51] on November 12th. Other than that uh I am open to discussion or items that you

[2:28:57] would like to see on that agenda.

[2:29:03] This is board member Kidd. One thing I did want to I want to move for us to add

[2:29:08] a work study session for the master facility plan uh to support Annette uh

[2:29:15] Superintendent Reichman's vision. >> Um do you have a time frame on when you

[2:29:21] would like to see that uh work study meeting?

[2:29:25] Um,

[2:29:30] I would prefer it be before November 13th so that the new chair secretary are

[2:29:36] aware and of how to run that and strategize for that. So, I'm I I have

[2:29:42] some ideas to throw in to see if they can try to see if they work, but I would

[2:29:46] like to add them for the next agenda. So, I'd rather it be before November

[2:29:50] 13th so that um but depending on our schedules.

[2:29:55] » Okay. Is there any other agenda items that any other board members would like

[2:29:58] to see on the November 12th

[2:30:03] meeting.

[2:30:07] Okay. Moving on. Um we are at 9.1 action item adjournment.

[2:30:16] Um we can I'll take a movement to adjourn the meeting.

[2:30:23] Second um movement is made uh to adjourn the

[2:30:28] meeting. Uh board member Bob is a second. All in favor? I

[2:30:33] » I so moved.

[2:30:43] [clears throat]

[2:30:49] question. >> I know. Um

AGENDA FOR THE REGULAR PUBLIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

Transcript