August 9, 2011

Regular Meeting

Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Dr. Manuel L. Isquierdo presented his report to the Board (see PowerPoint).

Highlights of General Functions

Study session Aug. 23
The Board approved scheduling a study session on Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 5:30 p.m., preceding the regular meeting, for a presentation by the Pima College Open Admissions Coalition Group about their opposition to proposed changes to Pima Community College’s admissions requirements. The PCC chancellor has proposed a change in admissions to require a specific score on assessment tests in math, writing and reading as well as a high school diploma or GED. A public forum is already scheduled for Aug. 23; there will also be one on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Fiscal Year 2011-12 tax rate
Tax rates will be set by the Pima County Board of Supervisors Aug. 15. The Arizona Legislature increased the qualifying tax rate, shifting responsibility for more than $3 million to the local SUSD community. Tax rates, both primary and secondary, overall will be less than 2010-11 rates, and will be less in 2012 than in 2011. There will be a $159 savings for the average homeowner in 2012 compared to 2011.
Comparison of average homeowner’s  taxes in area school districts:

• TUSD         $   998
• Marana     $   818
• Sunnyside     $   531
• Amphi         $1,190.37
• Sahuarita     $   710
• Vail         $   789.40

Sunnyside is the lowest for the average homeowner. More and more, the state is shifting responsibility to the local level. In spite of that, taxes for SUSD homeowners will be less next year. SUSD lost 11% primary and 12% secondary in assessed valuation.

Opening of school preliminary report
Steve Holmes, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, presented a report on the opening of the new school year (see PowerPoint).
Sunnyside High has 640 freshmen and Desert View has 610. The schools are fully staffed for a student:teacher ratio of 28:1. Supporting each Freshman Academy is a freshman associate principal, freshman prevention specialist and freshman parent involvement assistant.

Staffing: There was a total of 191 vacancies – 112 temporary non-renewals and  79 resignations/ retirements/leaves of absence. There is a total of 195 positions hired or to be hired – 77 new hires, 41 rehires, 40 ESI, 25 staffing allocations from adjustments at sites and Ed Jobs funds redistributed, and 12 vacancies.

Mr. Holmes reported that, overall, facilities are in great shape. There continue to be problems with air conditioning. Expectations are high for the new Versa Tran system for Transportation. There is a continuing problem with a shortage of bus drivers. Traffic congestion will be a problem at Desert View and Los Amigos.

Open enrollment
Dr. Jeannie Favela, assistant superintendent for student services, reported that as of Aug. 9, out-of-district open enrollment had reached 977. In August 2009, there were 253 and in August 2010 there were 466. (See PowerPoint) The Board approved the district open enrollment policy.

New initiatives
Javier Baca, executive director of information technologies, introduced updates on new initiatives. Transportation is using existing software, Versa Tran, to generate student lists for bus routes. An E-link allows students and parents to type in an address to see the corresponding bus stop and a map. Route changes  will be posted to the Internet. Trip-tracker software is being used to request and track field trips.

District Athletic Director Richard Sanchez reported that athletic fields are greatly improved because of new equipment and improved diligence in maintaining grass fields. There will be a new middle school league, with A and B/C divisions.

The Tyler data warehouse system will be in place by the end of August. Data depend on Infinite Campus. Network upgrades were accomplished in the summer  – Internet access bandwidth was doubled to 200 MBPS. Wide-area-network (WAN) bandwidth to all schools was increased tenfold. The district has $1.4 million worth of upgrades at an 87% E-rate discount. The new Sunnyside Cloud Access (SCA) provides secure access to Sunnyside cloud resources; all employees can log in to SCA from anywhere with a web browser to access H, G and I drives.

The Los Amigos Technology Academy will have 3D-capable projectors in the multimedia room, 1-to-1 computing in grades 3-5, tablet (Ipad) carts for K-2, online curriculum/game theory, Microsoft surface tables, and teacher presentation/sound amplification systems.

The E2020 anywhere anytime learning system will provide more opportunities for online learning for core curriculum as well as credit recovery.  There is now an online learning coordinator. The cost for E2020 is $75,000 districtwide ($500 per license) for grades 6-12.

New high school space construction
Projected completion of classroom additions at Desert View and Sunnyside is early July 2012. The classrooms will be ready for school in the fall of 2012. Twenty new classrooms are being added at each site.

Governing Board Pro statement
The Governing Board approved a Pro statement for the November 2011 election information pamphlet.

Unfinished business – consent agenda
The Governing Board approved the consent agenda as is and directed Administration to investigate the matter of an employee whose contract was voided because a signed contract was not returned within 30 days.