February 22, 2011

Regular meeting

Superintendent’s Report (see PowerPoint)

• The Sunnyside High wrestling team, under the direction of Coach Bobby DeBerry, won its 14th consecutive state title. Additionally, Kory DeBerry became the 25th wrestler in Arizona history to win four individual state titles.  Cedric Gonzales also won an individual state title.
• Governing Board Clerk Magdalena Barajas has been selected as one of 25 Fellows for the inaugural class of the Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy in the fall of 2011.
• Superintendent Dr. Manuel L. Isquierdo has been appointed as an Education Committee Member for the National League of United Latin American Citizens.
• On Feb. 16, more than 900 Desert View students participated in a health fair, hosted by HealthCorps, a nationally-based health education and mentoring program focused on nutrition, fitness and mental strength. The fair included physical challenges and taste-testing of healthy foods.
• Students from the Sunnyside District were among the 350 who attended the Raytheon MathMovesU Day Feb. 17. More than 70 Raytheon engineers helped students experience the engineering process and build refracting telescopes  at the University of Arizona.
• The district will celebrate the Governing Board’s state and national awards at a reception Wednesday, Feb. 23 at Los Portales. Thank you to the Sunnyside Foundation for hosting the event.
• Dr. June Scobee Rogers, widow of Dick Scobee, the commander of the Challenger space mission, will be the guest speaker at a Challenger Middle School student assembly, Monday, Feb. 28, 8:30 a.m. Dr. Scobee Rogers is the founding chair of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education and author of the middle school book, “Silver Linings.” January 28 was the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster.
• Celebrations will recognize more than 500 Sunnyside District high school students who have achieved the Four A’s this year.
  Sunnyside High School    Wednesday, March 23, 2011 - 6 p.m.
  Desert View High School   Thursday, March 24, 2011   - 6 p.m.
• Thanks to the collaborative efforts of a dedicated team, the district successfully completed the  Phase 2 deployment of 900 netbook computers to fifth-graders at Craycroft, Elvira, Esperanza, Los Niños, Los Ranchitos, Rivera and Santa Clara elementary schools. Leading the team were Javier Baca, Mary Veres, Pam Betten and Andrea Foster.
• We’re very proud of Daniel Hernandez, Jr., an alum of Liberty, Apollo and Sunnyside High, and a national hero.

Recognitions

• The Governing Board honored Daniel Hernandez, Jr. for his heroism and service. Daniel was accompanied by his parents, Daniel and Consuela, and his sister, Alma. Joining the Board members in the recognition were Daniel’s principal at Liberty, Bernie Cohn; his second-grade teacher, Duane Wyatt; his fifth-grade teacher, Rebecca Bossardet; his seventh-grade teacher at Apollo, Steve Olguin; and his Certified Nursing Assistant teacher at Sunnyside High, Catherine Monroe.
• The Governing Board recognized several of the many individuals and organizations that reached out to families in the community during the recent holiday season.
• For Mission Manor Elementary School: Gary Dillahunty and Jane Decker, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
• For Los Ranchitos: Nelson Bledsoe Masonic Lodge, Dr. Deitmar & Liz Gann, Desert Skies United Methodist Church, Sunnyside District Maintenance Department, W. Steven Martin Police Toy Drive, University of Arizona College of Engineering.
• For Ocotillo: Woodcrafters Club, IPC-The Hospitalist Company.
• For Santa Clara, Hope United Methodist Church, Salvation Army, Fire Station 18, Local 479.
• For service to the community: Gallego Basic Elementary School, Sierra Middle School, Sunnyside High School, STAR Academic Center Student Council, and STAR Academic Center “Do Something Project.”

Highlights of Consent Agenda

Highlights of Gifts and Donations

• $2,400 to Apollo and $2,400 to Lauffer  from Action for Healthy Kids Foundation for Fuel Up to Play 60
• $800 to Los Ranchitos from Grand Lodge F. & A.M. of Arizona for school supplies
• $2,500 to Parents as Teachers from Long Realty Cares Foundation for school supplies
• $2,000 value to Sunnyside High School from Riviana Foods, Inc.  – 1973 Cadillac Fleetwood for auto collision class
• $2,500 to district from Pima Federal Credit Union for 2011 World Carnival
• $1,260 value to district from Alfredo Valenzuela – 18 violin cases
• $900 from 14 individuals for the Grace L. Giltner Memorial Fund

Highlights of General Functions Agenda

Federal Relations Network Conference
Governing Board member Eva Carrillo Dong provided an update on the National School Boards Association 38th annual Federal Relations Network Conference held Feb. 6-8 in Washington, D.C., where governing board members attend Congressional meetings and identify local school boards’ legislative issues. Issues discussed included:

• No Child Left Behind
• the need for a fair accountability system that looks at all different groups individually
• high stakes testing
• postponing sanctions scheduled for June
• revision of NCLB requirements regarding fifth-year high school students
• the effect of testing on Title 1 funding
• E-rate changes
• the importance of preschool, and not penalizing other grades with reduced funding for offering preschool. 
• the need for more funding for IDEA and special education.

Regular meeting rescheduled to March 9
The Board approved rescheduling the March 8 regular meeting to Wednesday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. to coincide with a study session already scheduled for March 9 to discuss M&O override reauthorization and a possible bond election.

Summer work schedule
The Board approved a four-day work week, 10 hours per day, for the summer, for central administration, schools not affected  by summer school and recreation programs, and maintenance and transportation departments. The summer schedule begins June 6; the five-day week resumes July 18. The Business Office will be distributing a memo regarding this with additional details and information.

NEXT-TAP Teacher Advancement Program
Dr. Ed Dawson, director of federal programs, presented information on the NEXT grant and the TAP System for Teacher and Student Advancement administered by Arizona State University. Joining him were Principal Emma Carrillo and teachers from Esperanza Elementary School. The Sunnyside District is one of 15 partner districts to participate in a five-year, $33.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. In the Sunnyside District, the Tap system is being implemented at Esperanza. Its purpose is to recruit, motivate, develop and retain high quality teachers to increase student achievement. Its major areas of focus are professional development, teacher preparation, evaluation and data services, and technology integration. This year at Esperanza, there are two master teachers and eight mentor teachers who are in the classroom. The four elements of TAP are multiple career paths within the teaching profession, ongoing applied professional growth, instructionally focused accountability, and performance-based compensation. Funding for pay-for-performance comes from the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) Grant Program of the U.S. Department of Education. Funding is secure for Esperanza’s participation in the TIF and NEXT grants for five years; the district funds approximately10 percent this year with an increasing commitment over the five years of the grant. In Year 5, SUSD will assume 100 percent of the incentive pay and stipends. The district is considering adding two schools for participation in TAP. The first step will be surveys at Chaparral Middle School and Summit View Elementary School.