January 25, 2011

Recognitions
The Board recognized Desert View math teacher and department chair Alison Cornell for being named one of nine finalists for the UA/Circle K Outstanding High School Faculty Awards. She will be honored during pre-game ceremonies at the Jan. 29 University of Arizona men’s basketball game.

Superintendent’s Report  (see Powerpoint)

• Daniel Hernandez, the Sunnyside High grad who cared for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords when she was shot January 8, was invited to sit in Michelle Obama’s box at the President’s State of the Union Address. Daniel is a Sunnyside High grad, Class of 2008.
• Apollo, Lauffer, Challenger and Chaparral are among the nine Tucson-area schools that have reached the first milestone on the road to becoming a "Beat the Odds School" — one in which student academic achievement exceeds expectations – by attaining a bronze award from the Beat the Odds Institute.
• Students in Roberta Lewis’ art class at STAR Academic Center studied Tibetan prayer flags and then created their own symbols of their personal dreams and hopes. Each student’s five flags became part of the whole exhibit, representing the importance of community as the fertile ground that nurtures individual aspirations. The flags are on display in the SUSD Administration Building.
• Sunnyside District Human Resources Risk Management Specialist Allie Faye Matthews was elected president of the 3,900-member National Association of Educational Office Professionals (NAEOP). She is the second SUSD employee (Fran Johnson was the first) to serve as president since NAEOP was founded in 1934. Faye will be installed as president in Charleston, South Caroline in July.
• Elvira fourth-grader Michael Alegria is the winner of the 2011 SUSD Spelling Bee, held Jan. 25 at Desert View High School. Also representing the district at the County Spelling Bee will be Sierra eighth-grader Emerick Morales, Los Amigos fifth-grader X Avion Jordan, Gallego fourth-grader Julio Rojo and Los Niños fifth-grader Jessica Wolff. Alternates are Gallego fifth-grader Angelyssa Figueroa and Lauffer sixth-grader Carolina Chronister. Challenger librarian Fran Stoler coordinates the annual event.
• Scholarship America, the parent organization for the national Dollars for Scholars, will hold its national conference in Tucson this Thursday, Jan. 27. Dr. Isquierdo and the Alumni Association will present to a group of 50 leaders.
• Eighth-grade students who are currently “on track” to earn a netbook computer this spring will attend 8th-Grade Digital Scholar rallies Thursday, Jan. 27, encouraging them to keep up their studies and work toward success.
• A 2011 Legislative Forecast, hosted by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Legislative Latino Caucus, will be held Friday, Jan. 28, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Challenger Middle School.
• Fifth-grade students and their families will gather to celebrate Phase II of the fifth-grade netbook distribution at the Digital Explorers Celebration on Monday, Jan. 31, 6 p.m. at Desert View High School. Netbooks will be distributed in February 2011 to students of Craycroft, Elvira, Esperanza, Los Niños, Los Ranchitos, Rivera and Santa Clara elementary schools.

Highlights of Consent Agenda

Gifts and donations highlights:

• $3848 to Challenger from Youth Service America STEM grant
• $500 to Challenger, $700 to Lauffer from McDonald’s Southern Arizona MAC grant program
• $25,000 to Parents as Teachers from Community Foundations for Southern Arizona
• $435 to Santa Clara from ASARCO Education Foundation
• $2,000 to district from Action for Healthy Kids, Inc. School Breakfast to Wellness
• $76,900 to district Digital Advantage from Tohono O’odham Nation
• Ongoing large donations from Rodel Charitable Foundation, Pepsi Bottling Group, and KB Homes.

The Board approved the 2010-11 Classroom Site Fund/301 Performance Pay proposal. The state requires an affirmative vote from at least 70% of eligible 301 teachers/participants. A total of 74.9% of SUSD eligible participants voted to accept the 2010-11 CSF/301 plan, which delineates the same criteria as last year (participation in collaboration).

Highlights of General Functions Agenda

Study session on ELL model Feb. 22
The Board scheduled a study session for Feb. 22 to discuss the Arizona Department of Education’s monitoring findings and the district’s model for English Language Learner (ELL) students.

Study session Feb. 8
Chief Financial Officer Hector Encinas reported that, in order to balance the state budget, capital funds for schools have been reduced or eliminated, Soft Capital Outlay funds have been reduced by more than 80% the annual allocation, and Building Renewal funds have been eliminated. School Facilities Board funding has been reduced to $100 million statewide for new school facilities. There is a possibility of Unrestricted Capital Outlay funds to schools being cut in half for Fiscal Year 2011-12. In order to discuss other funding options available, the Board scheduled a special study session for Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. A bond consultant will join district staff to present information to the Board on the potential of a bond or capital outlay override and tax implications. The study session is for information only.

Budget update
Hector Encinas reported that the Maintenance & Operations (M&O) budget is sound and no cuts are required at this time. Governor Jan Brewer released proposals for budget cuts to balance the state budget which may have an impact on this year’s budget and will surely have an impact on next year’s budget. A state proposal would reduce state formula funding by $101 million with the concept that districts can make up for the reduction by using federal EdJobs money. For SUSD, this represents $1.6 million.

Looking ahead, the state is planning for a five-year phase-out of Career Ladder. Sunnyside has been preparing for this. The phase-out will result in reduced pay to teachers unless alternative sources of funding are identified and secured. The state is also proposing reducing Unrestricted Capital Outlay from $4 million to $3 million. Already approved is a reduction to Soft Capital from $3.7 million to $559,000.

Project Graduation report
Assistant Superintendent Steve Holmes presented data (see Powerpoint) showing that 856 students (including 50 from S.T.A.R.) are on track to receive diplomas in 2011. There are 137 students this year who have enough credits to graduate but are not on track to graduate because of AIMS and changes in augmentation. Augmentation uses a percentage of a student’s weighted grades to augment AIMS scores. These students have one more opportunity to pass AIMS; for most, the test needed is math. There will be individual meeting with students and their parents. About half of these students are English Language Learners (ELLs) or recently reclassified ELLs.

Three years ago, 505 freshmen (44% of all freshmen) achieved the Four As. Last year, 486 (42%) did. This year, 424 freshmen (36%) achieved the Four As. The trend for Tier 5 freshmen with two or more Fs goes from 23% to 19% last year to 26% this year.

This year, the district front-loaded 500 computers to freshmen before they started ninth grade, which removes the incentive for the first semester. Data show that freshmen are struggling with Algebra, which

relates to the inability to pass AIMS. In Science, there is a 40% failure rate at Sunnyside High and a 30% failure rate at Desert View.

Of the 500 freshmen who for the first time ever started high school with netbooks, 250 achieved the Four As. About half of the 250 freshmen who were awarded netbooks as eighth-graders maintained the grade point average requirement but didn’t achieve 95% attendance. Of the 250 freshmen who were assigned loaner netbooks for being in Honors classes, about half achieved the Four As. It is good news that 200 freshmen who hadn’t earned netbooks in eighth grade did earn them as ninth-graders.

For the first time ever, 500 freshmen started in Honors programs. SUSD had digital courses for these Honors students. The 500 students were in three Honors classes. This year, there are more 8th-Grade Digital Scholars on track to earn netbooks. The district will improve the Honors curriculum and the support that students need. The district exposed 500 students to college readiness in their freshman year. The district has also implemented good safety nets for students at risk of dropping out. The number of dropouts is very low.

Organizational chart
Anna Maiden, executive director for human resources, presented a draft of the district’s organizational chart. The positioning of Information Technologies near Curriculum and Instruction represents the close collaboration between these two areas. The compliance component of English Language Development will be in Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jeannie Favela’s area, and the curriculum component of ELD will be under Assistant Superintendent Steve Holmes. There is no secondary curriculum director; instead there is the position of college readiness director. The testing coordinator is a new position, but is not an additional position – it represents a reclassification of Hans Schott, who was in Research and Evaluation.

Executive session
Following executive session, the Governing Board approved the job description for the position for assistant director of public relations and the appointment of Misti Nowak to the position.

The Board approved the appointment of Richard Sanchez as District Athletic Director, and the appointment of Art Menchaca as principal of S.T.A.R. Academic Center.