March 9, 2011

Study Session
Chief Financial Officer Hector Encinas presented information to the Governing Board about override and bond elections. In 2007, voters reauthorized a Maintenance and Operations override; voters have reauthorized an M&O override every five years since it was first approved in 1987. Reauthorization is asked for prior to the sixth year of the seven-year override. Since the last M&O override election, the law has changed the time for elections –they can only be held in November. The district is asking the Board to call for an override election in November 2011.

Another possibility is to call for a bond election. Because of continued state cuts to capital and soft capital funding, districts are being told to find other resources. With that directive from the state, the district can either do without capital funding or go to voters. The district has undertaken a progressi ve technology initiative and is looking at the possibility of the Board calling for a bond election to generate funds for technology, bus needs and facility improvements. District administration has prepared a preliminary identification of needs, and would like to convene an advisory group to make recommendations.

Javier Baca, executive director of information technologies, presented priorities in terms of planning for technology-eligible funds from a bond. About $28 million could be available for technology over a 10-year time period. Mr. Baca emphasized that the district is in a difficult position regarding computers in classrooms; a bond would address that concern as well as sustainability of the district’s one-to-one computing initiative in significant way. The bond would give the district the ability to expand 1-1 computing to include K-4, to fund access to computing devices for classified staff, and to fund a refresh cycle for the current one-to-one initiative. 

SUSD receives an 89% discount districtwide for E-rate funds. The Year 3 refresh would be eligible for E-rate funding; the district’s cost would be 11% of the total cost. E-rate funds that were recently released will be implemented this summer, but will only be a band-aid to meet current one-to-one commitments and will not meet 10-year needs. If a bond is approved in November 2011, the first bond money would be received in March 2012 to provide $5.8 million for technology. 

Superintendent Dr. Isquierdo said that the district needs to look at safety/security in addition to busses and facilities.

Anna Maiden, executive director of human resources & operations, said that expenditures for busses would include a student rider card system, GPS and on-board computers to be able to know where busses are at any time. Students would be able to do homework on the bus if busses were equipped with wireless Internet connectivity. Bond money could only be used for vehicles that transport students. Currently, SUSD has a total of approximately 78 busses.

Ms. Maiden said that facility repairs are needed. The district is looking at replacing the Multi-Educational Learning Center with modular buildings, and is looking at possible replacement of two schools – Los Ranchitos and Elvira – at an estimated replacement cost of $8-10 million each. Other needs are improvements to grounds, athletic facilities, and the track at Sunnyside High School.

The needs list is very preliminary. The district needs to talk to community stakeholders. For example, the tracks at Desert View and Sunnyside high schools would be expensive to resurface, but they could be accessible to the community. The district will bring a proposal to the Board to approve forming an advisory committee, with Board members recommending committee members.

The administration’s intent in the study session is to show the need for funding. The technology refresh is strategically designed; the rest  is open-ended. 

Regular meeting

Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Dr. Manuel Isquierdo presented his report to the Governing Board:

• Dr. Isquierdo is the 2011 recipient of the ASPRA*tions Award for Superintendent for Contributions to Public Relations. This award from the Arizona School Public Relations Association (ASPRA) will be presented April 21 at the Chandler Center for the Arts.
• Dr. Isquierdo thanked the Public Relations and Multimedia Services departments for their consistently outstanding work.
• The Sunnyside School District Alumni Association has been named the recipient of an ASPRA*tions Award of Excellence in the category of Community Organization for Contributions to Public Education.  In five years, the Alumni Association has awarded $310,000 to 279 graduates of Desert View, Sunnyside High and S.T.A.R. Academic Center.
• The Arizona Daily Star has named Sunnyside High wrestling coach Bobby DeBerry Coach of the Year, and Kory DeBerry Wrestler of the Year.
• Desert View student Monique Arizmendez is the 2011 recipient of the Metropolitan Education Commission’s (MEC) Crystal Apple Youth Award. Monique and fellow Desert View student Goran Dubravic were among the 10 Tucson-area students selected as recipients of the 2011 Dorothy Finley Outstanding Teen Citizen Awards. Students will be honored at the MEC Annual Awards Luncheon on Friday, May 6, 2011.
• A special district technology meeting was held March 2 with one-to-one teaching staff, administrators and technology trainers to share information on the district’s strategic technology design, roles of staff supporting technology in the classroom, and a roadmap for professional development.
• Thank you to all the schools and departments who participated in this year’s District Parent Council Tournament, and to Desert View Coach Danny Arias and the girls’ volleyball team for refereeing the tournament. Congratulations to this year’s winners!
  • Overhand Division Winner—Drexel
  • Underhand Division Winner—Summit View 1
• The Art of New Zealand, an exhibit of work by Drexel Elementary art students, is currently on display in the Rising Star Gallery in the District Administration Building. Drexel’s art teacher is Nancy Murray.
• The Sunnyside High Folklorico fund-raiser, Serenata Mexicana, will be presented by Los Diablitos Azules on Thursday, March 10.
• Digital Advantage Celebration events will be held March 23 at Sunnyside High and March 24 at Desert View. A total of more than 500 high school students will be recognized for achieving the Four A’s this year. The events begin with school showcases at 5 p.m.; the celebration events begin at 6 p.m.

Highlights of General Consent Agenda

Chaparral Middle School to become ASU/TAP school in 2011-12
Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Steve Holmes reported that participation in the Arizona State University TAP program requires 80% support from the school’s staff to move forward with becoming a TAP school. At Chaparral Middle School, 92% of the staff voted to support becoming a TAP school.  The Board voted to approve Chaparral becoming a TAP school in the fall of 2011.

A special board meeting is scheduled for April 14 at 7:30 a.m.

District bond advisory committee
Chief Financial Officer Hector Encinas presented a request to establish a District Bond Advisory Committee to receive information and input to evaluate the district’s technology plan and needs for school facility improvements, busses, school athletic facilities, safety and security, and energy conservation. The committee will present recommendations to the Governing Board no later than May 2011. The Board approved the establishment of a Bond Advisory Committee.

“Choose Sunnyside” update
Dr. Jeannie Favela, assistant superintendent for student services, reported that a total of 642 out-of-district open enrollments were approved this school year. Currently, 579 are active and 63 have withdrawn. Dr. Favela said there is a glaring need for definitive protocols for the open enrollment process. The district will do more analysis of the high mobility the data show. There have been 337 students leaving each of the two high schools; 50 of those from each school moved to STAR.  At Desert View, 25 students left for Mexico. At Sunnyside High, 16 left for Mexico. 

Dr. Favela reported that revisions have been made to the open enrollment policies. April 1 is the deadline to submit applications for in-district open enrollment. There is no deadline for out-of-district open enrollment. The only students who could be denied would be students serving long-term suspension in other districts.  Once a student is accepted, the open enrollment status is for one year, a new application needs to be submitted each year. Sunnyside High is the only school with a cap on enrollment.

Dr. Isquierdo said that a proposed Arizona statute could require schools to check residency. There is no residency requirement for open enrollment; the only issue is guardianship. The Arizona School Boards Association policy committee is coming out with a more aggressive policy on residency that is aligned with state statute.

If a school is capped and a student must attend another school, the district will provide transportation. Policy says a school district may provide transportation to a student under open enrollment.

Javier Baca reported on a scientifically conducted analysis of next year’s enrollment. Trend data show that the district is losing students from fifth to sixth grade.  There is a large number of students who live in the area but don’t attend the area middle school, although Lauffer Middle School is gaining enrollment.  Dr. Isquierdo said that SUSD may need to consider looking at boundary changes or changing to open enrollment within the district for middle schools. At the high school level, there is a net increase in enrollment compared to the enrollment at the feeder schools.  This could be affected by students who are second-year freshmen.

Monique Soria, director of public relations, reported on the district’s open enrollment marketing campaign to:

• reach out to the wider community to raise awareness of SUSD’s tradition of comprehensive services and its transformation through technology,
• recruit students from within and outside the district, specifically targeting students entering kindergarten, sixth grade and ninth grade, and
• retain students already in the district, specifically targeting students in kindergarten and grades 5 and 8.

The open enrollment campaign implemented in the fall of 2010 utilized the SUSD website; direct mailing; and advertisement on busses, bus benches, bus stop displays, print publications and radio broadcasts. The campaign now underway continues the bus and outdoor displays, radio ads and website messages. New for this spring’s Choose Sunnyside campaign are 15-second video spots at movie theaters at Park Place, El Con and Century 12 at Kolb and Speedway; door clings at Park Place; display posters at Tucson Mall; and street banners to be installed on 12th Avenue, Campbell and Tucson Blvd. Letters will be mailed to the district’s fifth-graders to promote SUSD middle schools and the one-to-one laptops for next year’s sixth-graders.

Sunnyside School District spending – classroom dollars
Chief Financial Officer Hector Encinas presented information related to the Arizona Auditor General’s Office report, “Arizona School Disrict Spending – Classroom Dollars.” The reported percentage of dollars spent in the classroom was 55.9% – a 4% decrease. Arizona also spends less than the national average for administration, but more for plant operations and student support services. The report reflects M&O funding, not Title 1 dollars, and classroom spending does not include counselors, librarians or psychologists. SUSD has considerable out –of-classroom expenses in order to provide services to students. Administration will bring an analysis to the Governing Board.