YUHSD board to consider contract with Thompson
The Yuma Union High School District board is expected to decide whether to extend a contract to interim superintendent Gina Thompson at its Wednesday meeting.
The board’s monthly business session is slated to start at 5:15 that evening in the library of Yuma High School, 400 S. 6th Ave. An executive session, which is when the board meets in private, is scheduled so that board members may discuss or consider extending Thompson an employment contract or to continue her interim contract. The board will vote on the matter in open session.
Board members will also discuss an Arizona law that allows cities and towns to detain minors who are seeking to enter Mexico unaccompanied, an issue brought up several months ago by board member David Lara. He contends that children and teens who attend Yuma County schools are being used as “mules” by drug lords to smuggle illegal substances into the U.S., citing data from the Mexican government. However, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency has said that drug smuggling by minors has been dropping in recent years, according to previous articles in the Yuma Sun. Lara has pushed for the topic to be discussed by the board since he was sworn into office last year.
Other action items the board may approve include accepting donations, a proclamation recognizing National FFA Week; and a list of career and technical education programs of study for 2018–2019.
The student councils of Kofa, San Luis and Yuma High will present updates from their campuses to the board. San Luis High Principal Tammara Ray is set to give a presentation as well. The district’s agriculture education and Future Farmers of America chapters will celebrate FFA Week with a resolution from the board.
Financial officers will provide updated information on the district’s budget; community engagement leader Eric Patten will give an update on the rollout of the district’s new website; a preview of the upcoming professional development day will be given; and a policy, Use of Technology Resources in Instruction, will have a first reading.
Members of the public wishing to address the board are limited to a maximum of three minutes for presentations and a maximum of 15 minutes on each subject. By law, comments by members of the board in response to any public comment will be limited to asking staff to review the matter or requesting rescheduling of the matter for further consideration at a later date.
The board’s next meeting is set for 5:15 p.m. March 14 in the Yuma High School Library.
Members of the public who need an accommodation in order to observe the meeting are asked to contact the superintendent’s office (928-502-4600) prior to the time scheduled for the meeting.