District One board meeting at a glance

The Yuma School District One governing board convened Monday for its regular monthly meeting, conducted virtually to practice social distancing. The meeting is viewable at facebook.com/YumaDistrict1.

ADHS UPDATE

According to Superintendent James Sheldahl, the board previously elected to delay the return to in-person instruction via a hybrid learning model until one week after the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) benchmarks had been met for two consecutive weeks.

At this time, the board will continue to monitor the ADHS data dashboard, accessible at azdhs.gov/ covid19, as well as the Sept. 17 and Sept. 24 releases of its weekly county-level school benchmark reports, to determine a potential reopening date.

According to county-level data released by ADHS last Thursday, while Yuma County has not experienced a two-week decline in positive cases, it has maintained less than 100 cases per 100,000 residents for two consecutive weeks. As of Aug. 23, this rate was 52 cases per 100,000.

The data also reported that as of Aug. 23, Yuma County had met the benchmarks for percent positivity and COVID-related hospital visits for two consecutive weeks.

“(If) the dashboard numbers are favorable over the next two uploads, then that would trigger a return to the hybrid model,” Sheldahl said. “The county health district has given our Return to Learning mitigation plan a very positive review...so we’re very confident that we will be prepared when we’re able to welcome students and staff back on the hybrid plan.”

According to Sheldahl, District One intends to move forward in a way that ensures safety for all stakeholders.

“District One is being more cautious than some districts and more aggressive than others,” he said. “In addition to monitoring that data, we will follow districts that have opened before us, and I hope that they’re successful. That will allow us to move forward more confidently. I think especially a number of our faculty and staff are looking for that reassurance.”

ENROLLMENT TRENDS

According to Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Valenzuela, the district’s 20-day enrollment count indicated that enrollment is down 4.5%, the equivalent of 400 students, in comparison to last year’s count.

The district’s internal budget will be revised to reflect enrollment reductions after its 40-day count on Sept. 28, Valenzuela said.

According to Sheldahl, office staff and homeschool parent liaisons have been engaging with those families who have not returned this year. Other elementary schools in the region and state appear to be trending similarly in terms of enrollment, he noted.

GRANT OVERVIEW

Three funding sources are available to the district for COVID-related expenditures, according to Valenzuela: a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Enrollment Stabilization Grant program – which is part of the state’s COVID-19 relief package and managed by the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting – and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), which is awarded based on the district’s total share of Title I funding.

“During this time of uncertainty, I want the board to know that our district has these funding relief sources available, Valenzuela said. “Our district has also been fiscally responsible for the last several years. We carry a contingency for unexpected expenditures ... and we make sure we allocate those funds for unexpected expenditures.”

According to Valenzuela, the district’s first FEMA reimbursement request was approved, granting the district $45,004.38 for personal protective equipment (PPE). The district will continue to submit reimbursement requests on a monthly basis for any PPE items purchased, she said.

The district’s application for the Enrollment Stabilization Grant has been submitted and is pending approval, with the award date set for no later than Nov. 11. The grant covers COVID-related expenditures incurred by the district between March 1 and December 4, 2020, including but not limited to technology and instructional software, communication, training, custodial and sanitization.

According to Valenzuela, the funding is based on the weighted 40-day average daily membership ( ADM) report for Fiscal Year 2021 or 98% of the weighted 100day ADM for Fiscal Year 2020.

The district has been awarded $1.9 million in ESSER funding for COVID-related expenditures incurred between March 13, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021.

HIGH FIVE RELAUNCH

This month the district kicked off the seventh year of its High FIVE (Fantastic, Incredible, Valuable Employees) program – the first since the board’s March meeting.

To date, according to Executive Director of Human Resources Luciano Munoz, the program has highlighted 230 employees across the district. These individuals are nominated by their peers for their demonstration of professionalism, a positive attitude, district pride and going above and beyond as an employee who “sees it, owns it, solves it, does it.”

According to Munoz, nearly 90 nominations were received for this round.

“It was a task for the new committee to narrow that down from 90 to five employees and let me tell you, we have a phenomenal group of employees to kick off this program (this year),” said Munoz.

This month’s “high fives” were given – virtually – to G.W. Carver Elementary School principal Matt Buckley; Palmcroft Elementary School first grade teacher Brandie Luna; technology department technician Samuel Rodriguez; preschool director Erica Jimenez; and communications and community relations coordinator Christine McCoy.

The governing board’s next meeting is slated for Oct. 13 at 5:30 p.m.