YUHSD Board Meeting at a Glance
The Yuma Union High School District governing board convened Wednesday for its regular monthly meeting, streamed virtually to promote social distancing. The meeting can be viewed on the district’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/YUHSD.
CRIMINALS’ CELL BLOCK PROCEEDS HELP FIGHT CANCER
Through a career and technical education (CTE) business management class led by business teacher Patricia Quezada, Yuma High School Criminals stocked their student store – known as the Cell Block – with pink apparel for the month of October in the spirit of breast cancer awareness, donating the proceeds to the Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) Cancer Center.
The initiative brought in $792, which was presented to Foundation of YRMC Director Jackie Woodwell during Wednesday’s meeting.
SOMERTON HIGH SCHOOL CONTRACT SIGNED
A contract for the pre-construction phase of the district’s proposed Somerton High School has been signed with McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.
“Even though...we’re learning to exist in the pandemic, we continue to look forward into our future,” said Superintendent Gina Thompson, adding that the district continues to advocate for state funding from the Arizona School Facilities Board to supplement the $20 million bond Yuma County voters approved for the estimated $47 million project in 2015.
“Our mission right now is to maximize every dollar of every bond...to get Somerton High
School (to be) the absolute best, most useful, resourceful school for the students of Somerton,” said McCarthy project manager John Kovesdy.
According to Kovesdy, upon entering the contract with YUHSD, McCarthy immediately began meeting with project managers from Arcadis and DLR Group, who have been instrumental in the conceptual design of the South County campus. An animated master plan of the campus’ “ultimate design” was presented during Wednesday’s meeting, which can be viewed at the 58:44 mark of the “YUHSD Monthly Governing Board Meeting (Feb 10)” video on the district’s YouTube channel, www. youtube.com/YUHSD.
PARENT EDUCATOR ACADEMY
A revised compensation packet for the current academic year affords a stipend to San Luis High School teachers participating in the Parent Educator Academy, a four-week online training course housed by All In Education.
According to Principal Lucky Arvizo, teachers participating in the pilot program will be paired with parents, enabling the parents to become liaisons with other family members and parents who may be navigating a virtual classroom environment.
“During these times, parents have really wanted to know how they can help their students at home, whether it be online learning, whether it be reaching (out to) their counselors, moving forward with college and career readiness,” Arvizo said. “The teacher and the parent would be working together with the actual students in the class...so they can see what teachers’ expectations are and pass those along to other family members in the community.”
According to Arvizo, between 15 and 18 families have expressed interest in participating in the program so far.
San Luis’ participation in the program pairs with a resolution YUHSD signed with All In Education over the summer to ensure equitable opportunities abound for all district students. According to Thompson, San Luis was chosen as the pilot site because of “their demographics and the population they serve,” as the resolution primarily focuses on equity for Latino/Latina students and “bringing that demographic into leadership.”
FINANCIAL TRENDS
To date, the district has expended 38% of its maintenance and operations budget and 1% of its capital budget – the latter of which the district is largely reserving for Somerton High School construction costs, according to Chief Financial Officer Dianne Cordery.