District One Governing Board Meeting at a Glance

The Yuma School District One governing board convened for its January meeting last Monday evening and streamed live via YouTube. The meeting is viewable at https://bit.ly/3raAqed on the district’s YouTube channel. Here’s a look at what happened:

RECOGNITION

The district’s High Five program acknowledges employees that demonstrate the district’s values of professionalism, positive attitudes, “sees it, owns it, solves it, does it,” demonstrating district pride and going above and beyond. For the month of March, District One acknowledged lead teacher Aide Estrada from Price Elementary, teacher Valeria Andrade from Gila Vista Junior High School, custodian Veronica Lopez from Woodard Junior High School, bus driver Maria Mendez from the transportation department and para-librarian Gary Wahl from Castle Dome Middle School.

DONATIONS

“This is the longest list I’ve ever seen,” said Superintendent James Sheldahl.

Of the most sizable donations, a Scholastic box for the library at George Washington Carver Elementary School was valued at $1,157.44, but there was another donation source that essentially knocked the ball out of the park for District One.

“Now you may have seen that the Department of Education in Arizona was using some of its ESSER revenue to support classroom DonorsChoose projects,” Sheldahl said, “and in our district this month, we had 84 DonorsChoose projects funded for a total of $60,599.47.”

At that news, the board expressed gratitude for the community’s continued support and even gave applause.

ENROLLMENT REPORTS AND FINANCIAL TRENDS

Chief Financial Officer Denis Ponder reported that enrollment increased from the 120th day to the 140th day. He explained that the 120th day is generally the peak and it’s not uncommon for the numbers to go down from this point as the district normally starts to see a slowdown in growth. Sometimes, there are slight increases like this year, but he concluded that it’s a very minimal fluctuation.

Reporting on financial trends, he stated that the maintenance and operations budgets is in a strong position, the district is trending the way it wants and the ending balance is being maintained at a healthy number. Ponder also reminded the board that they’re approaching the end of the purchasing order cycle for the year.

LUNCH HERO DAY

Child Nutrition Director Lisa Thrower stated that child nutrition professionals have a lot on their plate as they prepare healthy food and adhere to strict nutrition standards. In recognition of that, District One is celebrating School Lunch Hero Day on Friday, May 6.

“School lunch hero day provides an opportunity for parents, students, school nutrition staff and communities to thank those who provide healthy meals to nearly 30 million of American students each school day,” Thrower said. “All across the school district, school nutrition professionals will be honored and recognized from students, school staff, parents and the community.”

SOURCES OF MAJOR FUNDS

Ponder presented on the sources of major funds, and summarized that the district’s major sources of income are its maintenance and operations budget and district additional assistance. Additionally, the district receives funding from grants through federal programs and state projects. Ponder made note of Prop 301, which assists with teachers’ salaries, and the School Facilities Oversight Board, which assists when things malfunction.

CALL TO THE PUBLIC

Donna George, Samantha Trujillo and Maribel Ruble all provided comments expressing concerns on the sex education curricula offered at District One due to things they had been hearing about it. George acknowledged that a letter had been sent out to parents in the district, but expressed that individually trying to find out what’s in the curriculum is difficult. She requested that the board reconsider the curricula and put it all back up to a vote. She also expressed a wish to know who was in the committee that spent a month going over the material and discussing it.

Open meetings laws prevent the governing board from providing a response; however, President Barbara Foote did assure the concerned community members that “the district followed policy and state guidelines in this program, and it was a thorough and representative view.” She also assured that someone from the district’s curriculum department will be reaching out to answer their concerns. Alternatively, they can email Foote or Superintendent Sheldahl.

CONSENT AGENDA AND ACTION ITEMS

The governing board unanimously approved the consent agenda, which consists of items of a routine nature that generally do not require deliberation.

The governing board unanimously voted to proclaim April the Month of the Military Child and April 22, 2022 Purple Up for Military Kids Day.

In the proclamation, Sheldahl mentioned 3,632 active duty service members live and work in Yuma County and 481 military-connected children are enrolled in District One. These children face unique challenges regarding military transitions, frequent moves and parental deployment.

“... military children should be acknowledged for the sacrifices they make and celebrated for the courage they display as the children of our armed services’ members,” Sheldahl said.

The board’s next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 10.