Good numbers: YUHSD board listens to a series of reports

The numbers have it. At Wednesday evening’s Yuma Union High School District governing board meeting, members heard various informational reports with some pretty pleasing numbers.

Student Nutrition Director Jamie Walden reported on the number of meals and snacks served in the 20162017 school year, which altogether, amounted to more than 2.2 million.

That’s 784,823 breakfasts, 1,379,112 lunches, 16,740 after-school snacks, 9,010 adult meals, 32,961 meals served at AZ-Tec High School and the Equal Opportunity Center (a charter school run by the former Yuma Private Industry Council), and 59,329 summer meals. The district also sold $336,855 in a la carte items.

This is the first year that all students in the district can receive free breakfast and free lunch at any campus, Walden said, with Gila Ridge being in Provision 2 status.

This year, through Oct. 31, the district has served 236,538 breakfasts, 447,077 lunches, 3,363 after-school snacks, 2,459 adult meals, and 11,019 meals for AZ-Tec and EOC.

“We work really hard to make sure that the food follows the federal and state guidelines, and then also that it looks appealing, it smells good, it’s nutritious, it tastes good,” Walden said.

“The kids are really liking the food more and more. Because we’ve been been able to get more kids to eat, we get more reimbursement, and so we are able to buy better quality food and products. It’s really been working out very well.”

Arizona School Boards Association representative Dr. Nic Clement reported that the district’s superintendent search survey had received 344 responses, with a high response rate from employees of the district. About 17 percent of respondents had a child in the district in the past, and about 13 percent of respondents were parents of students in the district.

Clement noted that the percentages do not add up to 100 percent because respondents may fall into more than one category of response (employee, former employee, alumni, community members, board members, etc.).

Yuma Education Transportation Consortium Director Ron Schepers reported that, collectively, the entity’s buses traveled 2,195,788 miles. The consortium is made up of four groups — Arizona Western College, Yuma Elementary District One, Yuma Union High School District — and provides services such as passenger transportation, vehicle and equipment repair/servicing, extracurricular and athlete travel; and staff training.

“If it moves and has an engine, we’re probably touching at it at some point,” he said.

The YETC transports an average of 5,500 students daily on 106 bus routes, making 470 individual runs from schools in mornings and afternoons, Schepers said.

The consortium uses a GPS tracking system called ZONAR, which allows it to know speed, distance traveled, direction and more, Schepers said.

The shop also handled more than 6,200 maintenance and repair orders.

Cibola Principal Tim Brienza reported to the board on YUHSD’s principal network, which is a jobembedded professional learning and growth support structure for campus administrators. Brienza has been working with Dr. Abram Jimenez on the project.

The board also approved several intergovernmental agreements for school resource officers, public relations, the Yuma Educational Technology Consortium and the Yuma Materials Management Consortium.

The board also approved a wage increase for a registered nurse supervisor for students completing the certified nursing assistant internship. State law requires students be supervised at a ratio of 1 to 10 (one supervisor for every 10 students), said Assistant Superintendent Lisa Anderson, and the supervisor must be a registered medical professional.

The board approved the increase of an advertised wage of $33/hour.