YUHSD Governing Board Meeting at a Glance

On March 13, the governing board representing the Yuma Union High School District (YUHSD) convened for its monthly meeting. Here’s a look at what happened.

Superintendent’s Report

YUHSD Superintendent Tim Brienza kicked off the meeting by introducing the district’s Teacher of the Year nominees, which included two finalists: Yuma High School English teacher Hilary Brown and San Luis High School math teacher Dr. Arturo Wong.

Following this recognition, Brienza welcomed representatives from Cibola, Gila Ridge, and Vista High School to deliver student council presentations.

Some highlights from the presentation include Cibola Student Council receiving the Silver Level Charitable Contributions Award, Gila Ridge Student Council attending the AASC State Convention, and updates about Vista’s Strategies for Success program.

Budget update

Director of Finance Brenda Higuera then took the floor and provided a budget update.

Higuera opened by noting that the district is about 66% of the way through school year, and she then shared that – as of March 1 – YUHSD has spent $50,170,147 of its $97,948,243 maintenance & operations budget.

As far as the school capital budgets, District One has used up $3,624,306 of its $20,404,107 budget, or about 18%.

Parent Academy update

YUHSD Associate Superintendent Derek Bosch addressed the board and introduced some “key players that put together Parent Academy,” which is focused on the mission of “equip(ping) families with vital information to help them navigate the high school experience.”

Bosch then handed the spotlight to Strategic Projects Director Mike Sharp, accompanied by counselors Maria Dillard and Brenda Smith. Dillard noted that, after participating in ASU’S American Dream Academy and Wegrad programs since 2018, YUHSD sought to establish its own Parent Academy last spring.

Through collaborations with various YUHSD professionals, the district’s 5-session Parent Academy was launched, helping parents gain better understandings of how to support their children though high school and beyond.

YCADC internship

At that point, YUHSD Director of Health & Safety Henry Gonzalez introduced the Yuma County Anti-drug Coalition (YCADC) to discuss the organization’s mission.

Additionally, students participating in the YCADC’S collaborative internship program with YUHSD approached the board to detail some of their community efforts, along with the impact.

Call to the public

During the call to the public, YUHSD assistant football coach Zachary Marks took the floor and advocated for the district to allow morning practices.

Marks explained that morning practices starting at 5 a.m. would actually help student-athletes have shorter days when compared to having evening practices after school, and he also addressed other concerns like transportation and attendance.

“During the 2022 season, we had better attendance for morning practice than evening practice. Our absences and tardies for first period were actually lower at that time,” he said.

Afterward, Stephen Mcclanahan, a volunteer pole vaulting coach at Cibola High School for 14 years, addressed the board and brought up the issue of the school’s pole vault pit.

After mentioning that the previous pit was exposed to the elements and destroyed, the school’s booster club wound up purchasing a used pit from Grand Canyon University for $2,000, though the team needs board approval before being able to utilize it for the current track season.

After Mcclanahan’s commentary, Brienza declared, “We can look into it.”