December 3, 2024

Called To Order: 5:04 PM Adjourned: 6:12 PM

Attendance by Members of the Board: P= Present, A=Absent, R=Remote Attendance

P Peggy Barnett, Treasurer

P Martin Carrillo, President

P Denice Chapman, Member

R Thomas Drexel, Vice President

R Terry Garza, Secretary

P Jessica Montierth, Member

Public Comment: No public comment

Motions:

To table the November 12, 2024 Minutes due to internet and connectivity issues by the Board Secretary.

Moved by: Terry Garza Seconded by: Peggy Barnett Outcome: Passed Unanimously

Aye Votes: Peggy Barnett, Martin Carrillo, Denice Chapman, Thomas Drexel, Terry Garza, Jessica Montierth

Nay Votes: None Abstention: Votes: None Absences: None

To table the October 2024 Expenses due to internet and connectivity issues by the Board Secretary.

Moved by: Terry Garza Seconded by: Tom Drexel Outcome: Passed Unanimously

Aye Votes: Peggy Barnett, Martin Carrillo, Denice Chapman, Thomas Drexel, Terry Garza, Jessica Montierth

Nay Votes: None Abstention Votes: None Absences: None

To Table the proposed Server Replacement Plan due to inadequate information on the viability of Cloud-based vs. physical servers and the associated longevity and cost factors of each.

Moved by: Denice Chapman Seconded by: Peggy Barnett Outcome: Passed Unanimously

Aye Votes: Peggy Barnett, Martin Carrillo, Denice Chapman, Thomas Drexel, Terry Garza, Jessica Montierth

Nay Votes: None Abstention Votes: None Absences: None

Discussion Items:

FY 24/25 Camera Proposal

The Board requested that Presidio’s IT Support and Services Manager modify the proposal to include only cameras needed for student safety and to remove other camera requests. Additional cameras will be considered once current budgetary constraints are resolved. The revised plan will be considered as an action item at the January meeting.

Prepared by: Terry S. Garza , Terry S. Garza

Director of Education and Student Support Services Report:

Legal Issues Update

State Complaint #3524: Presidio’s next Corrective Action Plan requirement is due on/before December 30, 2024.  Presidio’s legal counsel has reviewed and provided revisions/feedback on Presidio’s Exceptional Student Services Policies and Procedures.  Presidio’s Director of Exceptional Student

Services will draft a cover letter to present Presidio’s implementation plan and present the revisions on/before the due date.

OCR Case 08-24-1741: Presidio is working with legal counsel to address questions posed by OCR’s attorney.  The OCR attorney has offered a resolution agreement, which will be considered once it has been sent over.  If Presidio does not agree with the stipulations, the OCR attorney will move forward with his investigation, including the opportunity to interview teachers related to the case, which will be conducted in December 2024.

Presidio staff, students and the director from the University of Arizona’s College of Educational Law, and the parent and student who contacted the UA’s law students met to review the student’s 504 Plan and discuss the parent’s concerns about the student’s discipline and attendance records.   

Employee Updates

Presidio’s former Middle School ELA/Social Studies teacher, Ms. Williams, resigned in early November due to health concerns. In her absence, Presidio’s Assistant Principal for grades 6-12 took over the classes in order to provide continuity of instruction until Presidio hired another teacher.  Presidio hired a Middle School ELA/Social Studies teacher, who started on Monday, December 2, 2024. 

Presidio welcomed two new members to the Presidio Family as Ms. Shafi and Ms. Carrillo-Suciu delivered their respective babies.  Ms. Shafi welcomed her baby boy in late October and Ms. Carrillo-Suciu welcomed her baby girl in late November.  Both teachers are on maternity leave through the Winter Break.

Presidio’s Registrar resigned from her position in mid-November.  Fortunately, Presidio was able to reassign an employee who was working remotely part time to assist with Aftercare billing to the full-time registrar position.  Ms. Farias was previously cross trained as a registrar, so she has been able to assume the responsibilities of her role fairly seamlessly. 

Compliance Monitoring

Random-selection ADM Audit

Presidio submitted the initial information requested by ADE and participated in the initiation meeting.  Presidio then received a list of requirements that are due mid December.  Presidio’s team has already begun working on the required files.

Annual Cycled Monitoring – Cycle 1 Monitoring

The Cycle 1 Monitoring is due in early March 2025.  Presidio’s Superintendent has begun working on the requirements and Presidio’s leadership team will jump in to assist as soon as the ADM Audit requirements have been completed.

Holiday Assistance for Families

Food Bank Donations

Presidio again partnered with the Food Bank this year after several years of trying to provide holiday meals for members of the Presidio Family. The Food Bank and the Presidio Family partnership came through in a BIG way.  Together, the Presidio Family donated 709 pounds of food for Tucson families in need!  In return, the Food Bank met the needs of Presidio families who indicated a need for assistance for their holiday meal. Eleven Presidio families requested assistance and the Food Bank provided Thanksgiving meals to all eleven families. 

Not only is the generosity strong, but so is the competition as the grade levels that earned the most points won an Eegees party; 1 point per can/loaf of bread, 5 points per pie, 20 points per turkey.  The point breakdown per grade level is as follows:

Kindergarten – 71 points (A special thank you to the Hubbard family for donating two complete meals!)

First Grade – 87 points

Second Grade – 33 points

Third Grade – 111 points

Fourth Grade – 81 points

Fifth Grade – 400 points

Sixth Grade – 60 points

Freshman Class– 9 points

Junior Class – 16 points

Eegees party winners were First Grade, Fifth Grade, Sixth Grade, and Juniors.  Because fifth grade went above and beyond, they also earned a free dress day on December 6, 2024, the Eegees party day.

Director of Finance & Human Resources Report:

Marketing

Presidio’s Social Media and Communications Coordinator is working with Bear Essential News to include a flyer to promote Presidio, specifically targeting grade levels that have lower enrollment.  In addition, Presidio is sending out mailers to designated zip codes notifying recipients about Presidio’s ADE Letter grade vs. other neighborhood middle schools that have lower ADE Letter Grade ratings than Presidio.  The purpose of targeting specific grade levels is to track effectiveness of the plan.  Presidio’s Director of Finance and Human Resources will then conduct a cost-benefit analysis.

Presidio is pleased to host the Great History Challenge for middle school students in March 2025.  Because Presidio is hosting, Presidio’s students are able to attend at no cost.  Presidio’s Leadership Team is reaching out to neighboring schools this month to invite teachers to be judges and to solicit participation in the event.  

Social Media Presence

Presidio’s social media presence has dramatically increased in frequency and information and Presidio is receiving positive feedback as a result.  Presidio has also noticed an increase in tax credit donations as a result of the increased tax credit donation posts and marque slides.

Presidio’s newly adopted and State Board for Charter Schools approved Mission Statement needs to be updated on the Presidio website, School Report Card, and Student Handbook.

Facilities Updates

There are currently 5 doors that need to be replaced due to severe damage. The cafeteria door facing the Character Mall is warped and the hinges are twisted, which does not allow it to close by itself and has to be forced shut to be secured. The Southwest door on building is about to fall off due cracked hinges. The Courtyard bathroom door facing the Dance room also has hinges separating from the door and it is splitting/separating at the seams, is warped and the door closer is also broken. The Room 408 door has holes on the interior of the door, is warped, and is splitting/separating at seams. Room 405 door is splitting at the base and door closer is broken and separated from the frame. 

Next Board Meeting: January 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM, Dreamcatcher Library