Strange as it may sound, dental hygiene took center stage at the beginning of the regular Douglas Unified School District Governing Board meeting on Wednesday, November 5.

The meeting was moved from its normal Tuesday time due to the General Elections.

During the “Call to the Public,” current and former dentists Dr. Kristine Gomez, Dr. Michael Gomez and Dr. Ed Gomez all spoke to the board concerning placement of a mobile dentistry unit on the school campus. General Dentistry is seeking to provide services on campus for its customers in Douglas.

Dr. Kristine Gomez was shocked that apparently the medical forms, which are to filled out by the parents (which would contain sensitive information) were being returned to the school unsealed and no one at the school really knew anything about the program.

“I do not believe it is in the best interest of a child to be seen by a dentist without a parent present,” she said. “I believe this is a huge liability issue.”

Dr. Michael Gomez, who practiced in the community for 42 years before retiring, is surprised that the school would send these young patients to an outside provider.

“What happens to the money spent at this mobile unit? It leaves town. How do they support the community?

“If you don’t support the dental industry here, why should they support the schools?

“What happens if there is a problem with the work done by the mobile unit? They won’t be here to correct the problem when the child is in pain,” Dr. Michael Gomez concluded.

Dr. Ed Gomez continued the thought by asking why the school district would give an edge to an outside private company given that the private company doesn’t pay taxes here to support the community.”

Later in the evening, Jared Haas discussed what General Dentistry was seeking.

He explained that bringing the mobile unit to Douglas was not designed to take patients away from other providers.

“It was simply to meet the needs of those we already serve from Douglas.

He said that his Sierra Vista business has 2.500 clients from the Douglas area.

“We know how hard it is to take a child out of school for the day and possibly miss work. With the mobile unit, we were simply trying to ease the burden on our Douglas patients.”

He said that all work would be non-invasive – cleanings, x-rays and checkups. Any additional work would be done in their Sierra Vista office.

“We are not looking to take any patients away from their current dentist. Our form says that if they should always see their dentist.”

He also explained that this is a service they provide in Sierra Vista at their schools.

The board had concerns first about making sure all involved had to go through the fingerprinting process, as do those that come in contact with the district’s students.

Second, there was the question of having an adult with the child during the exam. Haas said it was his understanding a nurse could do that, but the board expressed concern about using district employee time.

‘We are not trying to do anything that the community doesn’t want,” Dr. Haas said.

The board agreed to hold off on the service to see what the community wanted to do concerning dental care for students.

In between the two presentations, Lori Fascio, from another dental mobile unit from Chiricahua Community Health Center introduced herself and the service the clinic is beginning to provide.

During the meeting, the board also reviewed its own self-evaluation, which indicated more communication with the superintendent is needed.

Other challenges include increasing school site visits, improving student success on standardized tests, recruiting qualified staff and funding the needs of the district.

The board also approved a revision of the school calendars for Ray Borane Middle School and Douglas High School due to recent closures. The plan will then be sent to the state for review. It is unclear whether students will have to make up the days of not.

The board also approved termination proceedings for teacher Brian Yoder. He has 30 days in which to appeal.

In other action, the board:

• Approved a donation of $3,500 from the Douglas Arizona Social Club for the DHS scholarship fund.

• Approved fundraising activities for the DHS Junior Class.

• Approved the second readings of the following policies – Agenda, School District Annual Report, Financial Reports and Statements, Bidding/Purchasing Procedures, Vendor/Contractor Relations, Personnel Records an Files, Professional Staff Salary Schedules – Extra Duty Schedule, Tutoring for Pay, English Instruction, School Volunteers, Entrance Age Requirements, Admission of Resident Students, Student Biometric Information and Student Teaching and Internships.

• Approved $900 addenda for AZ Public Service PASS Program participants – Judy Riddle, Sheila Ayrom, Michelle Hurtado, Daisy Montano, Celena Estrella, Jody Pirtle, Jennifer Thomas and Claudia Perez.

• Approved the hiring of Ray Borane Middle School assistant soccer coach Greg Abrigo at a rate of $883.

• Approved volunteers Victoria Houlihan, DHS Girls Soccer; Alma Cuadras,  Karime Velasco and Lupita Fuentes, Stevenson School; and Elena Rascon, Huber.

• Approved substitute teacher hires Herlinda Villegas, Mary Palasi, and Joseph Haroldson,, all certified instructors at $70; Carlos Perez, David Melendez and Elena Rascon, emergency, $50 daily.

• Approved addenda in the amount of $150 a day, not to exceed $2,000, for first year teachers/administrators to attain highly qualified status in the area of Structured English Immersion – Nick Schuerman, Rene Villalva, Cliff Dunlap, Dara Logan, Michael Molina, Brycen Wesen and Frances Saitta.

• Approved $25 per day in compensation for DHS teachers performing before/after school tutoring . Total budget not to exceed $10,000.

• Approved the resignations of Rosa Valenzuela, cafeteria worker; and Rosalia Somoza, accounting clerk, business office.

• Hired David Iniguez as a custodian at Ray Borane Middle School at a rate of $8.54 per hour.

• Approved $125 compensation for Luis Greer for testing service. Greer is a third party tester with the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division.

• Approved an emergency procurement  of parts and materials from Strathcona for the repair of DHS gym electrical panel.

• Approved district’s participation in the Glendale SAVE RFP to provide retirement savings investments to district employees and approval of the resolution to engage ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company to provide administrative services. The board also approved a resolution to adopt Planwithease.com  tax deferred annuity program.

• Conducted first readings of policies for the Evaluation of School Board/Board Self Evaluation, and Bidding /Purchasing Procedures.

• Approved to waive $1,500 in liquidated damages  to Erik Coppes, a DHS teacher.

• Approve a plan to have a hearing officer listen to Cynthia Cardona’s appeal in her termination. The hearing officer has to be agreed on by both parties.

• Reported that the district made $5,443 in its recent auction.

• Approved 2009 Capital Plan for school facilities.

District schools, central administration offices and central receiving will be closed on Tuesday, November 11, for Veterans Day observance, and on November 27-28 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The next regular meeting is set for Tuesday, December 2.