School attendance zones were again part of the Douglas Unified Scholl District Governing Board meeting, but this time no decision was made.

The board reviewed a report, which included new information on numbers and attendance zones for a variety of school options. The item was discussed at the regular meeting of the board on Tuesday, March 3, at the Central Administration Building.

Then board looked at a variety of options, including:

√ No change – K-5 schools remain as they are, grades 6-8 at Ray Borane and Huber.

√ P-6 – ELC/Ray Borane partnered schools, zones redrawn for P-6, 7-8 at Huber.

√ K-4 – Preschool at Early Learning Center, K-4 at elementary schools, 5-6 at Ray Borane, 7-8 at Huber.

√ Blended option – Clawson/Sarah Marley partnered, K-6 at Faras, 7-8 at Ray Borane, K-5 at Joe Carlson, K-5 at Stevenson, 6-8 at Huber.

√ Partnered Schools – Sarah Marley/Clawson, Stevenson/Joe Carlson, and ELC/Ray Borane have split grades and P-6 at Faras.

√ 6th Grade Ray Borane – Preschool at ELC, 6 at Ray Borane and 7-8 at Huber. Elementary schools at K-5.

One option discussed at the work session but not included in the presentation would be retaining grades 6-8 at the middle schools, but sixth grade would be self contained (relegated to its own area, in an elementary school setting). The students would not switch from class to class with each subject as the current middle school does. Grades 7 and 8 would retain the current format.

The information was for discussion only. No decision was made.

During the meeting, the board also set another special meeting/open forum to discuss the English Language Learner (ELL) situation at Stevenson School. It was reported last week that more than 100 students that should have remained in the specialty classes were removed, with parent permission.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 10, beginning at 5:45 p.m. at Stevenson School.

The board meeting was highlighted by several recognitions, including the District Spelling Bee winners, the State Champion boys soccer team and their coach, Ken Cormier, who was named Coach of the Year; DHS girls soccer, wrestling and girls basketball; and 2008 Wal-Mart Foundation Teacher of the Year, Claudia Lopez, of Clawson.

In other action, the board:

• Approved fundraising activities for the spring semester for Stevenson School.

• Approved the hiring of substitute teachers Ralph Curfman, Claudio Barrera, Jason Hopkins, Andrea Daniels and Zaul Tapia.

• Approved hiring of Huber Middle School softball coach, Gina Tartaglia, $1,104; Eddie Gonzalez, Ray Borane  girls softball coach, $1,104; Sammy Cox, Huber girls assistant softball coach, $883; Nick Greer, Borane assistant baseball coach, $883; Ken Cormier, Huber baseball coach, $1,545; Hector Gomez, Borane baseball coach, $1,104; and Zaul Tapia, Huber assistant baseball coach, $883.

• Approved addendums for Herlinda Villegas, Before/after school tutoring; $25 daily; and John Mariscal, teaching additional period, $2,000.

• Approved Cochise College Education 201 students for classroom observations

• Approved new job description for Instructional Coach (TI and School Improvement).

• Approved volunteers Margaret Schmitt, Culinary Arts, DHS; Angel Ortega, JV baseball at  DHS; and Cesar Gonzalez, softball at DHS.

• Accepted the resignations of Rhea Morales, Sarah Marley-5th grade; and Joan Melendez, school nurse, at the end of the current school year.

• Approved the hiring of Sorely Arredondo at a rate of $8.87 and hour as a special ed instructional aide at Huber; and Sonia Cruz, $9.31 per hour, D-Pass Secretary II.

• Approved the participation agreement with the Public Consulting Group for the school based claiming program (Medicaid reimbursement).

• Approved the awarding of a bid for special education service providers – speech pathologist to Kidspeak, Inc., at a rate of $85 per hour.

• Approved the second reading of the following policies “Professional/Support Staff Leaves and Absences,” “Professional/Support Staff Sick Leaves,” “Professional/Support Staff Leaves of Absence Without Pay,” “Part Time and Substitute Professional Staff Employment,” “Discipline, Suspension and Dismissal of Professional Staff Members,” “Open Enrollment,” “Student Dress” and “Student Fund-Raising Activities.”

• Approved a first reading of the revisions to “Professional/Support Staff Undifferentiated Leave.”

• Approved April 10 as a holiday for 12-month support staff.

• Approved salary adjustments by a 3-1 vote (Susan Kramer dissenting) for certified staff placed incorrectly on the certified salary schedule – Patricia Alatorre, Leticia Garcia, Ed Gorman, Shannon Fernandez, Burke Richardson, Melissa Rodriguez, Francis Saitta, Carolyn Toland and Feng Yang.

• Approved out of state travel for CTE teacher Mark Silverstein, CTE counselor Amy Paulmeyer and students to attend the National Association of Broadcasters Conference in Las Vegas  in April.

• Approved the 2009-10 school calendar.

• Approved the termination, with cause of Erik Hinojosa, In-House Monitor at Ray Borane by a 3-1 vote. Ed Rivera dissented.

• Approved the request from Louie Tartaglia to be released from his contract , CTE  teacher at DHS. He was assessed $1,500 in liquidated damages.

The next regular meeting of the Douglas Unified School District Governing Board is April 7. Spring break is March 9 to 13.