Mario Ramos was re-elected to a second term as DUSD Board President at the regular monthly meeting which was held Jan. 12 in the Central Administration Building.
 Douglas High School's Athletic Director Randy Walker shows some of the different colors of helmets the Bulldogs used to wear during the 1950's, 60's and 80's at last week DUSD Board meeting. There had been some question over the school colors of Black and Gold. Bruce Whetten/Douglas Dispatch |
After the meeting Ramos said he likes the positive attitude on the board and feels they are all working together to do what is best for the district.
“We have an outstanding group of board members right now,” he said. “Each one of us brings a different meaning to what we each would like to see accomplished.”
The board also agreed to keep its regular meeting dates the first and third Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m.
There was some discussion over the school colors at the board meeting.
Ortega said he requested this item on the agenda because while attending the All Class reunion in October several alumni approached him and asked him when the Douglas High School change its colors from Black and Gold to Black and Mustard.
A colors committee which consisted of Mrs. Bonnie Lopez, Randy Walker, Ron Ellsworth, Abe Grijalva and Gilbert Rojas gathered various helmets and jerseys from the past. The three helmets collected included one from the 1950’s, one from the 1960’s and one from the 1980’s. All three had different shades of gold.
Walker said its tough finding a dealer who has the color of gold Douglas wants and at times it has taken some serious looking.
“Our colors have always been Vegas Gold and Black,” he said. “But not all shades of Vegas Gold are the same.”
In the end the board seemed satisfied with Walkers presentation and no action was needed to be taken on the issue.
In other action Thursday the board approved the out of state travel request for Cynthia Bohmfalk and Rosella Melgoza to attend a professional development opportunity conference in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico Feb. 14-16, 2012 as well as Randy Walker and Melissa Rodriguez to attend a professional development opportunity for leadership conference in Tampa, Florida March 8-10.
The board also adopted an approval of Memorandum of Understanding with the Child Parent Centers and the DUSD to ensure the needs of preschool age children with disabilities are met as defined by the Head Start Performance and Arizona Revised Statue 15-763.
Ray Borane Middle School Principal Mary Good gave a 40 minute presentation on the Continuous Improvement Plan at her school which received favorable comments from the board.
Mr. Edmund Garcia was honored for his work with the 21st Century Community Learning Center Program and a $10,000 donation from the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association was also accepted by the district; $5,000 will go to the DHS math department and $5,000 to the DHS science department.
Myrna Hernandez was hired as a substitute teacher and Allison Vaughn was approved as a volunteer for the DHS Land Lab.
The board will meet again at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 24. The meeting will be followed by a work study session on the districts budget.
The meeting is open to the public.
Comments
To Fuzzy wrote on Feb 1, 2012 4:59 AM:
Fuzzy wrote on Jan 28, 2012 11:23 PM:
To Colors Committee wrote on Jan 26, 2012 10:23 AM:
To Colors Committee wrote on Jan 24, 2012 8:55 PM:
Mom wrote on Jan 24, 2012 9:56 AM:
To Colors Committee from Colors Committee wrote on Jan 23, 2012 1:49 PM:
Let’s cut to the case and look at your points. You said “As for the middle school design that was not a District choice but a MANDATED one.” You are correct that a “change” was mandated; however, you are “wrong” to say this was the how it had to be done. The self-contained classroom model was the districts choice of addressing the issues. Unfortunately, the ones that put forth the plan, and approved the plan, weren’t smart enough to research the data out there about self-contained classes. Most research shows self-contained classes are only affective when used for gifted or troubled (disability, gang-related, discipline, etc.) students (Which might be the case, the latter (troubled) if they continue the model). You also said “The District is also MANDATED by the state and feds to have "highly qualified" teachers. In fact the entire country does so.” Yes, the district is MANDATED by the state and feds to have “highly qualified” teachers; however, the problem here is that they must be using a loophole somewhere because I can tell you my child is taught the 4 core subjects by the SAME teacher. Of course, there’s the possibility that ALL the middle school teachers in DUSD are “highly qualified” in ALL subjects……NOT! In fact, I’m not sure any school district in the country could say that.
If I didn’t know better you are part of the district in some fashion. So, if that’s the case I am an alumna (fyi… that means female) and I’m asking a committee to be formed to address the current self-contained model at the middle school, as well as the reasons for the poor academic marks throughout the district. BTW…Dah, I know there’s an interior decorator on the Board, especially since that person has been involved in ALL of these poor academic-related decisions. (I guess you didn’t comprehend that neither)!
Please don't reply back until you have an "Academic Committee" formed. "
To Colors Committee wrote on Jan 22, 2012 9:16 PM:
Colors Committee wrote on Jan 19, 2012 2:36 PM:
But don’t worry folks, there’s one thing you can count on when shopping at Wal-Mart or Ortega’s Sportsworld---Our bulldog shirt or hat will feature some sort of Vegas Gold on it. Maybe next time they will appoint an interior decorator, if they can find one, to head the committee. "