DUSD Board gets paw prints from Huber students

Huber Middle School students Jenessa Salazar, Danielle Galaz and Arianna Machado each presented the Douglas School Board with paw prints for being such “good listeners” during their presentation at the Douglas School Board’s regular meeting March 6.

The three students are the three main officers of the Huber Middle School student council. They came up with a 15 minute impressive power point presentation about the HMS Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program (PBIS).

During the presentation the students showed the board how discipline referrals have dropped since the inception of the program.

As a class collects the paw prints the opportunity for reward increases depending on how many they have.

All three student council members said since PBIS has started Huber has become safer because students there know how to be respectful, responsible, safe and to do their best.

In other action at the board meeting Tuesday the board approved Cambium Learning Group as a sole source provider for Fiscal Year 2011-12 which provide services, software, programs or materials they maintain or provide to the DUSD.

The board also granted three out of state travel requests. The first being for CTE Multi Media Instructor Mark Silverstein to attend the Professional Development Opportunity for Broadcast Education Association in Las Vegas, Nev. April 15-19. Funding for this trip will come from the State Basic Grant; the second was for Beverly Enriquez, Denise Cox, Jasper Lusby, Ana Samaniego, Gloria “Bonnie” Lopez and Cyndy Ortega to attend the Professional Education for School Leadership Program in Cambridge, Mass. May 6-8 and the third was for Sandra Garcia and Carol Pedroza to attend the 2012 International Society for Technology in Education Conference and Exposition for the professional development opportunity for those working with technology in education which will be held in San Diego, CA. June 24-27. Funding for the trip to Massachusetts and California will be paid by Title II.

The board also approved an intergovernmental agreement with Southeast Regional Cooperative which will provide framework through district/charter schools who can continue with neighboring schools with the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind to increase the availability of appropriate programs and services for students with special needs who attend public schools.

The board went over the goals it had set for itself and revised some of them to reflect the new direction the district is heading. A complete list of the goals can be found on the DUSD website.

DUSD Superintendent Sheila Rogers discussed with the board some things she went over with Steve Hyland of the Arizona School Board Association at the Feb. 28 meeting she had with him. Rogers said its Highlen’s job to oversee the district’s policy books and make sure the wording in them is updated. “He found a few things that needed to be changed,” she said. “We had a lot of the updates already but there were some little words that needed to be fixed.”

Once the manuals are updated Rogers will set up a work study session with the board to go over the changes so the new manuals can be approved.

Rogers said the Arizona Department of Education Solutions team was at Faras Elementary last week as part of the school improvement plan and her office is in the process of making sure all 4,067 students in the district are in compliance with their proofs of residence as is required by state law. Fifty new students enrolled in the district in February, Rogers added.

During the consent portion of the agenda the board approved a donation in the amount of $2,761 from McGraw –Hill/West which will go to Clawson School ($1,196); Stevenson School ($1,387) and Huber Middle School ($178).

The board approved the hiring of Martha Lopez and Javier Valenzuela as substitute teachers and the retirements Kathleen Keat and Gloria “Patty” Rojas (Stevenson); Leticia Hernandez (Sarah Marley); Juanita Alamder, David Campas and Abe Grijalva (Douglas High School) and Brad Linsday of Ray Borane all effective the end of the 2012/2013 school year.

The DUSD is on Spring Break this week and while there is no school all central administration and warehouse and receiving offices are open.

There will be an auction this Saturday from 8-10 A.M. at 1100 E. 15th Street where various items will be auctioned off. For more information contact Barbi Escarcega at 364-2447, extension 7025.

The next board meeting will take place March 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Central Administration Building.