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September 7, 2023 Public Comment Submissions

Sep 6, 2023 | public comments

REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
Select One
Non-Agenda Item
Name
Marci Barenburg
Choose One
Arizona Resident
Date
09/05/2023
Subject
Policies and procedures not being followed and current leadership.
Comments
ASDB and Annette have continued to fail at following policies and procedures from a complaint form in the spring. Annette defended the principal in her investigating herself in a formal JII complaint when the policies clearly state that it should have been handled by someone else. I spoke to the president of the board about it and to this day the compliant for the JII and the KEB complaint were never completed per policies and procedures or corrected to be closer to following said policies and procedures. Annette quit responding after my first interaction with her on this matter.

Annette mentioned at a previous board meeting that the Nov 4th issue never made it to her desk. Parents should not need to utilize OCR and the state ombudsman’s office in order to see policies and procedures followed. When parents e-mail and speak at board meetings, these should be seen as formal complaints, and if they are not, then the principal or other leadership should be recommending parents to the appropriate forms. As of now parents have to dig through policies and procedures and learn as they go to be taken seriously.

This administration needs to stop considering themselves as the be all end all with no consequences.

July 20, 2023 Public Comment Submissions

Jul 19, 2023 | public comments

Submission 1

REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
Select One
Non-Agenda Item
Name
Dan McAlees
Choose One
Current Staff
Date
07/20/2023
Subject
Union
Comments
I wish to thank the Board for allowing me to present some of my thoughts. My name is Dan McAlees and I am a high school teacher for ASD Life Skills students. I have been teaching for 30 plus years. During this time I have seen staff have to go through some difficult situations with very limited support. This has led to staff retention problems and low work moral. I feel the Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind Education Association (ASDBEA) would help with retaining staff and improve moral. By knowing that having a dedicated support group for staff not only on campus but representing our needs with the legislator is a positive moral builder.
Also ASDBEA and AEA can work with ASDB as a team when working with our state legislation and their representatives for the agency’s concerns and needs as well.
I hope the Board will recognize ASDBEA and work together for the good of the staff and ASDB agency.

Thanks for your time,

Dan McAlees

Submission 2

REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
Select One
Agenda Item
Name
Soren Mickelsen
Choose One
Current Staff
Date
07/18/2023
Subject
Item(s) 6.01 and 6.02 / Human Resources
Comments
Dear Board Members:

Thank you for your time today. I would like to make a public comment regarding action points 6.01 and 6.02 addressing schedule changes for pay as well as proposed salary increases. Action point 6.01 seeks to make a conglomerate of therapeutic staff on one Related Services Pay Scale reflecting now social workers, educational audiologists, psychologists, amongst Occupational, Physical, and Speech therapists. As a related service provider, my steps for pay have been recalibrated. We will soon be recognized for years of service with the agency, which I appreciate very much – now we can move up steps.

I wanted to share that during the recalibration process, there are staff whose rate either did not change or went below what they currently make. For those in this situation, they would need to acquire more years of experience before their income increases. Historically, a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) was the only way related service providers could increase their salary. Action point 6.02 details plans for proposed salary increases. Teachers, some certified staff, and other part time / full time will be receiving a COLA – and it is much deserved.

Related services and other certified staff will not receive a COLA due to our recalibrated steps.
While the agency is moving in the right direction, I would further challenge it to understand that the cost of living goes up, and somewhat indefinitely for everyone. COLAs recognize this and when offered, communicate a sense of gratitude for doing a job we all love to do. ASDB has a clear goal in bringing forth the best when educating our children who are deaf/hard-of-hearing/visually impaired/Deafblind. ASDB could equally have a clear goal about committing to their employee’s financial well-being. Is it still possible to consider extending the COLA to all certified and non-certified staff whether full-time or part-time, including related service providers?

I appreciate your time to review my comment. And thank you for your commitment to our community be being here today.

Kindly,

Soren Mickelsen

Teacher Spotlight May 2023

May 18, 2023 | Teacher Spotlight

Mary Highline

A photo of Mary Highline

Mary is an exceptional teacher of visually impaired students. She goes above and beyond to make connections with her students and ensure they have the supports necessary to be successful. Her work with students is a clear example of Pillar 2 of the strategic plan. She strives to develop opportunities for her students, while ensuring their continued success. She regularly finds ways to weave in applicable assistive technology into her instruction and helps the students to understand the “Why” behind what they are learning. Mary is up for any challenge that is placed before her and collaborates regularly with colleagues and agency staff to ensure that students have the resources and tools necessary to meet their full potential. Mary, thank you for all you do!

Shella Cramer

A photo of Shella Cramer is seen

Shella retired after many years on the Tucson campus in the preschool and then, several years later, she was hired once again as our first full-time Distance HI teacher. Shella consistently demonstrates Stratgic Plan Pillar 1 Excellent Communication and Relationships by staying in regular contact with the classroom teachers for each of her students; emailing them if a student is having challenges regarding the technology device provided by the school, for example the laptop, camera, or microphone; she also emails the teacher if the student is late for a scheduled HI session. She also demonstrates Pillar 2: Outstanding student Development. She is the Queen of Boom Cards. Every lesson for her students is very interactive and encourages their full participation. We are very thankful that when she came out of retirement, she chose to come to work with our Distance students.

Lashauna Whitney

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Lashauna always goes above and beyond her duties as a Lead. She works tirelessly to make sure her students, staff, and families get the customer service they deserve. I am honored to get to work with her on a regular basis.

Doris Woltman

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Doris is one the hardest working people I know. She is brilliant and a team player. She has helped to support students, staff, and families not only in Tegion 3 but in Region 1 all year. I am grateful to be able to learn from her on a daily basis.

Jessica Madsen

A photo of Jessica Madsen

Jessica has worked tremendously hard on the House Activities and the Yearbook. She has put in countless hours! She gives her all to PDSD!

May 11, 2023 Public Comment Submissions

May 10, 2023 | public comments

REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
Select One
Non-Agenda Item
Name
Marci Barenburg
Choose One
Arizona Resident
Date
05/09/2023
Subject
PDSD Principal not following policies and procedures and lying to parents.
Comments
Within the ASDB policies and procedures there are timelines set in place on complaints as well as who can investigate certain complaints. The timelines are regularly not followed and in one instance, the principal at PDSD was allowed to investigate herself, which is also against the policy. When I filed a KEB complaint about it the Superintendent stated that the principal had been diligent, and Annette only responded to a small portion of what had been in the complaint. When I further responded, it was ignored. Stating someone was diligent without further explanation, does not make it so. The principal waited greater than a month to investigate a safety issue, changing her story multiple times while looking at notes. She expects perfect honesty and timeline recall more than a month after an event from a 10 year old, but can not herself provide that. I have this audio recorded and e-mails to back up these statements. The principal’s negligence in the situation led to a teacher having three orders of protection against her. On other JII complaints we requested to see video footage of what we were told the principal saw, and she said they would blur student faces and allow us to view it. This was never done. Per multiple staff members there are no cameras that directly face the W building that could see what the principal indicated she had seen. It is not ok for administration to lie to parents. This is only a small touch of the principal’s dishonesty that we have encountered.

This was the final straw for me and my family. We had to remove our student from this school. If we cannot trust administration, how can we trust our child is ok here? How can the Superintendent support dishonesty and lack of accountability from her principal?

Teacher Spotlight March 2023

Mar 23, 2023 | Teacher Spotlight

Amanda Pruett

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Amanda Pruett is an Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the Region 3 Yuma office. She is an exceptional teacher and has taken on an intern from the U of A this semester. She has agreed to be an ambassador for the agency and it is a pleasure to spotlight her for the agency.

Amber Saeli

Photo of Amber Saeli

Amber Saeli is a birth to 3 provider in ELP’s Region 2. Amber recently passed her Listening and Spoken Language exam and she is working toward completing her required hours for certification. Amber is also an Emerging Leader within the agency and is serving as an excellent role model in her areas of expertise. Congratulations, Amber, and thank you for all of your hard work!

Christina Heyer

Photo of Christina Heyer

Christina Heyer is an Arizona native who has been an Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf/HH for the past five years. She went to the University of Arizona for both her Bachelor’s and her Master’s, graduating from their Educational Sign Language program and getting her Master’s in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education. She also teaches yoga on the weekends and has two little dogs. She enjoys painting, running on the canal, and going on roadtrips. Wildcat for life!

Lisa Novak

Photo of Lisa Novak

Lisa Novak’s professionalism stands out in all that she does. Lisa is a highly skilled teacher who works hard to know and understand students’ needs. She is always working to ensure that she has the knowledge and expertise needed to ensure her students succeed. Thank you for all of the hard work that you put in every day!

Sheryl Katzen

Photo of Sheryl Katzen

Sheryl Katzen goes above and beyond her daily work as a Teacher for the Visually Impaired. She is currently an ambassador for ASDB and has taken on an U of A intern for this entire school year. She is always willing to support new learners and her fellow Teachers of the Visually Impaired. She is an outstanding advocate for her students as well as the learners she takes on. It is a great pleasure to spotlight her for the agency.

Shirlee Wadlow

Photo of Shirlee Wadlow

Shirlee Wadlow has been with ASDB for many years and goes above and beyond to not only support her students and districts but her colleagues. She demonstrates Pillar 2 of the Strategic Plan, outstanding student development, through her commitment to ensure access for her students. She has been partnering with a variety of colleagues and departments to ensure that students have access to learning and instructional materials, which leads to success. She goes above and beyond to support her colleagues in times of need, demonstrating a commitment to excellent staff relationships. We are grateful for her hard work and dedication to student and staff success.

Valeria Campos

Photo of Valeria Campos

Valeria Campos is so amazing with her students in the classroom. She has welcomed new students with open arms. She has made accommodations in her classroom that go above and beyond! She has positive energy that lights up any room!