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March 7, 2024 Public Comment Submissions

Mar 14, 2024 | public comments

REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
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Non-Agenda Item
Name
Elizabeth Smith
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Parent of Current Student
Date
03/05/2024
Subject
Parent involvement
Comments
A few weeks ago, one of my children came home with a participation ribbon. I was not notified of a science fair happening nor were parents invited to support our children for their hard work. I would like to address the board to find ways to have parent involvement to support our students and teachers. I understand many students live far and would not have the same support as some students but we as parents can be the “parents” for those who don’t feel involved. This includes volunteering in the classrooms, etc.

January 11, 2024 Public Comment Submissions

Jan 9, 2024 | public comments

REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
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Non-Agenda Item
Name
Kimberly Aikins
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Current Staff
Date
01/09/2024
Subject
Master Facility Plan
Comments
The proposed consolidation of grades 1-12 into the currently-existing elementary building on the Tucson campus is concerning. Renovations in the current high school building for a new science lab were just completed within the last year, costing the agency nearly $200,000 and nearly 3 years to complete; having to recreate yet another science lab for our high school students seems like a waste of money. In addition, moving Kindergarten to the Birth to 5 center only removes about 10 students out of a current total enrollment of 125 students (which continues to grow). This means that we would be attempting to place approximately 115 students–ages 6-22–in the same building, which poses both impracticality and a safety issue of placing a significant number of adult-sized students in the same building as 6-year-old students.

September 7, 2023 Public Comment Submissions

Sep 6, 2023 | public comments

REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD
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Non-Agenda Item
Name
Marci Barenburg
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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
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Non-Agenda Item
Name
Dan McAlees
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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
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Agenda Item
Name
Soren Mickelsen
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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

Staff Spotlight May 2023

May 18, 2023 | Staff 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

A photo of Lashauna Whitney

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!