January 19 2023 Public Comment Submissions
Submission 1
| REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD |
| Select One |
| Agenda Item |
| Name |
| Amy Young |
| Choose One |
| Parent of Current Student |
| Date |
| 01/14/2023 |
| Subject |
| Safety of our children |
| Comments |
| I would like to address why there is a teacher on campus who has verbally abused multiple of students. My son has to be in the classroom next door! I don’t understand why nothing has been done. Instead they have safety plans. There is no reason that there should even be a safety plan in effect against a student and staff. This should not be a thing at all. Our children deserve to have their place that they feel where they fit in and that’s at PDSD. They should not fear to go to school or who is in their school. We have heard no response from anyone about this situation and it has been over 2 months. Us as parents deserve to know what is going on. Thank you |
Submission 2
| REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD |
| Select One |
| Agenda Item |
| Name |
| Marci Barenburg |
| Choose One |
| Parent of Current Student |
| Date |
| 01/15/2023 |
| Subject |
| Parental Concerns |
| Comments |
| Over the last few years, when parental concerns are brought forward, he school leadership uses avoidance tactics regarding student first inclusion to purposefully try to exhaust the community efforts without having to enforce policies and maintain a safe and effective learning environment for children. o The lack of communication and effective resolution has forced parents to seek support from formal complaint departments including OCR, the State Board of Education, and Arizona Disability Law. All of which could have been avoided if the leadership would have taken an active role in seeking a clearer understanding of the situation and provided adequate resolution. o This has also led to social media campaigns, a new community group focused on positive change for the campus, and a petition to address the situation. o There has been substantial evidence of concerns brought up regarding specific personnel that have gone unaddressed and pushed under the rug. In one circumstance, the evidence was compelling enough that three students have safety plans protecting them from a teacher at the Phoenix campus. These teachers continue to hold leadership roles within the elementary school with a lack of regard of how it impacts the students and other teachers. I am disappointed in the lack of initiative by the Board to engage although all administrative attempts have been exhausted. o Prior to understanding all of the board policies, the board had been included on e-mails; however, I still believe it was appropriate due to the nature of the concern. They also received notifications from change.org of the more than 5000 people who agree that further action should be taken. o It is disappointing that the board also refuses to engage the community and help try to bring resolution to parental concerns recently and in the past. |
Submission 3
| REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD |
| Select One |
| Agenda Item |
| Name |
| Fred Leslie |
| Choose One |
| Current Staff |
| Date |
| 01/17/2023 |
| Subject |
| Support for John Counts |
| Comments |
| Dear Board Members of ASDB, I am writing this letter in support of John Counts regarding his wrongful termination by ASDB. John is one of those people that truly has the best interests of the students in mind in whatever he does. I have worked with John during his whole 26 years at ASDB. I have seen John work many of those hours volunteering to do things that would benefit students; preparing the school garden, driving a school van to California for the Braille Olympics, working many weekends for special student activities, and on and on, etc., etc. When I was an Instructional Assistant (IA), John trained us on dealing with students that had behavioral issues. When having to be in physical contact with students, John always showed us the safest procedures so the students and the staff would have the least possibility of being injured. I actually had to use a takedown move on a boy who was trying to attack me because I would not let him play with the dead birds he secretly kept in his dorm room. I’m sure I could have done a better job, but the move worked and the boy calmed down. In the excitement of the moment, I’m surprised I actually remembered what John taught me. I did my best to keep the student and myself safe, as I believe John has always done with the students he has had to interact with, even in the situation John was involved in. I don’t think someone with 26 years of experience dealing with students and their behavioral issues should be fired after their one and only incident. Especially when that staff person is actually trying to prevent a student from getting into a further dangerous situation. I pray you will reverse this very, over-reactive decision, find a more appropriate resolution, and keep John on in his many needed positions at the Tucson campus. Sincerely, Fred Leslie |
Submission 4
| REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD |
| Select One |
| Non-Agenda Item |
| Name |
| Amanda Anderson |
| Choose One |
| Current Staff |
| Date |
| 01/17/2023 |
| Subject |
| Job Performance of Jay Johnson |
| Comments |
| Dear board members My name is Amanda Anderson. I am the supervising teacher for region 1. I have been with ASDB for 9 years and in that time I have worked with many different directors and have seen upper administration come and go. Since ASDB hired Jay Johnson as the Statewide Director of Itinerant services he has begun a statewide redesign that has taken a once very divided ineffective Itinerant program to a program that I am happy to be an inclusive part of. Prior to the redesign we were regional cooperatives that ran as islands all alone. Once we began to set up distance services we started seeing the inequities across the state within ASDB. In the time since Jay has come on we have a new director in region 1 Stephanie Johnson and in region 3 Jason Lilly. Stephanie and Jason bring strong knowledge and skills to ASDB that compliment the redesign that Jay began. I would like to highlight a few things that Jay Johnson has brought to ASDB and express my gratitude and appreciation for him and the work that he has done. All itinerant students have access to sign language interpreters no matter where they are in the state Students’ services are truly based on needs for specially designed instruction. Process and procedures are being aligned statewide. Causing less inequity across the state. Statewide communication and alignment of services Given the opportunity for Jay to continue his statewide work with the support of the regional directors, ASDB can continue to improve and build up our statewide itinerant programs which will in turn support recruitment of staff and services to students. Any consideration in not retaining the Statewide director would be a disservice to ASDB and the work that has been done. Thank you Respectfully Amanda Anderson |
Submission 5
| REQUEST TO ADDRESS BOARD |
| Select One |
| Non-Agenda Item |
| Name |
| Marilyn Brooks |
| Choose One |
| Current Staff |
| Date |
| 01/17/2023 |
| Subject |
| My insights into the job performance of Jay Johnson |
| Comments |
| Greetings ASDB Board members, I hope each of you is doing well. My name is Marilyn Brooks, I am an HI teacher in Region 1. I am also the lead teacher for the Statewide Distance program. I would like to share with you my insights into the job performance of Jay Johnson, the director of the Statewide Distance program and the Statewide Itinerant director. I am in my fifteenth year working at ASDB, as an itinerant teacher. I have worked under a number of directors, first in the Eastern Highlands Cooperative and in Region 1, since the reorganization began. Some of those directors were more effective and available to their staff than others. In my opinion, Jay Johnson is hands-down the best and most inclusive director I have worked under since working at ASDB. Here are a few of my thoughts: I have never felt as valued as an employee before, ever – at any job He is kind, supportive, inclusive, and very proactive on matters related to individual teachers and with our partnering districts When I call him on the phone, whenever possible he makes himself available to listen carefully and offer real workable solutions or suggestions for me. He has a wealth of resources and websites to assist teachers as they work to provide each of their students. Admittedly, the redesign from five cooperatives to three regions has been challenging, to say the least. However, in my opinion, it is a superior model. It has taken over two years to get it where it is today. We now have statewide forms and procedures, previously each cooperative had their own. HI and VI staff respectively meet in quarterly virtual meetings to get updates on issues that impact each staff member. Jay invites guest speakers to provide information and resources related to their field of expertise. Before making changes, whenever it is appropriate he consults with those who are familiar with the topic to seek their input. I have never know him to make a knee-jerk decision regarding the redesign, or our teachers. As the lead teacher for the Statewide Distance program, I work under the direct supervision of Jay. He has consistently supported me and helped me understand a process when working either with our Distance teachers or with our partnering districts and charters His approach with our teachers is that to treat each as an individual rather than just one more HI or VI teacher In my opinion, it would be a giant step backward to remove Jay Johnson from his current job positions. Thank you for your time. Very respectfully yours, Marilyn Brooks |