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Maricopa Unified School District board meeting, Sep 9, 2026

1 h 08 min · 1 public speaker

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 1 h 08 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Maricopa Unified board approves revised policies on abuse reporting, weapon detection 35:47

  • A district staff member presented the district's Cognia district accreditation, which the staff member said had been 2 years in the making. 13:15
  • The board took up policy revisions recommended by the Arizona School Risk Retention Trust, including policies on mandatory reporters, duties of the superintendent and Department of Child Safety interview and custody. 35:47
  • After discussion of a revision to Policy 5⁠-⁠201 on patriotic youth groups, Patti Coutré said no action would be taken and the item would be brought back. 48:04
Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and agenda adoption 1:05
    • The meeting was called to order at 6:30 on Wednesday, September 9th, and the roll was called. 1:05
    • Patti Coutré asked for motions or amendments on adoption of the agenda, and a motion and second were made. 2:14
  2. Superintendent's report 2:33
    • The superintendent said the Bond Oversight Committee was told that a school opened on time in July and came in $1.4 million under budget. 2:33
    • The superintendent said September is Attendance Awareness Month. 2:36
    • The report said Province residents were invited to attend football games on September 18th and September 25th as district guests. 6:05
  3. Board member reports 7:16
    • Ben Owens invited the community to a quad swim meet at Copper Sky hosted by MHS, starting at 4 o'clock. 8:18
    • Lisa Garcia said they attended Maricopa Wells baseball team games and saw the team's first home win. 9:30
    • Carolyn Lopez and Patti Coutré said they had nothing to report. ~10:09
  4. Call to the public 10:22
    • Patti Coutré read the rules for public comment, including a limit of 3 minutes or less. 10:22
    • A speaker at public comment raised concerns about documentation being withheld from a student file and about district communication and follow-through. 11:20
  5. Cognia accreditation 12:36
    • A district staff member said the district is now officially Cognia district accredited and that district and school leaders presented evidence on each of the 31 standards. 13:15
    • The staff member said reviewers identified student agency and goal setting, subgroup achievement gaps and the balanced assessment process as areas for continuous improvement over a 3-year cycle. 13:15
    • The staff member said the district is also looking at Cognia governing board accreditation within the next 3 years. 13:15
  6. Consent agenda 30:07
    • A motion and second were made to approve the consent agenda, and a roll call was taken. 30:07
  7. Personnel schedule 30:27
    • Ben Owens asked for a staffing update, and a district staff member said newly arrived foreign national teachers filled some vacancies and that the staff member would return in October with a work study on substitutes. 31:04
    • Asked by Ben Owens whether vacancies were under 10, the staff member said yes, and the staff member later named math, science and 7th and 8th grade positions as harder to fill. 31:57
    • Shawnté Rothschild asked about partnerships to identify applicants, and the staff member cited programs with GCU, NAU and an apprentice program with CAC. 33:14
  8. Qualified evaluators list 34:27
    • A district staff member said Board Policy 4103 requires the board to adopt a qualified evaluators list annually. 34:34
    • Ben Owens asked whether revisions from the prior review had been checked, and the staff member said yes. 35:05
    • Patti Coutré announced the motion carried. 35:37
  9. Mandatory reporting policy 35:37
    • A district staff member said the revision to Policy 4⁠-⁠204 strengthens language that mandatory reporters must make immediate reports to the Department of Child Safety and may not delegate that duty. 35:47
    • Asked whether a substitute must go through a principal, the staff member said the obligation is on the individual with the knowledge, but having the principal help is good practice. 37:03
    • Patti Coutré announced the motion passed. 38:15
  10. Superintendent duties and weapon detection 38:15
    • A district staff member said ARS 15⁠-⁠341 would authorize the superintendent to modify the operation of a weapon detection system, provided the board is notified within 24 hours. 38:26
    • Ben Owens asked what a modification would look like and whether there was a lock to prevent accidental changes, and a staff member offered to provide a report on how it would work in practice. 39:04
    • Shawnté Rothschild asked whether the vote would be postponed, and a speaker said the policy had to be approved to align with the statute. 42:08
    • Patti Coutré announced the motion passed. 43:06
  11. Department of Child Safety interviews policy 43:06
    • A district staff member said ARS 15⁠-⁠141 requires districts to permit the Department of Child Safety to access educational records and bars districts from prohibiting interviews of school employees, contractors or volunteers. 43:16
    • Patti Coutré announced the motion passed. 44:39
  12. Parent rights and enrollment policies 44:39
    • A district staff member said the change to Policy 1⁠-⁠401 was a correction to the statutory citation. 44:51
    • A district staff member said Policy 5⁠-⁠102 updates require enrolling students displaced by state placing agencies or the court, students in unorganized territory within district boundaries and children of active duty military with pending residence. 45:58
    • Patti Coutré announced that motions passed after discussion of Policy 5⁠-⁠102 and Policy 5⁠-⁠105. 45:48
  13. Patriotic exercises and observance days 47:52
    • A district staff member said ARS 15⁠-⁠120.08 permits building administrators to allow patriotic youth groups to address students and distribute materials during the first quarter of the school year. 48:04
    • Ben Owens said the bill gives principals the ability to review the materials that are distributed and to deny or allow them. 57:06
    • Shawnté Rothschild asked whether the board was required to approve the change, and a speaker said the paragraph is optional. 1:01:02
    • Patti Coutré said no action would be taken and the item would be brought back. 1:03:11
  14. Special education evaluation policy 1:03:11
    • A district staff member said a 2025 bill requires school districts to state in an IEP whether a student with a specific learning disability has been diagnosed with dyslexia. 1:03:38
    • Ben Owens asked whether other specific diagnoses are called out, and the staff member said the district has a list of diagnoses through ADE that previously did not include dyslexia. 1:04:41
    • Patti Coutré announced the motion passed. 1:06:34
  15. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation training policy 1:06:34
    • A district staff member said the revision addresses training requirements for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid and automated defibrillators, which will become mandatory on August 1st, 2027. 1:06:42
    • Asked whether the district already does this, the staff member said it does. ~1:06:58
    • Patti Coutré announced the motion passed and later adjourned the meeting at 7:37. 1:07:24

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “September 9, 2026 Governing Board Meeting”