Menu

Maricopa Unified School District board meeting, date not confirmed yet

1 h 54 min · 3 public speakers

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 54 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Maricopa Unified staff reports about $88,000 in first-quarter savings from in-house substitutes 1:07:34

  • Patti Coutré announced that a motion passed and later said the board was now in executive session. 2:29
  • As part of a classroom spotlight, the Santa Cruz Elementary principal and a teacher presented on the school's experience turning data into instructional excellence. 46:07
  • A district staff member reported on the first full quarter since the district moved to in-house substitutes, saying 75% of absences were filled this quarter compared with 79% under ESI last year. 1:07:50
  • The board took up a resolution to submit the fiscal year '27 capital plan, which a staff member said requests space for an additional 1,330 students for Phase 3 of Desert Sunrise High School. 1:40:14
Item by item (11)
  1. Opening and agenda adoption 1:05
    • The meeting was called to order and the roll was called, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. 1:16
    • Shawnté Rothschild moved to adopt the agenda as presented. 2:14
    • Patti Coutré announced that the motion passed. 2:29
  2. Superintendent's report 2:29
    • The superintendent said guests at a block party for the Maricopa High School Workforce Development Project toured the site and signed cinder blocks that will become part of the building. 2:33
    • The superintendent said MUSD earned top recognition in 3 categories at the Crème de la Copa and that the business department earned a certificate for excellence in financial reporting. 3:51
    • The superintendent said 3 schools would each receive a certificate and $250 for attendance efforts. 4:46
  3. Board member reports 9:49
    • Shawnté Rothschild described a college and career fair held the previous night. 9:55
    • Ben Owens invited the public to a swim meet at Copper Sky on Saturday morning at 8 o'clock. 11:57
    • Carolyn Lopez asked teachers and parents interested in writing letters to veterans for the Honor Flight program to contact Carolyn Lopez for details. 14:27
  4. Spotlight recognitions 17:53
    • The district honored spotlight recipients in 4 categories: community members, MUSD employees, students and student athletes. 18:29
    • In partnership with the Maricopa Rotary Club, a group of students received certificates and a $50 gift card. 34:06
    • A staff member announced a 5-minute break before the business portion of the meeting. 36:39
  5. Santa Cruz Elementary classroom spotlight 46:07
    • The principal said the school uses pre-assessments, professional learning teams that meet twice a week and analysis of student work samples, including scratch paper, to target instruction. 46:23
    • A teacher said place value scores in the class improved from 48% competency on the first attempt to 80% after reteaching, and making inferences rose from 56% to 88%. 51:47
    • Ben Owens asked about the biggest challenge, and Carolyn Lopez asked how NAVI compares with Spaulding. 1:00:08
  6. Substitute teacher quarter 1 report 1:07:34
    • The staff member said the goal for the second quarter is an 85% fill rate, the district has hired 81 substitutes and the first-quarter cost savings were about $88,000. 1:07:50
    • A district staff member said the district spent $1.63 million last year with ESI and paid a markup of 27.5% of gross pay for substitute management. 1:08:27
    • Carolyn Lopez asked about patterns in unscheduled absences and asked for a follow-up report at the beginning of 4th quarter. 1:19:39
  7. Call to the public 1:28:11
    • A speaker at public comment raised concerns about bullying at Saddleback Elementary and asked the board to place enforcement of the district's anti-bullying policy on a future agenda. 1:29:08
    • A speaker at public comment requested an independent review of the Maricopa High School volleyball program. 1:31:30
    • A speaker at public comment described a nonprofit and offered to be a resource to the district on bullying. 1:34:50
  8. Consent agenda 1:37:24
    • A motion to approve the consent agenda was made and seconded, and a roll call followed. 1:37:31
  9. Personnel schedule 1:37:43
    • Ben Owens asked about assessments for employees who left midterm, and a staff member said the amount is $2,500 the majority of the time after the beginning of the year. 1:38:08
    • The staff member said the district has 6.5 certified vacancies. 1:39:19
  10. Fiscal year '27 capital plan resolution 1:40:14
    • A staff member said the district has the capacity to serve 3,597 high school students and that projected ADM of 3,633 in fiscal year '29 exceeds that capacity and triggers the need for additional space. 1:40:24
    • The staff member said the district is requesting space for an additional 1,330 student capacity for Phase 3 of Desert Sunrise High School. 1:42:56
    • Shawnté Rothschild moved to approve the fiscal year 2027 capital plan. 1:48:50
  11. Executive session on superintendent evaluation 1:49:08
    • The superintendent said executive session was fine. 1:49:26
    • Patti Coutré said the board was in executive session. 1:49:42

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

Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “October 21, 2026 Governing Board Meeting”