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Tucson Unified District board meeting, Sep 22, 2026

4 h 10 min

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 4 h 10 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Tucson Unified board approves first collective bargaining agreement for substitute teachers 1:19:26

  • The board voted 5⁠-⁠0 to approve an agreement with its substitute teachers, which a staff member said 97% of substitutes who voted had ratified. 1:24:27
  • The board approved the Pueblo High School water and sewer line and Miller flooring bond projects 4⁠-⁠0 with 1 abstention, while holding off on the Chromebook replacement. 1:58:19
  • The board passed an item 5⁠-⁠0, then passed the original motion as amended, to approve Traditional A with one of the PLDs on a Friday, 5⁠-⁠0. 2:28:48
  • The board voted 4⁠-⁠1 on adding librarians to the original motion, then passed the motion as amended 5⁠-⁠0. 3:27:13

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (15)
  1. Opening and agenda adjustment 24:50
    • Dr. Ravi Shah said all 5 board members were present. 25:46
    • A student led the land acknowledgment and the Pledge of Allegiance. 25:46
    • A staff member said item 7.3, the substitute teacher agreement, would be moved up to follow the call to the audience. 29:07
  2. Awards and recognitions 29:25
    • A staff member said HSL Properties presented 2 district educators each with a $1,000 check. 29:43
    • The staff member said the district was recognized by the NFL as a Character Champion District. 35:20
  3. Board member activity reports 39:00
    • Dr. Ravi Shah said more than 100 community members attended a session on consolidation and closures the night before. 25:46
    • Sadie Shaw said two additions to federal advocacy were accepted at the ASBA delegate assembly. 42:00
    • Board members described school visits and attendance at the consolidation meeting at Saguaro. 44:39
  4. Call to the audience 51:12
    • A speaker at public comment said the speaker's workdays had been affected about 30 days since July 27 by a lack of interpreting services. 53:45
    • Speakers at public comment raised questions about school closure data, budget totals and corrections to financial records. 58:06
    • Letters read aloud raised concerns about counselor duties and communication in the transportation department. 1:07:19
  5. Board responses to public comment 1:11:18
    • Two board members asked staff to review interpreter access at Miles. 1:11:31
    • Sadie Shaw asked for information on the repayment plan for workers' comp and unemployment insurance funds used to buy the new administration building and on next year's budget timeline. 1:14:58
    • One board member said first-year, 5-year and 10-year data on past school closures had been requested, and another board member asked that transportation concerns be reviewed. 1:16:49
  6. Substitute teacher agreement 1:18:14
    • A presenter said the agreement was the district's first collective bargaining agreement for substitutes. 1:19:26
    • A staff member said the agreement includes a pay increase for long-term substitutes, a new ex-ed long-term substitute rate and a $200 stipend for substitutes who work 50 days or more in a semester. 1:21:30
    • Val Romero asked about reevaluating which schools are designated hard to fill. 1:30:59
    • The agreement passed 5⁠-⁠0. 1:32:17
  7. Consent agenda 1:32:37
    • Val Romero asked a staff member to elaborate on what changes were being made, how they would improve the school and any benefits or negatives. 1:33:27
    • A staff member said the item would formalize the Montessori curriculum as an adopted supplemental curriculum and would not change practice. 1:34:07
    • Consent agenda items 6.2 to 6.4 passed 5⁠-⁠0. 1:38:52
  8. Budget Advisory Committee member renewal 1:38:57
    • One board member nominated the committee's current chair for renewal and said the committee has 8 members and needs 4 more. 1:39:19
    • The renewal passed 5⁠-⁠0. 1:41:12
  9. Bond project priorities 1:41:12
    • A staff member presented projects including a $2.5 million water and sewer line replacement at Pueblo High School, $180,000 in flooring at Miller and 6,500 Chromebooks at $2,900,000, with a total of $6,984,660. 1:42:54
    • Sadie Shaw asked about the battery issue cited for the Chromebook replacement, and a staff member said some pandemic-era models had batteries that inflate. 1:45:06
    • One board member said the preference was to hold off on the Chromebooks pending a committee review and moved the water line and flooring projects. 1:55:36
    • The item passed 4⁠-⁠0 with 1 abstention. 1:58:20
  10. District calendar 1:58:32
    • A staff member said the survey drew just under 10,000 responses and 93% of the calendar committee voted for Option A, the traditional calendar. 1:59:28
    • Dr. Ravi Shah asked whether survey results were broken down by grade level, and a staff member said they were not. 2:07:42
    • Dr. Ravi Shah made an amendment to have one of the PLDs on a Friday. 2:28:17
    • The amendment passed 5⁠-⁠0, and Option A as amended passed 5⁠-⁠0. 2:28:48
  11. Preventive maintenance plan 2:29:02
    • A staff member said new state requirements call for districts to have the board approve a preventive maintenance plan. 2:29:19
    • A staff member said the district completed 40,424 of 124,293 recommended tasks, or 32.5%, and set a goal of 65%. 2:30:08
    • Sadie Shaw asked about the submission deadline, and a staff member said the plan should be submitted by the 1st of October. 3:04:20
    • The plan passed 5⁠-⁠0. 3:08:26
  12. Budget Advisory Committee priorities 3:08:32
    • Dr. Ravi Shah moved priorities on before and after school programs and CTE programs. 3:24:20
    • One board member suggested the Alternative Education Advisory Committee review programs for higher performing students. 3:25:34
    • Sadie Shaw moved an amendment to add librarians to the list, and Val Romero seconded it. 3:26:35
    • The amendment passed 4⁠-⁠1, and the motion as amended passed 5⁠-⁠0. 3:27:13
  13. Instructional spending requirement presentation 3:27:31
    • The staff member said the district would need to find another $43 million to reach 60%. 3:33:39
  14. HVAC update 3:43:59
    • A staff member said over 14,000 work orders were submitted from July 1 to September 16. 3:46:26
    • Jennifer Eckstrom asked why 45-year-old units at Pueblo High School were not in the bond, and a staff member said other systems there were rated higher. 3:49:10
    • A staff member said warranties on new units are 2 years, with 5 years on parts. 3:51:41
  15. Future meetings 4:08:40
    • A staff member said upcoming items include a food services financial forecast, a field trip fee schedule review and an override financial update. 4:08:49

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 “TUSD1- September 22nd 2026 Governing Board Meeting”