First of all, on behalf of the
entire Governing Board, I'd like to express our appreciation to all of you for your
tireless work on administering the various assessments last month.
We realize that many hours were spent preparing for the Stanford 9, the AIMS and the
Core Curriculum Standards Assessment, also known as CCSA.
We know how frustrating they can be to students. We are aware thta some revisions will
be made in CCSA. We can only hope that in the future the state department of education
will reevaluate the timelines for the tests and the tests themselves.
As you will read in this issue of the board Report, the board adopted the
recommendations of the East Growth Task Force. Since March of last year, this committee,
composed of teachers, parents and community members, has met to discuss concerns and
possible solutions for the overcrowding situation at several east side schools.
Recommendations for boundary changes are never taken lightly nor are they easy to
develop. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of this committee to develop
short-term solutions as well as making recommendations for future consideration.
Long-term solutions of course now lay in the hands of the State School Facilities
board. Fortunately, the board has postponed a decision on TUSD's request for additional
schools.
TUSD will be making a revised presentation to the board at the meeting June 8 in
Prescott. In the meantime, we will have TUSD parents and staff address the board during
the board during the meeting to be held May 4 in Phoenix. We remain hopeful that TUSD's
request will be considered favorably.
On the instruction side, Robert Mackay, director of TUSD's Alternative Education
program delivered an informative and intersting presentation on TUSD's alternative
programs.
TUSD now offers alternative placements for middle school as well as high school
students with a variety of formats. Please take the time to read about the many innovative
programs TUSD has developed in the past few years.
We have received 24 applications for our superintendency. Among them, 20 are men, 10
are minority and 17 are current or former superintendents. We expect to begin closed-door
interviews with finalists by mid-May and make a hire early in June. Our process is on
schedule.
Most importantly, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize all of our
teachers. Tuesday, May 9 is National Teacher Appreciation Day. I'd like to share with you
a quote by Frosty Troy, a newspaper editor and TV commentator, that I think expresses just
how important a role you play every day for each of our 63,000 students.
"I like to think that the greatest success of any life is that moment when a
teacher touches a child's heart and it is never again the same ... Everything America is
or ever hopes to be depends on what happens in our schools' classrooms."
Have a great last three weeks of school!
Mary Belle McCorkle, Ed.D.
Board Report
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