Focus on TUSD - October 2007

Board Presents Honorary Tucson High Diploma to John Michel
At its regular meeting on Oct. 9, the Governing Board members started the meeting by moving Item 5 - "Recommended Budget Cuts for the 2007-2008 School Year" - to the top of the agenda, saying they wanted to remove middle school athletics from a list of recommended budget cuts. Superintendent Roger F. Pfeuffer said staff initially believed cost savings would be greater than the estimated $56,000 that would have come from switching to intramural sports at middle schools. Middle school athletics was removed from the list and Item 5 was tabled for later discussion.

Governing Board members then presented an honorary diploma from Tucson High to Hohokam Middle School Principal John Michel, who dropped out of school and never received a high school diploma.

"It gives me great pleasure to recognize a friend and colleague who has devoted most of his professional life to public education and Tucson Unified School District," said Superintendent Roger F. Pfeuffer, in discussing Michel. "This educator is a product of TUSD; he attended Sam Hughes and Jefferson Park elementary schools; Mansfeld Junior High; and Tucson High School, from where he dropped out in 1960 to join the U.S. Navy. After a four- year stint in the Navy, he returned to Tucson, worked for a while in construction and eventually graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in education."

Throughout his long career as a classroom teacher and principal of Davidson, Roskruge, Booth/Fickett and Hohokam schools, he has regretted dropping out of high school and never receiving a high school diploma, said Pfeuffer.

"TUSD has been my home for over 45 years," said Michel in expressing his appreciation. I'm overwhelmed," he said.

In other action, board members voted to name the Sahuaro High School performing arts portion of the Egbert Auditorium in honor of Dr. David Ashcraft, who retired in May. The facility will now be known as the David Ashcraft Center for the Performing Arts.

The board removed Item 5 from the table and went through the list of approximately 17 proposed budget cuts totaling $9.5 million. Pfeuffer said the $9.5 million represented $5.8 or $5.9 in employee pay raises; $2 million that should be returned to a contingency fund; and more than $1 million that is needed for Exceptional Education and Transportation, both which overspent their budgets last year.

Pfeuffer explained that he wanted to leave the District fiscally sound for the next superintendent.

The bulk of the budget savings, $5.5 milllion, would come from a freeze in vacancies and a hire slow down. Included on the list to cut are school council budgets; obsolete school crossings; bus routes outside of Board policy; Library Technical Services; department discretionary budgets; 21 bus monitors for RIF; two full-time positions at the Educational Materials Center; contract services for a 2007 override election; field trips paid out of maintenance and operations funds; Camp Cooper (relocate staff); the TUSD Clothing Bank - change the method of service delivery; combine office managers with attendance position in eight schools with low enrollments; reduce custodial staff at same eight schools by "moth balling" space; move one custodian from 1010 to fill an open school position; and redirect a full-time position in the community Resolution Center.