Board approves $7,000 Project Momentum IGA for Mile High Middle School support

The Prescott Unified School District governing board voted to approve an intergovernmental agreement with the Arizona Department of Education under the Project Momentum Arizona program to support Mile High Middle School.

Kelsey (staff member) said the IGA provides $7,000 that Mile High can use for professional development targeted to areas identified by the school and its principal partner. "The nice part is they can send them to training or they can bring trainers in, and they can train everybody," Kelsey said, describing the funds as flexible professional-development money.

Kelsey told the board the Project Momentum framework centers on six "gears," including professional learning communities and four essential PLC questions: what students should know, how staff will know they learned it, which instructional strategies teachers will use, and responses when students do or do not learn the content. Administration said many of Mile High's improvements last year (longer class periods, common formative assessments, PLC time) already align with Project Momentum and that the school expects to score well on upcoming accountability measures.

Staff described the IGA as mandatory because Mile High received a D letter grade two years earlier. Kelsey said the timing felt awkward because the school has already implemented improvements and the state notified the district late; administration said the one-year Project Momentum engagement differs from longer multi-year implementations used in some districts.

The board approved the IGA by voice vote after discussion. No individual tally was recorded on the public transcript.