Gilbert staff outline Mesquite High "ASU experience" amendment to instructional-time model

At a June 10 public hearing, Gilbert Public Schools officials described the Mesquite ASU Experience — an amendment to the district’s instructional-time model that will let a small cohort of Mesquite High School juniors and seniors attend in-person Arizona State University Polytechnic classes part-time while remaining enrolled at Mesquite.

District staff said the program will begin as a limited pilot and emphasized logistics: students will start their mornings at Mesquite, ride district transportation to ASU Polytechnic, attend university courses in the morning and return to Mesquite for lunch and additional classes and supports. Staff said the district will submit an Instructional Time Model (ITM) description to the Arizona Department of Education and return to the governing board with additional implementation details on June 24.

District leaders said the Mesquite ASU Experience uses a multi-campus instruction model that mixes in-person university classes, on-campus high school instruction and online ‘‘Universal Learning Courses’’ (ULCs) through ASU. Marguerite Brown, assistant principal at Mesquite High School, told the board students will follow ASU’s class schedule (Monday/Wednesday/Friday and Tuesday/Thursday patterns) and attend roughly 9 credit hours of in-person ASU courses plus ULCs; if students begin the program as juniors and persist through senior year staff estimate they could accumulate as many as about 42 university credit hours.

Krista Cox, introduced by staff as “director of secondary CIA,” said the pilot differs from the district’s Global Academy ITM only in logistics: location, tuition/fee collection, calendar alignment and attendance tracking. Cox said Mesquite will act as the enrolling high school and will be responsible for tuition under the district’s intergovernmental agreement with ASU: parents would be charged $110 per ASU credit (the district said this matches existing dual-enrollment family rates) while the district will cover the remaining tuition costs for ASU courses. Finance staff later gave a working estimate that ASU charges roughly $600 per three-credit course; with parents’ $330 share paid up front, the district would absorb the remainder.

Board members asked detailed questions about eligibility, capacity, schedules, supports and contingencies. Brown said ASU held 15 seats for the district; Mesquite received 12 applications and accepted 10 students for the initial cohort. Staff described an application process that required a written application, a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.7 and an in-person interview with school leaders. Cox and Brown emphasized selectivity: “This isn’t for every kid,” Brown said, because university coursework requires a higher level of academic independence and support.

Staff discussed calendar differences between ASU and the district, explaining that ULCs give students a flexible, year-long window to complete 1–3 credit university courses so calendar mismatches do not interrupt progress. Attendance will be taken daily either at the Mesquite campus or at ASU upon arrival; the district will designate a student success adviser on the ASU site who is responsible both for attendance and for day-to-day support. Staff said transportation will generally use existing routes (the same morning route that serves EVIT students) and that families were notified about the program’s calendar shifts and the limited number of dates that fall outside the district calendar.

Board members also asked what would happen if students fell behind. Brown said the district has exit procedures: if a student earns a D grade in a university semester the district’s draft handbook provides that the student will be removed from the program and returned to full-time Mesquite High enrollment the following semester so they can continue toward a high-school diploma. Staff said the district and Mesquite administrative teams are working on a handbook, website materials and a curricular alignment review to ensure high-school credit and diploma alignment with ASU courses.

Staff described next steps: the district leadership team will file the ITM description with the Arizona Department of Education (an informational amendment under board-approved ITM procedures), continue curricular alignment work so ASU credits count properly toward Mesquite graduation requirements, finalize student/parent materials, and return to the board with a brief on June 24. No board vote on a program approval or ITM change was taken at the June 10 hearing.

Why it matters: the pilot offers an early-college pathway that could let a small number of students graduate high school with substantial university credit, but it raises trade-offs about time on campus, cohorting and cost. Board members expressed both enthusiasm and reservations: some said the offer could bolster Mesquite’s identity and enrollment; others warned about students missing traditional high-school experiences and urged careful monitoring and a conservative, staged rollout.

What’s next: staff will finalize program materials over the summer, proceed with the ITM description filing, and present follow-up information and answers to specific board questions at the June 24 meeting. The district will track enrollment, student success, tuition invoicing and any calendar/transportation gaps during the pilot year.