Phoenix Union board narrows and rewords guardrails, sets attendance target and outreach plan

Phoenix Union High School District trustees spent much of an April 3 retreat revising a set of proposed "guardrails" that would tell Superintendent Shauna Andrade what the board expects the district to stop allowing or to make a priority, and agreed to take the revised items into the community for feedback and to ask the superintendent for measurable interim actions.

The board focused first on an academics guardrail aimed at ensuring campus leaders are accountable and that staffing decisions consider campus performance. After extended wording changes, trustees agreed to a streamlined sentence: "The superintendent shall not fail to address leadership and staff that negatively impact a school's performance and will consider the school's performance levels when making assignments and evaluating their contributions to proven outcomes," wording Superintendent Andrade said she would use to return measurable interim steps.

Why it matters: trustees framed guardrails as a tool to give the superintendent a clear directive and to hold her publicly accountable on matters the board campaigned on. Dr. Julio Ramos, the retreat facilitator, told trustees the intent of the framing was to remove “wiggle room” so the community sees action. "You're telling her, we don't want this to be an issue anymore," Ramos said during the discussion.

What the board…