Marana board approves Title I staff, special‑needs van driver, Prop 123 stipends and schedules executive session on superintendent evaluation

At its meeting, the Marana Unified School District governing board approved multiple administrative and personnel actions, including additional Title I staffing at several elementary schools, the addition of one special‑needs van driver for the remainder of the 2024–25 school year, and a two‑payment distribution of Proposition 123 funds to employees. The board also voted to convene an executive session to discuss the superintendent's evaluation under Arizona law.

Title I staffing: District staff said carry‑forward funds from the ESSA consolidated entitlement grant made the hires possible. The board approved the addition of the following positions effective immediately: one full‑time reading specialist at Butterfield Elementary School; two Title I paraprofessionals at DeGrazia Elementary School; one Title I paraprofessional at Estes Elementary School; two Title I paraprofessionals at Picture Rocks Elementary School; one intervention specialist at Quail Run Elementary School; and one reading specialist at Roadrunner Elementary School. A board member asked for clarification on the paraprofessional role; staff explained Title I paraprofessionals are classroom support staff who must complete a para‑pro certification process tied to federal funding requirements.

Special‑needs van driver: The board approved adding one permanent special‑needs van driver for the remainder of the 2024–25 school year, effective Dec. 13, 2024. District staff said the district began the year with seven permanent van drivers, routes expanded to 11 and some routes are being covered by trained bus attendants; adding the driver will allow a bus attendant to move into a permanent position and create a vacancy for a new attendant.

Proposition 123 stipends: The board approved distributing its Proposition 123 allocation to employees as two one‑time stipends. Staff reported the district's Prop 123 allocation for the year is $852,061. When that sum is calculated across staff FTE, the figure presented was $381.8 per FTE; the recommendation, adopted by the board, spreads that amount over two payments—one in December 2024 and one in May 2025—resulting in approximately $190.54 per payment per full‑time equivalent. The stipend amounts will be prorated for employees with less than 1.0 FTE.

Consent agenda and executive session: The board approved the consent agenda as presented. Later the board voted to enter executive session pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes §38‑431.03(A)(1) to discuss personnel matters related to the superintendent's evaluation.

All the above motions passed on voice votes reported by the board; no roll‑call tallies with dissent or abstentions were recorded on the public transcript.