Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Participatory Budgeting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Higley Unified students present participatory budgeting projects to governing board
Summary
Students from multiple Higley Unified School District campuses presented student-driven participatory budgeting proposals to the district cabinet and governing board, reporting campus votes and the winning projects — from filtered water fountains and window wraps to outdoor misting fans and playground upgrades.
Students from across the Higley Unified School District presented the results of school participatory budgeting projects to district leaders and the governing board, describing how classroom idea collection, student committees and campus voting produced tangible winners that district staff will purchase and install before the next school year.
“My name is David Lotzenizer. I’m the superintendent,” said David Lotzenizer, who opened the event and thanked staff and student leaders for organizing the first district-wide participatory budgeting presentations. A district staff member who coordinated the event explained logistics and acknowledged sponsors Center for the Future of Arizona and Arizona State University.
Student councils and steering committees from elementary, middle and high schools described the same three-step process: gathering ideas from every class, narrowing submissions into proposals with staff review, and holding a campus-wide vote. Cruz Garcia, vice president of the Bridges Elementary student council, said the school collected ideas from kindergarten through sixth grade and selected filtered drinking fountains as the winning project after classroom ballots and electronic voting.
Centennial Elementary students reported using suggestion boxes and mixed paper/electronic balloting; they said 589 students participated and the winning project was a custom window wrap, which received 374 votes to 215 for sports equipment. Coronado Elementary students said their ‘‘ultimate recess remix’’ — new recess equipment including Gaga and additional playground balls — won their vote and will be added to the campus.
High school and middle school presenters described larger-scale outreach. Higley High students said roughly 600 responses were collected and that a proposal for outdoor misting fans won majority support; students and organizers said installation is expected over the summer. Multiple elementary campuses reported winners that include turf replacements, gym wraps, playground upgrades, a new volleyball net and media center renovations, and in at least one case leftover funds were used to buy a second-place water fountain.
Students emphasized learning outcomes as well as campus improvements. A student presenter told the board the process taught responsibility, teamwork and the civic mechanics of voting; other students described contacting vendors, estimating costs to fit a $5,000 budget at some schools, and verifying votes in a supervised process.
District staff said finance is processing purchases and shipping so that projects can be set up before students return next school year, though the transcript did not include a formal calendar or precise delivery dates. A board member thanked the students for their work and said the projects give staff ideas about campus needs.
The presentations concluded with board and district praise for student leaders, and organizers reminded attendees that this year’s participatory budgeting projects will be implemented with district procurement and installation support.
