Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Board Meeting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Gadsden Elementary board approves policy revision, London travel for band staff and routine personnel and disposal actions
Summary
The Gadsden Elementary School District No. 32 Governing Board on Nov. 12 approved a revision to staff digital-communications policy, authorized district-paid travel for additional marching-band staff to a Jan. 1, 2025 London parade, ratified personnel actions and approved multiple equipment disposals and donations; the board also heard a public complaint about a bus driver.
Gadsden Elementary School District No. 32’s Governing Board met Nov. 12 and approved a package of routine administrative business, including a revision to Policy GBEF (staff use of digital communications), travel expenses for additional marching-band staff to attend a Jan. 1, 2025 New Year’s Parade in London, several disposals and a donation of instructional materials, and a slate of personnel actions.
Superintendent Lizette Esparza opened the meeting at 6:01 p.m. and recognized three Ed Pastor employees as employees of the month. Esparza told the board the district is ranked first in Yuma County and 46th among 140 districts statewide. Linda Padilla briefed the board on an Arizona Department of Education school-safety grant that will fund one school counselor and two resource officers for SLMS and SWJH.
During public comment, Efren Grijalva raised a complaint about a Route 24 bus driver, alleging the driver accused his daughter of eating cupcakes on the bus and grabbed the student’s hand after she got off the bus; Grijalva asked whether the driver had been suspended while the district investigated. The board took no vote on the complaint during the meeting.
On action items, the board approved the administration’s recommended revision to Policy GBEF (Staff Use of Digital Communications and Electronic Devices). The board also voted to cover travel expenses for five additional music teachers and the district nurse to accompany band staff whose director-level travel is being covered by parade officials. The board approved an intergovernmental agreement to participate in the Southern Yuma County Interscholastic Association for junior-high athletics for FY2024–25 and accepted the Gifted Education Scope and Sequence, which district staff said is required by the Arizona Department of Education.
Chief Financial Officer Robert Bernhard presented several requests to dispose of equipment and capital items. The board approved multiple disposal methods: public auctions for transportation equipment, student desks and chairs, a poster maker and other equipment; and recycling at no cost to the district for nursing equipment through a vendor listed in the materials. The board approved donation of instructional aids and books to Escuela Primaria Professor Ventura G. Tena; the transcript records an inconsistent vote log for that item but concludes the item was approved.
Personnel matters — including ratifications of new hires, resignations, and transfers and salary changes — were presented and approved. The board scheduled its next meeting for Dec. 10, 2024 and adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
The meeting record shows routine approvals across finance, facilities and personnel and a public safety concern raised about transportation. No formal disciplinary outcome for the bus-driver complaint was recorded at the meeting; the board did not take a vote on any disciplinary action during the session.
