Scottsdale Unified School District No Dream Too Big . . . No Challenge Too Great

The Governing Board, parents and community members heard Public Information Officer Tom Herrmann’s presentation regarding the district’s Literature Distribution Policy.

Mr. Herrmann proposed a two-part Literature Distribution Policy-one for parent groups and one for outside organizations.

Changes to the parent organization Literature Distribution Policy include school related organizations are responsible for the cost of printing and bundling all communications; a telephone number directly from the school-related organization must be prominently displayed on communication; the district and its schools will not distribute or display communications that cause the district to violate state or federal laws or its policies, promote illegal activities for minors, promote illegal discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion, national origin, or disability, contain words, symbols or images that would be regarded as lewd, obscene, vulgar or plainly offensive if communicated by a student or on school grounds; defame a person or organization; and threaten serious disruption of the school or school-sponsored activity.

Changes for outside organizations include the district and schools will not mail promotional material to parents/guardians and are not authorized to directly distribute promotional materials to student and their parents on school grounds; outside organizations that wish to distribute promotional materials at only one school must send a sample of the material to the school principal; organizations that wish to distribute to more than one school must send a sample of the promotional material to the district’s public information officer; promotional materials shall be confined to one sheet of paper no larger than 8 1/2 by 11 inches, unless the school principal or public information officer determines that the size or length will not create an unreasonable distribution burden; and, as required by federal law, the district will not deny an outside organization the opportunity to distribute or display promotional material because the offered program, activity or event will be provided from a religious, philosophical or political perspective.

Governing Board members Christine Schild and Joel Feldman have been working with Attorney Tom Pickrell, Miller, LaSota & Peters, to develop two proposed flyer policies for the Governing Board to consider.

The Administration requested Board direction on a new policy to govern the distribution of flyers from sources outside the schools and school district. The district has been under a Board-approved moratorium on flyer distribution since September.

The Board requested that the two proposed Literature Distribution Policies be brought back at the May 11 Board Meeting as a Consent Agenda item.

In other action, the Board:

• Voted 3-2 not to hire Ms. Julie Pace to audit the Lewis & Roca legal bills.
   
• Approved the Employment Agreement for Dr. John Baracy.
   
• Discussed the timeline for a bond election. The timeline includes establishing a dollar amount for the bond; authorizing district administrators to prepare a resolution to bring back to the Board on May 11; and preparing the ballot question and ballot pamphlet in early June.
   
• Heard information regarding legal representation guidelines. A sub-committee will review the guidelines and the item will be brought back to the May 11 Board Meeting.
   
• Heard information regarding the policy regarding immunizations of students. The Arizona Schools Boards Association recommends Policy JLCB-R- Immunizations of Students. The policy has been revised to reflect the requirements for children in Maricopa County to be immunized for Hepatitis A.
   
  The Board requested that the item be brought back on the May 11 Agenda.
   
• Accepted gifts valued at $74,305. The gifts were received from Arcadia Baseball Boosters, Arcadia Pride Inc., Desert Mountain Boosters, Desert Mountain Dance Council, Pima Student Council, Saguaro Caring Committee Club, Saguaro Football Club, Saguaro Senior Class, Saguaro Softball Boosters, Tonalea Student Council, Arcadia PTO, Cherokee APT, Cheyenne PTO, Cochise APT, Desert Mountain PTO, Friends of A.N.L.C., Ingleside PTO, Mountainside PTO, Sequoya APT, Tavan PTA, Dr. Don Chiapetti, J. F. Shea Corp, Sheila and Stephen Lieberman, McDonalds, National Optical Astronomy Observatory, N.D.C. Health, Liana Reynolds, Frank Shupnik, Target, Wal-Mart and Wells Fargo .
  

The next Governing Board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 11 at the Education Center.

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