Dispelling rumors: free A+ grades?
To Concerned Citizens of Lake Havasu City:
On Thursday, February 25, a "State of the Schools" meeting was held at Jamaica Elementary to inform parents of the dire budget situation in the State of Arizona and how it affects Lake Havasu Unified School District.
A school is being closed, programs are at risk of being cut, there is a reduction in force, enrollment is down, and our current budget override is being phased out over three years. We felt it was imperative that parents hear the facts.
In order to get parents to hear the facts about the current reality we decided to hold a meeting at each school site. (The next meeting will be at Nautilus Elementary at 6:30 p.m. on March 25th.) Normally when we have a parent meeting about 20 people, at the most, attend. So to be sure to get the maximum number of parents to attend each meeting, the schools all agreed that we would use a one time incentive.
At Jamaica we decided to give no homework on the night of the meeting but instead, a student's "homework" was to bring their parents to the meeting. Teachers were in the classrooms to babysit children and show a video with popcorn while the parents were in the gym attending the meeting. The teachers told the students that, if their parents came to the meeting, they would be able to earn ONE 100%. This could replace one regular grade on one assignment during this quarter. In essence it was simply giving points for accomplishing something important. In Kindergarten the students got to choose a prize from their treasure box instead.
Because we knew this would be the one and only time we would ever try to get every parent to attend, we used this incentive. We do not normally do this because expectations are extremely high at Jamaica. We felt it was an appropriate incentive for students at the elementary level.
We continue to hold parent forums to update parents on The State of the School District. We have a responsibility to keep our parents informed. We have attached the PowerPoint we are using at the meetings. You can see we begin by talking about 21st Century skills and then get into finances. As our resources are reduced, tough decisions will need to be made. We would like to make sure our parents are part of the decision making process. People need to be informed to make good decisions.
Thank you.
Gail Malay
Superintendent of Schools
"State of the Schools" informational meetings: Nautilus meeting is March 25
Superintendent Malay or a representative will be holding "State of the Schools" meetings at each district school. The meetings will give parents, grandparents, guardians, and any interested citizens an opportunity to hear the latest about all the significant issues facing the school district. All meetings will be in school gyms/multipurpose rooms at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted below. All are welcome to attend.
- March 25: Nautilus Elementary School, 6:30 p.m. (time change) Child care will be provided. Kindergarten registration for the 2010-11 school year will be held at 5:30 p.m. More...
- April 1: Daytona Middle School, 6 p.m. (time change)
- April 6: Lake Havasu High School, in the Performing Arts Center.
- April 8: Oro Grande Elementary School
- April 22: Smoketree Elementary School, 6 p.m.
- April 29: Starline Elementary School, 6 p.m. (time change)
- May 6: Havasupai Elementary School (date change)
- The Jamaica Elementary meeting is over. Thank you Jamaica for being a great
host. Superintendent Malay mentioned
two important web sites.
https://servicearizona.com/webapp/evoter/ to register to vote.
http://tinyurl.com/yhqojwa if you are interested in helping the override committee. There are big jobs and there are small jobs. All volunteers are welcome and appreciated.
- The Thunderbolt meeting is over. It was preceded by an entertaining basketball event with one game matching the TBolt girl's basketball team against a team of faculty women, and a second game with the boy's basketball team against faculty men. Faculty women lost. Faculty men won, but the boy's put up a good fight. The bleachers were packed with parents and students for the basketball. The school band played fight songs and music teacher Sarah Patrick tried to get the audience to do the wave, with mixed results. After the games, parents moved to the school cafeteria to hear superintendent Malay's "State of the Schools" presentation. Our thanks to faculty and student athletes and to all who attended this Thunderbolt special event night.
Superintendent talks about many issues in latest TV 45 interview
Superintendent Malay was on the TV 45 "Havasu Today" program on February 19, and talked about many issues that concern LHUSD parents, grandparents, guardians, or anyone who cares about the education of our community's children. Go to our video page for a link. We have also added a new newspaper article written by the superintendent to our articles page. Articles and videos are always available via the navigation bar near the top of this page. Just click Articles+ and then By Staff or Video.
LHHS offers bowling events
The Lake Havasu High School Athletic Boosters are holding a fundraising bowling event at Havasu Lanes on March 28 from 1–4 p.m. You don't have to be a great bowler to enjoy yourself at this event. Special prizes will be awarded to the funniest bowler, the worst bowler, etc. Your entry fee ($15 for adults and $12 for students) and food purchases during the event will help support LHHS athletic programs. Advance sign-up is required. Details
Governing board votes to close Daytona Middle School
Acting on what superintendent Malay called "a difficult recommendation," the Lake Havasu Unified governing board, on February 16, voted unanimously to close Daytona Middle School at the end of the current school year. The board also approved reconfiguring our elementary schools from serving grades K–5 to serving K–6, and our one remaining middle school from serving grades 6–8 to serving only 7 and 8. These changes will be in effect for the 2010–11 school year. With these changes, enrollment at Thunderbolt Middle School is expected to stay about the same, but enrollment at our elementary schools will increase.
At this meeting, the board also heard about two Lake Havasu high School teachers and a High School student who have been recognized for achievement by the Arizona Department of Education, and the board approved a renegotiated contract for speech pathology services that will save the district $23,550.
Read more about the 2/16 board meeting. »
LHHS SkillsUSA students dominate regionals
Over the years, Lake Havasu High School students have made a very impressive showing at regional, state, and even national SkillsUSA (previously known as VICA) competitive events. Each new school year, LHHS students participating in the SkillsUSA program have a tough act to follow, trying to live up to the high standard set by previous competitors from their school, but they continue to amaze us. The SkillsUSA regional competition was just held, and LHHS students won 21 of the 24 medals they competed for.
Read more about the SkillsUSA 2010 regionals. »
Online override interest survey
The Lake Havasu Unified School District governing board has not yet made a decision on whether or not to put a budget override on the November ballot. Meanwhile, just in case, an override interest survey has been posted online. If the district does decide to try for an override in November, volunteers will be needed to work for the independent override committee. If you would be interested in helping out, please take the survey at http://tinyurl.com/yhqojwa. There will be big jobs and small jobs. Whatever your degree of participation, you can make a difference.
Jamaica Elementary nominated for national "Blue Ribbon School" award
The regular January meeting of the Lake Havasu Unified governing board was held on January 12. During the meeting, superintendent Malay told the board that Jamaica Elementary School was one of five Arizona schools nominated for the U. S. Department of Education's "Blue Ribbon School" award. In other business, the board approved the first reading of significant changes to district policies for personnel matters. The changes must be presented a second time at a future board meeting for final approval. If approved, assistant superintendent Goodwin told the board the policy changes would not be implemented until July 1, 2010.
More about the January 12 meeting. »
Local newspaper writes about High School solar project
The last official district action on the proposed Lake Havasu High School solar project happened at a special meeting on September 22 when the LHUSD governing board voted to negotiate a contract for the project with APS Energy Services. Specific details are still being worked out. Meanwhile, our local newspaper ran three articles about the project which you can read by clicking the links below. The articles are informative, but remember, statements and opinions of others do not necessarily represent the opinions and beliefs of Lake Havasu Unified School District staff.
School district officials emphasize two details: the project will not go forward without a satisfactory agreement with the contractor and the local utility company, and there must be no expense to the district beyond what it already pays for energy at the High School. In the short term, money currently used to pay for energy will be used to pay down any project costs not covered by credits, rebates, etc. In the long term, the district will own the equipment and the only expense will be maintenance.
Bus transportation for middle school students in 2010-11
We are receiving phone calls and emails asking about the budget cuts first proposed at the December 1 board meeting. Some have asked about bussing/student transport if Daytona Middle School is closed. So far, it is anticipated district policy would remain the same in that middle school students living more than one mile from their school would be eligible for transportation. Thunderbolt would be the only middle school (under the proposal), and it would service only grades 7 and 8. So 7th and 8th graders living more than one mile from Thunderbolt would be eligible for transportation. Under the proposal, 6th graders would attend elementary schools, and would no longer be eligible for transportation. As always, parents with eligible students must sign up for bus transportation. This is done as part of the school registration process that happens a few days before school starts.
Banners reward achievement
The Arizona Department of Education recently released its AZ LEARNS School Achievement Profile ratings for 2008-09. Jamaica, Nautilus, Oro Grande, Smoketree, and Starline Elementary Schools plus Thunderbolt Middle School were all rated as "Excelling" (the highest rating). Nautilus, Smoketree, and Oro Grande had each improved their rating from the 07-08 school year. To honor their achievement, district superintendent Gail Malay and director of educational services Wes Brownfield visited the three schools on October 26 and presented each building principal with a special banner identifying their school as excelling.
Read more about LHUSD school achievement ratings. »
See banner presentations for Nautilus, Smoketree, and Oro Grande. »
Swine Flu
We know parents are concerned about swine flu and their children's health, and so are we. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) maintains a swine flu question and answer website at www.cdc.gov/swineflu/swineflu_you.htm. The site answers questions like, "What can I do to protect myself from getting sick?" and is a good source of reliable information. There is also a dedicated flu website at www.flu.gov/psa/index.html. This site features informative videos with Sesame Street characters and other celebrity spokespersons. And, read our latest letter to parents with information about precautions you can take.
District exceeds county and state averages on AIMS tests
With PowerPoint slides containing multiple graphs, Wes Brownfield, our director of educational services, told our governing board how Lake Havasu Unified students had exceeded county and state averages at all levels of 2009 AIMS (Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards) testing. Mr. Brownfield spoke to the board at its regular meeting on August 11, explaining that he was, "personally very proud of our staff and students."
We now have a copy of Mr. Brownfield's PowerPoint presentation available. You will find a link to the presentation and to more about the board meeting just below. You can always read about the most recent board meeting by going to the Governing Board/Last Meeting link in the Quick Links menu to the left.
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