Superintendent Dennis Blauser and SaddleBrooke resident Barbara Treick
At least once a year the Oracle School District Governing Board holds a school board meeting in a location other than the District boardroom. Last year the meeting was held at SaddleBrooke Ranch. This year the Board met at SaddleBrooke in the MountainView Clubhouse.
As with last year, the Mt. Vista Elementary School orchestra performed at the meeting. The 12 second-year music students set up in the lobby of the clubhouse and, led by their music teacher Kaitlyn Miller, played a few songs to include a couple of holiday numbers. LaVerne Tucker, a SaddleBrooke resident who attended the board meeting, said she enjoyed the students’ music very much. It is important to note that the music program was reinstated only two years ago after voters approved locally supported funding on an override renewal. Ms. Miller is thrilled to be working with the Mt. Vista students and is very pleased with the progress they’ve made in two short years.
After Board President Jeff McClure called the meeting to order, Superintendent Dennis Blauser provided information on the Every Student Succeeds Act, which Congress passed this year, largely returning responsibility for education back to the states. Superintendent Blauser also unveiled his final draft of a new academic achievement report. It will primarily be an internal tool for the board and staff to track progress on achievement improvement he explained, but some parts of it will likely be used in reports to the public. The report shows progress in many areas such as AzMERIT testing reading scores which are up an average of six percentage points in all grades in 2016 over 2015. Barbara Treick, another community member attending the meeting, noted all the acronyms that were used in the discussion and said she was glad Superintendent Blauser and board members took the time to explain them. “It was obvious,” she said, “there are many complex issues for a school district to deal with.”
Two additional attendees, Jack and Janice Hacking, said they were impressed with the professional manner in which the meeting was conducted. They also stated they felt fairly informed about District happenings because of the regular briefings they receive from Board members Jeff McClure and Jeri Taylor at the SaddleBrooke Republican Club meetings.
The Oracle School District Governing Board welcomes the public to their Board meetings, normally held the third Thursday of every month in the Oracle School District Office located at 725 N. Carpenter Drive, Oracle, Arizona 85623. More information about the District can be found on their website at www.OSD2.org, where you’ll also find the capability to make an online tax credit donation to the District. These tax credit donations are a one-for-one reduction to your state taxes and help fund a variety of needs for the District. Interested in becoming even more involved? The Oracle Schools Foundation would welcome your participation. Go to www.OracleSchoolsFoundation.com for more information.