Written by Anita Christy with contributing reporter, Denine Driggs It was quite the evening at the November 5 Higley School Board Meeting. On the agenda was a vote to hire Core Construction Company to build a new elementary school,
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Please Stand Up for Michelle Anderson!
Ms. Michelle Anderson ran an excellent campaign for Higley School board. She lost by only 93 votes. With the recent resignation of board member Denise Standage, one would think that Ms. Anderson would be the most likely person to fill the position. However, Higley’s Superintendent Dr. Birdwell and Board President Venessa Whitener ignored her and submitted three other names to the Maricopa County School Superintendent Don Covey for consideration.
Please read Ms. Anderson’s statement below, and then send an email to Dr. Covey and copy Maricopa County Supervisor Denny Barney, asking that Ms. Anderson be chosen. Here are their email addresses: Don.Covey@mcesa.maricopa.gov and barneyd@mail.maricopa.gov.
Superintendent Covey is not required to select one of the three names submitted. The next step as far as the County is concerned is to hold a Nominee Seminar as a kind of combination training and job interview. Superintendent Covey has to choose the new Board member within a week after the Nominating Seminar.
Superintendent Covey will be inclined to pick from Dr. Birdwell’s list. The only way it will turn out differently is if voters let their voices be heard!
Here is a statement from Ms. Anderson:
Read moreAZ Central’s Mark Olalde’s $10,000 Plus OOOPS!
by Rebecca Jarman
Candidate for Higley School Board
AZ Central’s reporter Mark Olalde’s article, seen here, creates the exact "political spin" which I speak of in my November 10 Rebecca Jarman for Higley Facebook post.
Olalde’s failure to mention the Keeping Higley Strong PAC’s campaign finance report, with its $10,000 plus in donations/expenditures for support of Whitener and Wojtovich, Superintendent Birdwell’s publically declared favorites, has duped the community into the false belief that similar amounts were spent on all four of the candidate’s campaigns for the two open positions on the HUSD Governing Board.
Read moreVenessa Whitener’s $57 Million Oops, by Jake Hoffman
Current Higley board president, Venessa Whitener, is ardently defending her $57 million mistake in an attempt to win her re-election bid. Even folks like Ryan Smith, son of failed gubernatorial candidate and former Mayor Scott Smith, have attempted to defend
Read moreHigley’s $300 Million Debacle
by Jake Hoffman, Governing Board Higley Unified School District With an emphatic “yes” vote from Venessa Whitener, now Board President, a $300,000,000 anchor was tied to the neck of the Higley school district, leveraging millions of future classroom dollars every
Read moreThe Higley School Board Election, by Denine Driggs
Gilbert Watch thanks Denine Driggs, a Higley resident, for providing the following post. Elections for Higley School Board are coming up Nov. 4. Early ballots went out Oct 9. Four candidates are running for the two available seats on the school
Read moreHigley School Board Candidate Greg Wojtovich: Conflict Of Interest?
Mr. Greg Wojtovich, candidate for the Higley School board, hasn’t hidden the fact that his daughter, Ms. Stephanie Wojtovich, is an art teacher at Coronado Elementary. Click HERE regarding Ms. Wojtovich’s status as an employee of the Higley School District.
Read moreWhy do Voters say YES to Overrides?
Shane Stapley of GilbertSchools.Info/ has uncovered the answer. It’s because the Unions have figured out how to "motivate and manipulate" the parents and community. Alana Charnofsky, president of the Higley Education Association (aka "the union") has instructed teachers on how
Read moreHigley Superintendent Birdwell’s $500 Donation to Venessa Whitener Raises Ethical Concerns
A recent article appeared in Shane Stapley’s GilbertSchools.Info/ titled "Higley’s Birdwell Makes $500 Donation to Whitener prior to Superintendent’s Evaluation." So, is it a big deal that Higley Unified School District Superintendent Denise Birdwell has donated $500 to incumbent school board president
Read moreHigley Unified School District Town Hall Meeting 1/16/2014
by Greg Hansen
Resident in LD12 and HUSD and Gilbert Taxpayer
The Higley Unified School District (HUSD) Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, January 16, 2014 addressed two topics:
#1 what information do parents currently receive from the district, school, and classroom?
#2 what information do parents want to receive from the district, school, and classroom?
There were about 20-25 parents who sat in small groups around tables. A proctor used a PowerPoint presentation to lead parents through discussion sessions regarding communication at the district, school, and classroom level. After each prompt, groups were allowed to discuss, write notes on a presentation-board, and give results to the overall group. This was not necessarily a time to ask the proctor questions; rather, this was a time to list what communication parents currently receive and what parents want to additionally receive.
The overarching consensus of the Town Hall Meeting was that parents wanted more—more flyers, more information, more updates, and more notices. At the same time, it was obvious that parents were not reading the majority of information already available to them. Many parents were candid that the large volume of information already available and a lack of interest in following school policy and politics contributed to their lack of zeal.
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