InMaricopa
Maricopa High School basketball players gather around masked head coach Paul Gretkierewicz during a March 2021 game. Photo by Sammantha Herbaugh
A variety of COVID-19 mitigation measures allowed the Maricopa Unified School District to reopen classrooms and enable students to learn in person.
Many of those expensive measures were paid for with federal stimulus funds.
According to MUSD business manager Jacob Harmon, the district has received $7.2 million in federal stimulus monies over the past year, with another $9.5 million pledged but not yet received.
All told, MUSD will receive a total of $16.7 million to address needs arising from the pandemic. The initial payment came in the form of a $1.5 million Enrollment Stabilization Grant, Harmon said.
InMaricopa
The Maricopa Unified School District is getting ready to invest in a new science curriculum.
The district is evaluating potential vendors to provide both curriculum and textbooks to all the district’s K-12 schools at a cost of about $1.7 million.
According to the district, the Teaching and Learning department is responsible for the adoption process, which starts with teachers voting on the curriculum, followed by Governing Board approval, purchase of the materials and delivery, which will come in time for the start of the 2021-22 school year.
Student achievement data will be reviewed each semester using benchmark data and yearly using state assessment data.
InMaricopa
Torri Anderson, a member of the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board, listens at Wednesday night s meeting. Photo by Jay Taylor
The Maricopa Unified School District tackled two issues appropriate to the fast-approaching end of the school year at its governing board meeting Wednesday – retirement and vacations.
The district voted 5-0 to approve retaining Educational Services Inc. as its vendor for staffing placement services for both certified and classified personnel for the 2021-22 school year. This is important to many employees who may be eligible for state retirement but wish to keep working in their current position.
When district personnel want to “retire and rehire,” Arizona law requires them to work for an outside entity for one year before they can return to work for the district.
MUSD gets nearly $2M for repairs, upgrades inmaricopa.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from inmaricopa.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
InMaricopa
For the second straight session, state Rep. Bret Roberts introduced
legislation, House Bill 2068, in January seeking $35 million
toward construction of an overpass on SR347 at Riggs
Road, the most dangerous intersection on the 13-mile
stretch between I-10 and the Maricopa city limits. Photo by Merenzi Young / Eye of Odin Studios
Roberts works to speed SR347 improvements
Bret Roberts drives the dangerous highway a dozen times a week for most of the year.
The Maricopa resident has seen serious accidents on State Route 347, sat in its traffic and witnessed people driving recklessly on the four-lane highway with three high-speed intersections, daring to become another statistic.