MUSD to update plans for Distance Learning, construction of 2nd high school

Wednesday, updates on the Distance Learning plan and the second high school are up for discussion at a meeting of the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board.

Teaching and Learning Director Krista Roden and Curriculum and Instruction Director Wade Watson will present the plan submitted to the state education department and provide new information on its implementation.

The presentation is expected to show data on student activity on the district’s Distance-Learning platforms.

They will also show how the district plans to meet the requirements of Gov. Doug Ducey’s executive orders to have “free on-site learning opportunities and support services for students who need a place to go during the school day” starting Aug. 17. The executive order makes available a waiver application if the county and state health departments determine a district’s facilities should be closed.

Onsite learning labs are planned at Butterfield Elementary, Maricopa High School, Maricopa Wells Middle School and Santa Rosa Elementary.

Board members will discuss the availability of external, onsite organizations, such as the Boys & Girls Club at Santa Cruz Elementary and the City of Maricopa’s Afterschool Connect at Pima Butte Elementary and Camp Copa at Pima Butte and Saddleback Elementary.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the board will hear updated plans for a second high school, including a resolution to set aside $5 million in district funds to add to the School Facilities Board funding “for the construction of the new Maricopa High School #2… located at the north east (sic) corner of Farrell and Murphy Road.” The combined funding would total more than $27 million for the project.

Purchase approval of the property is not expected until fall, with bidding in early 2021 and opening in July 2022. The design “would consist of classroom space that can be scaled up and supplemented as the school population grows.”

Also up for discussion is a mitigation plan setting protocols for re-opening physical campuses.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be live-streamed on the MUSD YouTube channel.