Superintendent of Public Instruction


Published: Published: August 28th, 2017

Superintendent Douglas Announces Grant Awards for Homeless Students

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, Diane Douglas, is pleased to announce the approval grant contracts to help homeless students. The State Board of Education (SBE) approved grant funding for 32 school districts and/or schools for Homeless Education Services. The grants will assist around 30,000 homeless students. The awarded grants help both rural and urban schools.

The federal funds for the program come from the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001. The Arizona Department of Education administers the program and grant application process. The Arizona State Board of Education approves the grants. Key goals include outreach to ensure school enrollment, retention and attendance. Access to participation in regular education programs for all homeless students is required.

“We are fortunate to have received this additional federal allocation,” said State Coordinator for Homeless Education Alexis Clermont. “It has allowed us to increase our expanded reach to schools. These extra funds mean that more schools and more of Arizona’s underserved children have equal access to a high-quality education.”

“It is important to me that the needs of all of our students are met,” said Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas. “We know that these children are an especially vulnerable population. Not only have we been able to meet the needs of those currently on the program, we have also increased our aid to additional children.”

This is the first year of a three-year competitive grant. For more information about the Office of Homeless Education and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001, please visit www.azed.gov/homeless.

The following school districts and schools will receive grant funds:

Alhambra Elementary School District

American Charter, West Phoenix High School

Amphitheater Unified School District

Bullhead City School District

Chandler Unified School District

Concho Elementary School District

Cottonwood-Oak Creek Elementary School District

Creighton Elementary School District

Deer Valley Unified School District

Flagstaff Unified School District

Flowing Wells Unified School District

Glendale Union High School

Higley Unified School District

Kaizen Education Foundation dba Vista Grove Preparatory Academy Elementary

Marana Unified School District

Maricopa Unified School District

Maricopa County Regional School District

Mayer Unified School District

Mesa Unified School District

Osborn Elementary School District

Paradise Valley Unified School District

PAS Charter, Intelli-School

Phoenix Elementary School District

Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District

SC Jensen Co Intelli-School

Scottsdale Unified School District

Sunnyside Unified School District

Tolleson Elementary School District

Tolleson Union High School District

Tucson Unified School District

Washington Elementary School District

Williams Unified School District

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Published: Published: June 23rd, 2017

Douglas Announces New Director of Communications

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas is pleased to announce Dan Godzich as the new Director of Communications for the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). Godzich has more than two decades of professional communications experience. Dan joins ADE after serving as the Majority Leader & Education Policy Advisor at the Arizona House of Representatives.

“I am excited to welcome Dan to my team and work with him on communications for all of the exciting initiatives we have at ADE,” said Superintendent Douglas. “In addition to his time in Arizona, his experience in Washington D.C. with media and policy will no doubt serve ADE well.”

Godzich will replace Sally Stewart, who began her tenure as ADE’s Public Information Officer in 2014 before being promoted to Director of Communications. The Superintendent wishes Ms. Stewart, who has decided to pursue other professional opportunities, the best of luck in her future endeavors.

At the Arizona House of Representatives, Godzich helped formulate and implement the majority agenda, create a $3.5 billion education finance reform package and negotiate $ 9.6 billion state budget. Prior to working at the House, Godzich worked on campaigns on behalf of the Republican National Committee, served as an Executive Vice President for an international boarding school and created online and social media content for various political and humanitarian organizations. Godzich also served on the White House staff of George H.W. Bush.

A graduate of Hunter College in New York, Godzich is a travel adventurer and space enthusiast, as well as a proud New York Giants fan. His family includes his wife, Lisa, and his two children, Jacob and Jessica.

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Published: Published: May 18th, 2017

ADE to Kick Off Summer Food Program

(Phoenix, Ariz., May 17, 2017) – Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas announced the launch of the Arizona Department of Education’s Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), a summer meal reimbursement program for children ranging from newborns to 18 years old. The SFSP provides children in low- income areas the opportunity to receive a nutritious meal while school is not in session during the summer.

“Our job in education is to give children every opportunity to pursue their hopes and dreams,” Superintendent Douglas said. “Studies have shown that hunger has a negative effect on the physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of children. If they are not properly nourished and healthy, their road to success becomes an uphill battle.”

SFSP sites, which can be a school or a non-profit organization like a YMCA or a Boys & Girls Club, must be in eligible areas where the percentage of children approved for free or reduced-priced lunch is 50 percent or higher. Sponsors are allowed to serve two meals or a meal and a snack per day.

Glendale, Chandler and Flagstaff Unified are just some of the school districts that are participating in the SFSP. On June 5, the Blue Ridge School District will be the first to launch the program by hosting a kick-off event that will include the community’s mayor and actor Danny Diaz from the movie McFarland USA.

Those interested in locating SFSP sites in their area, as well as their operating dates and times, can log on to https://www.fns.usda.gov/summerfoodrocks and type in their address or zip code or text FOOD to 877-877.

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Published: Published: April 3rd, 2017

Continued Budget Uncertainty Causes Another IT Staffer to Exit

(Phoenix, Ariz., March 31, 2017) – The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced Friday the departure of yet another experienced Information Technology employee. The employee is the latest in a series of exits from an award-winning IT team that have all cited “job uncertainty” as their reason for accepting positions elsewhere.

In the Arizona House of Representatives’ initial draft budget framework released this week, ADE was allocated a one-time funding of $7.3 million. That amount would provide resources desperately needed for the maintenance and basic operations of the Department’s data system, but it would still not allow ADE to finish developing its student data system; begin development on its payment system that was created in 1999; fund any new initiatives passed during this legislative session; pursue school-level funding initiatives; or provide reassurance of employment for ADE’s IT staff.

Additionally, the lack of any ongoing maintenance funding would continue to create instability for data system support in future years. ADE’s initial request for IT funding was $17.6 million for FY18, which included $10.1 million in maintenance and $7.6 million for development.

The most recent employee to leave the organization was the only staff member responsible for project-level financial reporting on AELAS, which is the overarching collection of systems that calculate school payments. After graduating from the Thunderbird School of Global Management with an MBA, this full-time employee worked on strategic financial management of IT systems for three years, focusing on reporting and forecasting for AELAS and the 150-plus IT systems that schools utilize daily.

“It is very telling that we lost an employee whose primary focus was to work on the IT budget,” Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas said. “It is always disappointing to lose good people, but it is even more discouraging when all of this could have been prevented by having funds annually allocated to our IT maintenance budget, just like many other major state agencies do. I hope the Legislature can provide us as soon as possible with some clear assurances that we will be able to keep our staff and that schools will be paid without any issues both this year and in the future.”

Arizona has seen unprecedented job growth in IT over the past decade, rated second among all states in that category. In June of 2016, Forbes magazine even named the Phoenix metro area as the city “winning the battle for IT jobs.”

“Since Arizona has such a red-hot IT market, I’m afraid that we will lose more valuable employees to other external offers,” the Superintendent said. “If I had a family to support and no guarantee of a job on July 1, I would start looking too.”

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Published: Published: March 27th, 2017

Superintendent Meets With Congress on Education

(Phoenix, Ariz., March 27, 2017) – Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas met with members of Arizona’s congressional delegation, as well as national education leaders in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, at the Council of Chief State School Officers legislative conference last week in Washington, D.C.

Superintendent Douglas first met with U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-Va.), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, to talk about the federal government’s role in education and express her support for Foxx’s efforts to ensure that its influence is limited. The Superintendent then attended meetings in the offices of representatives and senators from her home state, including Reps. Andy Biggs, Trent Franks, Paul Gosar, Tom O’Halleran, David Schweikert, as well as with Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake.

Rep. O’Halleran and his staff expressed interest in supporting rural schools and advocating for impact aid to schools on Indian reservations, while learning from the Superintendent that the Zip Code Project and Arizona Broadband for Education Initiative would both prove beneficial for his district. Representative Schweikert’s office was also eager to hear about the broadband initiative, joining Representative Franks’ office in its request for more support for Indian education.

Rep. Biggs shared his proposal to create additional flexibility for federal Title I funds and asked for additional details about the Common Core replacement that took place in December. His office was also interested in the submission of Arizona’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State Plan and the ongoing need for support of Native American students.

Rep. Gosar was excited to hear about the impact that broadband connectivity could have on his district, while also discussing how to better support the Office of Indian Education, the Zip Code Project and pilot programs to promote college and career readiness.

“It is always an honor to meet with elected representatives and senators that are doing their part to ensure that Arizona is the best state in the nation,” Superintendent Douglas said. “After our meetings, I am confident that they will support our great state in addressing the needs of all of our students.”

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