Citizens for A Quality Education

March 2012- While students, faculty and staff members, and administrators were on spring recess, demolition began at both Greenway High School and Thunderbird High School. To promote healthier, safer campuses, older buildings are being torn down to make way for modern classrooms using funds generated by the 2011 bond.

As promised in community letters sent to each Thunderbird and Greenway family, fences and barriers have been erected to ensure a safe construction environment for students.

Construction on this phase of the district’s strategic bond plan will continue through the rest of this school year, with completion of the first building expected by the fall. As always, GUHSD is committed to minimizing distractions from the learning environment and maintaining student safety throughout the construction process.

Visit www.guhsdaz.org for continued updates or for a virtual look at the project log on to www.onsiteview.com. The user name and password for Greenway’s project is Greenway and the user name and password for Thunderbird’s project is Thunderbird.

Thank you again to the community for the continued support of Glendale Union High School District.

March 2012- The Glendale Union High School District Governing Board is very pleased to announce it has selected Mr. Eugene Dudo to be the next superintendent. This appointment was formally recognized at the March 7 meeting and will be effective July 1, 2012. Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Johnson and former superintendents Vernon Jacobs, Dr. Gerald George, and Jim Kieffer attended the meeting in support of Mr. Dudo’s appointment.

Mr. Dudo began his career with GUHSD in 1987. Throughout his twenty-five years with the district, he has worked closely with the past five superintendents and countless assistant superintendents and principals. In his current position as the administrator for Title I and in his prior service as the associate superintendent for finance, Mr. Dudo is and has been recognized and respected for his commitment to student learning, school improvement, and the belief that all students can learn.

Before his time with GUHSD, Mr. Dudo spent fourteen years at the state level, where he began serving as an internal auditor and advanced to the position of deputy assistant superintendent for finance for the Arizona Department of Education. This experience provided him with an in-depth understanding of school district operations and allowed him the opportunity to work closely with the state legislature and local school superintendents on education issues and reform. 

Mr. Dudo will replace Dr. Jennifer Johnson, who will remain in office until her June 30 retirement.

February 2012 - Glendale Union High School District invites the public to meet and hear from the finalists in the superintendent search, Mr. Brian Capistran, Mr. Gene Dudo, Mr. Tom Hernandez, and Dr. Linda Rosness. The candidates will each speak about his or her qualifications and will meet with those in attendance shortly afterward. The event will be held on Thursday, March 1 at 6:30 p.m. in Apollo High School’s auditorium. Apollo is located at 8045 N. 47^th Avenue, Glendale.

On a later date the governing board will hold closed interviews with each individual finalist and plans to formally appoint the new superintendent at the March 7 governing board meeting. The new superintendent will take office on July 1.

The November 8 election is right around the corner and we want you to Particip8. There are still many things left to do to help show our support of Glendale Union High School District. Below is a simple list of things you can do this week.

1) Have you requested a lawn sign? We still have plenty and we do not want them to sit in a garage and go to waste. Our goal is to make sure that all the signs are posted throughout our neighborhoods. To have one or two delivered to your home, email Don DeBusk at donrd@debuskfamily.com or call him at 602-418-3250.

2) Change your status on your social networking site to say VOTE YES for Glendale Union High School District.

3) Keep sending those VOTE YES emails to your neighbors. Encourage them to forward your message to others who live within Glendale Union High School District’s boundaries. Be sure and include the link to our YouTube video: http:\\www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSiGG_HVWqI

We need each and every yes vote, so help us spread the word.

You can show your support of Glendale Union High School District and the upcoming bond election by placing a lawn sign in your front yard. This is one of the easiest ways to take action and show support. In an election like this, your neighbors who don’t know specifics about the district or bond inititative look to people like you. A lawn sign shows the neighborhood you support the district, the bond, and the community.

Don’t worry that your house is out of the way, or your street doesn’t get much traffic. You never know who will happen to drive by and see the sign in your front lawn.

Please give Don DeBusk a phone call. He will deliver the sign directly to you. His phone number is 602-418-3250.

We appreciate your continued support.

Several GUHSD supporters hit the ground running this morning by placing over 550 campaign signs throughout Glendale and Phoenix. This was the first of several planned events to help pass the November 8 bond election.

As part of the citizen’s committee and expressing interest about staying actively involved, we are providing you a list of upcoming activities where we need your help. We are not asking you to do anything unrealistic. The requests are simple and will only take you a few minutes. All we ask is for you to commit to do something with each one.

    Saturday, September 17 – The Annual CFQE Golf Tournament 1:00-4:00 p.m.
WE STILL NEED FOURSOMES and HOLE SPONSORS. Have you signed up yet? Invite a group of friends to join you for a fun day of golf. Would your company sponsor a hole? So you don’t golf? That’s okay. You can still be involved. Pay $25 and join us for dinner afterwards. If you already have plans then forward this email to your friends. Maybe they can golf in your place. Contact Don DeBusk at 602-418-3250 for more information or click here to download the brochure.

    Saturday, September 24- Labeling Postcards  7:30-10:30 a.m.
CFQE has rented Thunderbird High School’s cafeteria where we’ll meet to place address labels on postcards which will then be mailed out to our community. This work is simple, but necessary. We will need many to help out, so bring everyone in your family. The more we have, the quicker we get the job done. Consider inviting you neighbors to join you. What a perfect opportunity to expose them to CFQE. We will be glad to provide them more information about the importance of passing this bond. Please consider finding someone to cover for you if you are unable to join us. Forward this email to your friends. Maybe they can help us too.

    Place a Campaign Sign in your front yard
This is so easy to do, and is one of the best ways to show your support!!! If you live within GUHSD’s boundaries, then you need a sign in your front yard. Simply call Don DeBusk at 602-418-3250 and he will arrange to have a sign delivered to you. Hey, consider asking him to bring you more than one. What a great opportunity to speak to your neighbors about supporting the bond election by asking them to place a sign in their yard to show support.

    Commit to sending an email once a week
Send an email to all your contacts once a week asking them to vote YES on GUHSD’s bond election. Ask them to forward your email on to their contacts. Please include our informative YouTube video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSiGG_HVWqI. This short video provides all the information you need to know about phase III of the district’s bond projects and the reasons to vote YES. 

This will take us all working together to pass this election. Please help us spread the word about the importance of voting YES. Early ballots will be mailed out soon, so we can’t wait any longer to help our community understand the importance of this election.

Communicate often. If you have Twitter or Facebook, please consider posting something about the election each week. Talk to your neighbors. Talk to the elementary school parents. Tell them you are voting YES and ask them to join you by talking to their neighbors and voting YES. And please don’t forget to talk to your neighbors who no longer have kids in school, because they still vote and we need to help them understand how their YES vote benefits them.

And last, but certainly not least… we need for you to VOTE. Whether it’s by an early ballot or at the poll, please do not miss the opportunity to VOTE YES for Glendale Union High School District’s bond initiative on November 8.

2011 Annual Golf Tournament

Citizens for Quality Education are gearing up for the Annual Golf Tournament and we need your support.

Saturday, September 17, 2011
1:00 p.m.
Coldwater Golf Course
100 N Clubhouse Drive
Avondale, Arizona

Golf Entry Fee (per person)  $100
Guest Dinner (per person)  $25
Tee Box Sponsor  $200
Donation  $350 maximum

For more information, contact Don DeBusk at 602-418-3250

The Glendale Union High School District Governing Board approved the formation of a Citizen’s Committee to study budget and facility issues facing GUHSD. The committee has scheduled community meetings and everyone who lives within GUHSD boundaries is invited to attend one of these important meetings.

Read more…

Tuesday, May 18th is Election Day.  The addition of the one cent per dollar sales tax is critical to the future of education funding in Arizona.  Without the tax, Glendale Union High School District will lose an additional 9.5 million in funding.  What will our schools look like next year if the tax does not pass? Read more…