PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1
146 South Granite Street
Prescott, Arizona 86303
January 17, 2006
Minutes of the Governing
Board Voting Session of Tuesday, January 17, 2006, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
held in the District Office Board Room.
Governing Board Members
Present:
President Joan Fleming
Dr. Andy Newton
Mrs. Dee Navarro
Mr. Tom Staley
Mr. Steve Campbell
Also Present:
Mr. Kevin Kapp,
Superintendent
Dr. Chris Reynolds,
Assistant Superintendent
Mrs. Renee Raskin, Chief
Financial Officer
Mr. Spencer Johnson,
Student Representative
Mrs. Andrea Mayer,
Assistant to the Governing Board
Others Present:
Janet Salese
Jim Williams Dorrean Walker
Michele
McFadden Jaime Fesuk Charlene Cone
Rene’
Crain Nancy Martinez Kathy Whitted
David
Martin Mary Eaton Randy Fuller
Joe
Peters Hilary Dartt Lorena Shiffer
Amanda Shapter
Susi Shapter Mark Shapter
Totsy McCraley Bill Monroe Bruce
Taylor
CALL TO ORDER
President Joan Fleming
called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
OPENING CEREMONY AND
WELCOME
Mr. Spencer Johnson led
the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance and President Fleming welcomed
everyone and thanked them for attending.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
President Fleming asked
Mr. Kapp if the agenda was in order. Mr. Kapp responded that it was and
noted that Item No. 1, 2, 3 had been voted on last week and Item No. 9 had
been removed from the agenda.
Mr. Steve Campbell moved
that the Governing Board approve the agenda as presented. Mrs. Dee Navarro
seconded the motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye, and President Fleming voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
PRESENTATIONS
Mr. Kevin Kapp introduced
Miss Amanda Shapter, who the Board wanted to recognize as a wonderful
photography student; her teacher, Ms. Lorena Shiffer; and the student’s
parents, Susi and Mark Shapter. He noted that Amanda had won first place
in the entire state for her black and white entry in the ASBA Jack
Peterson Photography Contest.
President Fleming noted
that our students have done well in this contest over the past several
years. Mr. Kapp presented her with a certificate of recognition, while
her father displayed her photograph.
Amanda Shapter stated that
she had also won the privilege of attending a workshop with the
photography people from Arizona Highways.
Lorena Shiffer thanked
Amanda Shapter for all of her hard work in photography, noting that she
goes back into the dark room numerous times until her photograph is right,
and she also thanked Mom and Dad for all of the photography paper. She
thanked the community for passing the bond, which will give the high
school a new photography lab and noted that while she wanted to add
digital photography to the program, it is the camera and the dark room
that is the journey in photography, which should remain the central
subject for this class.
Dr. Chris Reynolds
introduced Charlene Cone and Rene’ Crain to do a presentation on a
proposed new salary schedule for speech language pathologists.
Ms. Cone thanked the Board
for allowing them to present this information. They distributed copies of
their complete slide presentation (available from the Superintendent’s
Office) and noted that they were condensing the presentation due to time
constraints.
Ms. Crain discussed the
rationale noting that positions have been hard to fill because of the
noncompetitive salary schedule. She noted that there are anecdotal
reports from Child Study Services secretaries that a number of people have
inquired into the open positions, but have declined to proceed with an
application when they ascertained that SLPs are not on a separate salary
schedule. She went on to say that in the spring of 2005, there were four
applicants for the 3.2 openings and that two applicants declined the offer
of a position when they viewed the salary schedule. She stated that 3 and
.2 positions have not been filled by district employees for three years
and 2.2 positions remain unfilled for the current year. She reported that
the mandated work has been done through purchase of services at hourly
rates of $45-$75 per hour at a total cost to the district (projected) of
$178,685 for the 2005-06 school year and that the amount of time purchased
for this money is equivalent to approximately 2.25 FTE.
Ms. Crain reported that
four of the seven comparison districts (Sierra Visa, Kingman, Lake Havasu,
and Payson) already have a separate SLP salary schedule, and SLPs in one
of the other tri-city districts are working toward a separate salary
schedule. She noted that some solutions to the separate salary schedule
by other districts have included placing therapists on the psychologists’
salary schedule or placing all therapists on a higher step of the existing
salary schedule initially and then also crediting incoming therapists with
all previous years experience in any work setting, which would entail
moving currently employed therapists to a higher level on the schedule to
prevent new hires to be compensated at a higher level than those currently
working for the district.
District Salary
Comparisons
|
Prescott MA 1 (2005-06) |
Comparison Districts MA1 |
|
Comparisons are made for master’s |
Chino Valley 26,666 |
|
level, step one, for the most
current |
Humboldt 29,500 |
|
pay schedule available. |
Sierra Vista 30,982 |
|
|
Prescott 32,782 |
|
|
Lake Havasu 33,048 |
|
|
Page 37,349 |
|
|
Payson 40,000 |
|
|
Kingman 44,275 |
Comment on the Salary
Schedule Comparisons for the Tri-City Area
A strict comparison of the
salary schedules of our neighbors would seem to indicate that we are
competitive with them. However, at least one of these districts
negotiates with therapists. We know this since we have contacted
therapists who applied both here and in the Chino and Humboldt districts,
but accepted employment in those districts rather than in Prescott. We
contacted these therapists and discovered that salary was the factor
in accepting those positions. Comparing our salary schedule to their
salary schedules does not provide a realistic picture of the competition
for SLPs in our area.
Summary of Comparisons
PUSD Salary
32,782*
Mean salary of comparison
districts *34,545
Mode salary of comparison
districts:
25,001-
29,001- 33,001- 37,001- 41,000-
29,000 33,000 37,000 41,000
45,000
1** 2 1 2 1
*BA40/MA
**CVUSD negotiates with
incoming therapists
***Ads for therapists
placed in the Prescott Courier (2005) ranged from starting salaries
of $28K (Bachelor’s level) up to $75,000, many with sign-on bonuses.
Present Cost of SLPs
5.8 Therapists on district
salary schedule
-
M & O monies: 4.0
-
Salary subtotal for M &
O: $176,159
-
Grant monies: 1.8 FTE
on contract
-
Salary subtotal for
grant: $69,083
Purchase of Services:
2.05 Therapists FTE (4
individuals) + 1 on flex
-
Grant and MIPS money for
POS: $178,685
-
Salary subtotal:
$178,685
Current Salary Schedule
Costs
M & O monies 2005-06
Benefits have been
figured at a 16% rate. The health benefit is a fixed rate, so it is a
lower percentage of higher salaries.
M & O
Monies: $176,159.
Benefits: $ 28,185.
Total M &
O: $204,344
2005/06 Costs
(Projected)
Total Grant and MIPS
Costs:
1.8 on contract with
district $ 69,083.
Benefits $ 11,053
Subtotal $ 80,136
POS (Purchase of
Service) $178,685
Total Grant and
MIPS: $258,821
Current Costs
Total district (current) costs:
M &
O $204,344
Grants/MIPs
$258,821
Total $463,165
New Salary Schedule
Costs
M & O
(4 therapists) $183,711
Benefits $ 29,394
Subtotal $213,105
Grants/MIPs
(2 existing therapist
positions) 2 additional to replace POS
(assuming the
funding will come
from this source
and not M & O)
$
74,260 $148,520
Benefits $
11,882 $ 23,764
Subtotal (replace
existing) $ 86,142 $172,284 (replace
existing and POS)
New Salary Scale
Projected Cost
-
Costs are projected on
having an attractive enough salary scale to contract all positions
-
Total cost, new
scale: $385,389
-
Current
cost $463,165
-
Savings ($ 77,776)
Current Salaries and
Projected Salaries
Therapist Funding Current
Cost Projected Cost
Source
LN
Grant 1.0 32,782 37,130 4,348
CC
Grant .8 36,301 37,130 729
(new hire)
RC
M & O 1.0 49,584 51,397 1,813
ME
M & O 1.0 45,377 47,035 1,658
KW M
& O 1.0 45,377 47,035 1,658
JF
M & O 1.0 35,821 38,244
2,423
12,629
Benefits
cost
2,021
Total to place existing SLP positions
on new
scale: 14,650
Information RE: Placing
SLPs on Psychologists’ Schedule
Cost for placement of 5
SLPs on the Psychologists’ Salary Schedule
Current Projected
Difference
CC
$ 0 $ 0 $ 0
LN
$32,782 $39,858 $ 7,076
RC
$49,584 $51,613 $ 2,029
ME
$45,377 $47,580** $ 2,203
KW
$45,377 $47,580* $ 2,203
JF
$35,821 $41,048 $ 5,227
$18,738
Benefits
cost $ 2,998
Total $21,736
*Therapist retiring at the
end of this year.
**Therapists moved two
steps because moving directly to the psychologists’
scale was not
advantageous to them otherwise.
(3 x 3) PROPOSED SLP
ALTERNATIVE SALARY SCALE
BA40/MA
BA55/MA15 MA30
MA45
1
37,130.00** 38,243.90 39,391.26 40,573.00
2
38,243.90 39,391.26 40,573.00
41,790.19
3
39,391.26 40,573.00 41,790.19
43,043.90
4
40,573.00 41,790.19 43,043.90
44,335.22
5
41,790.19 43,043.90 44,335.22
45,665.28
6
43,043.90 44,335.22 45,665.28
47,035.24
7
44,335.22 45,665.28 47,035.24
48,446.30
8
45,665.28 47,035.24 48,446.30
49,899.69
9
47,035.24 48,446.30 49,899.69
51,396.68
10
48,446.30 49,899.69 51,396.68
52,938.58
11
49,899.69 51,396.68 52,938.58
54,526.74
12 52,938.58
54,526.74 56,162.54
13 54,526.74
56,162.54 57,847.42
14
57,847.42 59,582.84
15
59,582.84 61,370.33
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
Mr. Kapp pointed out the
new art displayed in the Board Room, noting that the district has very
talented students, as well as wonderful teachers.
Mr. Kapp announced that
one week from tomorrow (January 25th) would be the mid-year
Board Planning Retreat at the Mountain Club Clubhouse and encouraged Board
members to send any agenda items to his office.
Mr. Kapp noted that the
ASBA Legislative Conference would be held March 1 & 2 and that his office
needed to know who was planning on attending in order to make the hotel
and registration reservations.
He noted that Thursday
would be the second information night for parents regarding the EL high
school and that 44 families had expressed an interest the first meeting.
VOTING SESSION:
CONSIDER NOMINATIONS
FOR THE POSITION OF PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNING BOARD
This item was voted on last week.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF
DAY AND TIME FOR GOVERNING BOARD MEETINGS
This item was voted on last week.
CONSIDER APPROVING AN
OUT-OF-STATE TRAVEL REQUEST FROM MR. JIM RAMM FOR THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN
MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRL’S BASKETBALL TEAM TO ATTEND A TOURNAMENT IN LAS VEGAS,
NEVADA, JANUARY 14-16, 2006
This item was voted on last week.
CONSIDER APPROVING A LEASE
AGREEMENT BETWEEN PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT AND BILL AND SHARY
FELDMEIER FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 937 RUTH STREET
Mr. Steve Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve a
lease agreement between Prescott Unified School District and Bill and
Shary Feldmeier for the property located at 937 Ruth Street. Mrs. Dee
Navarro seconded the motion.
Mr.
Steve Campbell noted that this particular property looked like it could
solve some problems for the district, but in finding out the costs
involved to remodel it for use by the district, we found we don’t have the
money and wouldn’t want to jeopardize other programs and that the district
would have to look elsewhere for the ELOB program.
Mr.
Tom Staley stated that it was an attractive piece of property that could
have solved some problems for the district, but that the $747,000 needed
to remodel just wasn’t possible.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
nay, Dr. Andy Newton voted nay, Mr. Tom Staley voted nay, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted nay, and President Fleming voted nay. The motion was
defeated 0-5.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A
PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ARIZONA CLASSICAL THEATRE (ACT) IN HOSTING THE
ARIZONA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL THE SUMMER OF 2006 AT PRESCOTT HIGH SCHOOL IN
THE RUTH STREET THEATER
Dr. Andy Newton
moved that the Governing Board approve a partnership with the Arizona
Classical Theatre (ACT) in hosting the Arizona Shakespeare Festival the
Summer of 2006 at Prescott High School in the Ruth Street Theater. Mr.
Steve Campbell seconded the motion.
Mr. Kapp noted that he was
asked to research a couple of items and one of them was the cost of using
students to run the theater. Mrs. Renee Raskin reported that it would
cost $3,000.
Mrs. Totsy McCraley
reported that she had met with Cheryl Moran, the Fine Arts District
Coordinator, and Louisa Nelson and Tracie Mason-Johnston, both drama
teacher, along with representatives from ACT. She noted that they had
ironed out a number of the details that were problematic and that ACT was
very gracious in accommodating the high school’s requests. She reported
that RV’s would be used to continue costuming and makeup, rather than the
green room once school is in session. Also, in an effort to expand
exposure for students, ACT would be limiting their performances to scenes
per period, in order not to impact other classes. She also noted that ACT
would be providing opportunities and workshops for our students.
Ms. Janet Salese
distributed a revised and updated copy of the partnership agreement.
President Fleming
requested that the stage be set up for convocation and that the sound be
adjusted to be heard clearly.
Mr. Staley asked what the
$3,000 in costs included. Mrs. McCraley responded, $1,500 for the student
technicians and $1,500 for custodial services.
Mr. Kapp noted that ACT
would also write a check to the district to cover the expense of replacing
bulbs, gels and labor, etc. and that ACT would be doing their own printing
this year. He noted that the Board needed to weigh the value of the
workshops and publicity vs. the costs in this partnership.
Mr. Staley asked what
utilities might cost. Mrs. McCraley responded that she was not sure. Mr.
Staley suggested that ACT pay an extra $1,000 to the district.
President Fleming noted
that last year it had cost the district more money, that this is a
valuable program for our students and for the community, that they have
come a long way, and that maybe they could afford to cover more of the
costs next year. She stated that they have already made a lot of
improvements over last year.
Mr. Staley agreed that it
was a wonderful program and asked whether an extra $1,000 would be a
burden to ACT. Ms. Salese responded that it would be because theater does
not survive on ticket sales and that with this agreement we are looking at
PUSD as a sponsor and that ACT is a non-profit organization. Ms. McFadden
added that Janet Salese works 40-60 hours a week and is not paid, nor is
the art director, that in fact ACT has no paid staff whatsoever and that’s
why expenses are very low.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye, and President Fleming voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE
TEACHER EVALUATION SYSTEM VERIFICATION STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE FOR 2006-07
Mr. Steve Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve the
Teacher Evaluation System Verification of Assurance for 2006-07. Mrs. Dee
Navarro seconded the motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye, and President Fleming voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING A
MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR LORI OWNINGS, PLAYGROUND
ASSISTANT/INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANT AT LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOR THE
REMAINDER OF THE 2005-06 SCHOOL YEAR
Dr. Andy Newton moved that the Governing Board approve a medical
leave of absence for Lori Ownings, playground assistant/instructional
assistant at Lincoln Elementary School for the remainder of the 2005-06
school year. Mr. Steve Campbell seconded the motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye, and President Fleming voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING AN
EXTENSION OF A TWELVE-WEEK PRE-APPROVED MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE BY DR.
REYNOLDS FOR MRS. DIANE HOWLETT, LANGUAGE ARTS TEACHER AT PRESCOTT MILE
HIGH MIDDLE SCHOOL, FOR AN ADDITIONAL 10 WEEKS
Mr. Steve
Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve an extension of a
twelve-week pre-approved medical leave of absence by Dr. Reynolds for
Mrs. Diane Howlett, Language Arts teacher at Prescott Mile High Middle
School, for an additional 10 weeks. Dr. Andy Newton seconded the motion.
Mr. Staley noted that he
had asked last week whether Mrs. Howlett was planning on returning after
participating in the buyout. Dr. Reynolds responded that Mr. Joe Howard
had stated that it was his intention to hire her back if she was able to
come back due to her health.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted nay, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye, and President Fleming voted aye. The motion carried
4-1.
CONSIDER APPROVING
AN EXTENSION OF A TWELVE-WEEK PRE-APPROVED MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE BY DR.
REYNOLDS FOR MS. MARY TRADER, CUSTODIAN AT GRANITE MOUNTAIN MIDDLE SCHOOL,
FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE 2005-06 SCHOOL YEAR
This item was removed from
the agenda last week.
CONSIDER APPROVING AN
UNPAID MATERNITY LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR MRS. YVONNE BERRY, FIRST GRADE
TEACHER AT ABIA JUDD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, FOR 16 WEEKS
Dr. Andy Newton
moved that the Governing Board approve an unpaid maternity leave of
absence for Mrs. Yvonne Berry, first grade teacher at Abia Judd Elementary
School, for 16 weeks. Mrs. Dee Navarro seconded the motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye, and President Fleming voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT
AGENDA
Mr. Steve
Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve the Consent Agenda as
presented. Mrs. Dee Navarro seconded the motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye, and President Fleming voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE
CERTIFIED AND CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL ACTIONS AS PRESENTED
Certified Staff
Employments:
Joan Pirtle.
Certified Staff
Resignations:
None.
Certified Buy-Out
Participants for Spring 2006:
Cherie Arnold, Charlotte
Evans, Pat Gulley, Michael Harlan, Diane Howlett, Jacob Magallanez, Vicki
Makela, Moira Patterson, Dalma Rose, Irene Stringfield, Amy Van Winkle,
and
Anita Wells. (Total of 234
years.)
Classified Buy-Out
Participants for Spring 2006:
Marilyn Crossman, William
Crossman, Darlene Maggard, Paula Salgado and Ann Sult.
New Substitute
Teachers: (Total of 128)
Lisa Davis, Robert
Diedrich, Donald Eidson and Mike Myers.
Classified Staff
Employments:
Dorren Bishop, Laura Fox, Karen Jones, Leah Kimmerlee, Michele Leboeuf,
Jessie Loomis, Lois Lyon, Jessie Morris, Levi Munderloh, Samuel Saldana
and Bethanie Steen.
Classified Staff
Resignations:
Lisa Davis, Amber Fornara, Terrie Geddes,
John Livesay, Misty
McGoyne, Mary Trader and Lindsay VandeMotter.
New Volunteers:
None.
Funding and status for the
above as designated in the Personnel Report supplied in the Board
Briefing.
The acceptance of
donations as presented:
A VCR and twenty-five
dollars from Mountain Christmas of Prescott, to Kids & Co.
Two hundred dollars from J
& M Jackson LTD, to Kids & Co.
Two thousand dollars from
the Prescott High School Alumni Half Century Club to the Half Century
Alumni Scholarship Fund.
Book covers, notebooks,
folders, file folders, candy and miscellaneous school supplies from
Wal-Mart to Lincoln Elementary School.
Books and art supplies
valued at $500 from Ms. Jean Richards to the Prescott High School Art
Department.
Two hundred dollars from
Mr. Mark Chaney, to help provide holiday assistance for Miller Valley
Elementary School Families.
Miscellaneous beauty
supplies and merchandise valued at $1,664.45 from Trade Secret Store to
Granite Mountain Middle School.
Seven hundred and fifty
dollars from Prescott Summer Pops Symphony to the band program at Prescott
Mile High Middle School.
The ratification of
vouchers as presented:
Voucher #
Amount
Payroll Voucher #11 $901,763.54
Payroll Voucher #12 $1,064,323.06
Expenditure Voucher #6037 $130,971.93
Expenditure Voucher #6038 $74,378.00
Expenditure Voucher #6039 $378,905.97
Expenditure Voucher #6040 $105,468.55
Expenditure Voucher #6041 $337,087.07
Expenditure Voucher #5042 $159,799.70
Consider approving the
Auxiliary Operations and Student Activities Fund Statement of Receipts and
Disbursements for the month of November 2005 as presented.
ADJOURNMENT
Hearing no objection,
President Joan Fleming adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m.
_________________________________
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