January 25, 2006
Minutes of the
Governing Board Mid-Year Planning Retreat of Wednesday, January 25, 2006,
beginning at 8:30 a.m. held at the Mountain Club Clubhouse.
Governing
Board Members Present:
President
Dr. Andy Newton
Mrs. Dee Navarro
Mr. Steve Campbell
Mr. Tom Staley
Also
Present:
Mr. Kevin J. Kapp, Superintendent
Dr. Chris Reynolds, Assistant
Superintendent
Mrs. Renee Raskin, Director of Business
Services
Mr. Spencer Johnson, Student
Representative
Mrs. Andi Mayer, Assistant to the
Governing Board
Others
Present:
Gerry Janssen Arn Lavington
Joe Howard Bucky Bates Nancy
Martinez Barbara Van Fossen
CALL TO
ORDER AND WELCOME
President
President Fleming
asked if the agenda was in order and Mr. Kapp responded that it was in order.
BOND
PROJECTS (PRIORITIZATION)
Mr.
Address
Projects Over Budget
1. Prioritize?
2. Reduce Scale?
3. Reduce Quality?
4. Retain Contingency?
Projects Not
Making Prioritized List
1. Hold off contracting until additional
funding is available?
2. Down size?
3. Eliminate?
He presented
some scenarios for if the bond projects for Phase 1, 2, & 3 come in 50%
over budget and how remaining bond projects should also be prioritized.
Discussion
followed regarding scaling projects, not quality; alternate funding sources and
building renewal funds; projects relating to health and safety concerns;
scaling down projects; prioritizing the important things that Mike Taylor needs
to continue working on; publicizing the status of bond projects due to rising
construction costs; and possibly selling
After some
discussion President Fleming directed the principals to reprioritize the
remaining bond projects and noted that the Board would then make a
decision. She stressed that no projects
would be cancelled, but postponed until funds become available.
DRESS CODES
Mrs. Dee
Navarro expressed concern regarding the way she has seen some of the students
dress at the high school, as well as staff members. She felt that if the staff dressed
appropriately, the students will follow.
Mr. Staley
stated that he felt it was difficult to ask students to respect adults and
property when the staff does not set the example by dressing correctly. He expressed concern over nose rings, Mohawk
haircuts, dreadlocks, different dress being distracting, developing a unified
dress code for classified, having principals talk to parents about student
dress.
President
Fleming noted that you get into legalities with some of those concerns. She
asked Spencer Johnson his perspective from a student standpoint.
Mr. Johnson
responded that regarding staff dress, it could have some merit, but depends on
how you want students to view your teachers.
Sometimes those teachers with dreadlocks and nose rings are the one’s
that students’ can relate to the most and are more approachable. He noted that he did believe in freedom of
expression. He added that Goth, spikes, short skirts, and chains scares some
people.
Mrs.
Mrs. Totsy
McCraley noted that the high school does have a dress code, every summer a
letter is sent to all parents, which includes the dress code. She stated that the teachers and
administrators are in the halls monitoring for dress code. She then stated that you must also take a
look at what some of the parents are wearing.
She noted that she appreciated where everyone was coming from – to ask
teachers to dress professionally – but you also have to look at what a teacher
is teaching – P.E. vs. Science, Art or English.
She stated that they do try to create a balance. She noted that the jeans being made now are
very low and tight and that instead of doing uniforms, they were trying to make
a balance by creating guidelines.
President
Fleming asked, what about the Goth look?
Dr.
Mr. Bucky
Bates noted that Liberty Traditional had quasi-uniforms, which was almost as
much work to enforce as rules. He stated
that there is a difference between outlandish dress (freedom of expression) and
vulgar dress and that legally, enforcement of vulgar dress is easier than
outlandish dress.
Mr. Bates
asked, is there a staff dress code? Mr.
Kapp responded, no. Mr. Bates noted that
it’s difficult to enforce student dress codes when staff dress awkward.
Mr. Staley
stated that he believed the district needed a dress code for both certified and
classified staff.
Mrs. Walker
stated that she was not against a dress code for students and that she thought
it bothers teachers more than students.
Mr. Johnson agreed with that statement.
Mr. Staley
asked, what about staff? Mrs. Walker
responded that the principals have been talking to individuals, which she feels
works, and that she is usually pretty impressed with our staff.
President
Fleming stated that she would like to have copies of all handbooks for
teachers, staff and students for all Board members. She also asked that the administration obtain
legal opinions regarding dress codes for students and staff. She added that she’d like to see an agenda
item regarding dress codes sometime before school is out.
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
Mrs. Mary Anne
Kapp distributed a report on Professional Development for the Governing
Board. (Please see the attached –
available from the Superintendent’s Office.)
She updated
the Board on the schedules, the professional development notebooks, the focus
of the professional development program, student learning, results, and the
learning communities. She noted that the
district has a vision and is very clear about where we are going. She reported on the background of the
learning communities, standard-based learning, results-driven areas in
development, and reviewed the professional development map.
She reported
that the DLT had done a PLC assessment in August and that they were now working
on accountability. She stated that
teachers were writing their 301 goals that are specific, measurable,
attainable, and relevant.
She noted that
there are teacher goals, as well as school-wide goals, and that every week the
principals are submitting paperwork 100%.
Mr. Staley
asked, what is the percentage of attendance?
Mrs. Kapp responded, 98-99% - usually from illness.
She noted that
the principals keep track of the hours and give out certificates to staff. She then reviewed the first and second
semester professional development schedules. Mrs. Kapp reported that teachers and
administrators now have the capability of looking at data and sorting it as
never before to look for trends.
Mr. Kapp noted
that these are things that we must do because of NCLB and AZ Learns, which are
unfunded mandates.
LUNCH BREAK
LOWER 40
Mr. Campbell
noted that this had come from IBN and that his concern was regarding that the
staff felt they were not getting the opportunity to give input. He then asked what process was being used at
the schools and if the principals make the decisions without input.
Mr. Frank
Lawhead reported that the changes came from him and that maybe he should look
at including more people in the process.
Mr.
Mr.
Mrs. Susan
Clark reported that she had inherited how those funds are being used for the
after school program (Gold Mine) and for professional development
opportunities. Mr.
Mr. Joe Howard
reported that he had sought staff input for the original decision, but not
since then, and that there was no reason why he couldn’t in the future by
running it through the site council and leadership team.
Mr.
Mr. Totsy
McCraley noted that she had also inherited how these funds are used with most
going into salaries – four positions totally or partially, teacher lunch duty,
department chairperson compensation, and any money left over we pay to sponsors
time, such as NHS, Academic Decathlon – close to $70,000.
President
Fleming noted that is something the Board should work on to get into the M
& O budget.
Mr. Campbell
noted that some things at the schools are critical, but that it is important
for staff to have input and know why these things are important. He noted that
it would be good to involve staff so they understand why you make the decisions
you make.
OPEN
POSTINGS FOR ALL POSITIONS
Mr. Tom Staley
asked if there was anything written in policy that gives authority to the
principals to allocation a job to a retiree.
Dr. Chris Reynolds responded, nothing that speaks to a full-time
position.
Mr. Staley
clarified, there is no written policy that allows for this procedure to take
place? Dr. Reynolds responded, correct.
Mr. Staley
asked, what’s the history of that procedure?
Dr. Reynolds responded, it’s an administrative procedure that I
authorize and extend to the principals, which we have been doing for several
years utilizing the third party hiring process.
He stated that he felt it was an appropriate procedure under a third
party contracting model.
Mr. Staley asked,
what’s the longest period of time after we have rehired them? Dr. Reynolds responded, probably three
years. Mr. Staley clarified, we don’t
have a retiree for more than three years.
Dr. Reynolds responded, they can teach half-time for the first year and
then can work fulltime.
Mr. Staley
stated that he was opposed to this procedure and read from policy that all
personnel selected must be recommended by the superintendent and approved by
the Board.
President
Fleming responded that we follow that policy – it’s on the consent agenda under
the personnel report.
Dr. Reynolds
noted that there is a state statute that allows for that if they come back
through a third party.
Mr. Staley
stated, we’re allowing the waiving of Board policy – third party allows them to
be rehired on this basis.
Dr. Andy
Newton noted that two years ago, we as a Board approved the use of third party
hiring, such as Totsy McCraley, who could then immediately work fulltime.
President
Fleming noted, it’s a procedure.
Mr. Staley
recommended that it be written in school policy and that both be brought up for
review with the words “may apply.”
President
Fleming reiterated that this is procedure, not policy, is quite legal, and has
only been in effect for three years.
Mr. Staley stated
that he believed the procedure contradicts the policy.
Mr. Campbell
noted that the policy was written because of law in effect at that time, the
state law changed, we changed the procedure, but not that policy.
President
Fleming stated that she would check with ASBA to see if any other district has
a policy regarding third party hiring.
Mr. Staley
noted that when we have a situation where someone is retiring, we should ask
why are they retiring, are they looking for another opportunity because they
are burned out, or could they be doing this for purely monetary reasons. He stated that he understood that they were
known entities, but we still don’t know if they are the best without opening up
the competition.
President
Fleming noted that it probably is partially for monetary reasons, since we
don’t pay teachers enough. She added
that she has never had a problem with early retirement.
Mr. Staley
stated that he would still like to open up positions to the competition.
President
Fleming pointed out that the principals know whether they are good people and
would not hire them back if they weren’t.
Dr. Newton
stated, if I were a teacher, I would do it.
He then pointed out that we didn’t make the law.
Mr. Bates
added that it’s an
Mr. Joe Howard
noted that if you look at the internet under law, it’s to retain teachers in
Mr. Staley
pointed out that it’s done through open posting when hiring retired teachers
from other states.
CHILD CARE
Mr. Campbell
stated that his concern was that some of these child care programs are in the
hole – such as Kids & Co – for a fourth year – and that he was interested
in where we are financially.
Mrs. Gerry
Janssen noted that the preschool may show a loss, but it pulls kids into the
district. She noted that the preschool
line item is affected greatly by the number of special education students
versus the paying (tuition) students, and that the account pays for a certified
teacher and assistant, plus supplies. She stated that their income was not
enough to cover the program totally all of the time. She noted that at the beginning of the school
year, enrollment is not as large as during the middle and end of the school
year and that last year they had come out with a zero balance until the
teachers were paid. She stated that it’s
extremely difficult to budget that account.
Mr. Campbell
clarified, the preschool is tuition based?
Mrs. Renee Raskin noted that the special education preschool is the only
one out of M & O. Mrs. Nancy
Martinez noted that there is a special education preschool grant that pays for
.8 of the salary, but that the amount has gone down every year and should be
picked up by M & O.
Mr. Campbell
clarified, and the district is required to take a student if they are special
education? Mrs. Martinez responded, yes.
Mrs. Janssen
noted that Discovery Gardens has a special education block grant and tuition,
which covers five teachers and nine classes and that there are special
education and tuition students in everyone of those classes.
Mrs. Raskin
noted that we have a master level teacher, which we chose to have, and if we
used a higher level classified person, it would cost less.
Mrs. Janssen
noted that the whole state is going towards having all early childhood teachers
certified.
Mrs. Raskin
reported that they had met in early January and had talked about calling other
preschools and finding out their tuition and prices to see if we were in the
ballpark. Mrs. Janssen noted that there
is one preschool in the area that charges the same as we do, but don’t pay
their teachers what we do. She stated
that she wanted to raise the tuition next year – not too much – but enough to
help and decreasing the discount for free and reduced families from 40% to 30%. She reported that substitute pay affects the
programs also.
Mrs.
Mr. Campbell
clarified, so we’re $12,000 in the hole at the end of the year, plus $17,000
from the other account. He asked, is
there any way to know if we’re getting additional students in PUSD from these
programs? Mrs. Janssen responded, we’re
doing a survey to parents and finding out where they are registering for
kindergarten. She noted that students in
the preschools tend to stay in the system.
Dr. Newton
asked, how much has it grown? Mrs.
Janssen responded, when it started I was the director of the Winnie the Pooh
preschool, about 17 years ago. She noted
that it has grown tremendously, a lot more in the last two years. She reported that they have 148-150 students
enrolled, which is the highest it has ever been. She added that they have the potential of
another 32 students we could place before the end of the year and we don’t have
room for them all.
Mr. Kapp noted
that the preschool numbers have at least doubled and that this year’s
kindergarten class is the largest class we’ve ever seen, which could be a
factor.
Mrs. Navarro
asked, how many special education kids – have we increased in that
population? Mrs. Janssen responded,
73-74, with the potential of 12 more.
Mrs. Martinez added that when we were monitored by the state, we are
required to do “child find.” She noted
that we got dinged by the state for saying we didn’t have room and that we
didn’t know that if they have a disability, we must take them. She reported that child find and their
screening has increased two-fold and more and more kids are being born with
disabilities.
President
Fleming noted that 32 kids are waiting to be screened or are referred to us –
is there a time frame between the screening and taking the student? Mrs. Martinez responded, 45 days.
Mr. Campbell
asked, those children not special education are tuition or block grant – does
the state pay us for special education students? Mrs. Raskin responded, yes, but that’s not
reflected in the $12,000 loss.
Mr. Staley
asked, does the special education tuition pay for those kids? Mrs. Raskin responded, it goes into M &
O, but I have never broken it down. Mrs.
Janssen added, we should have gotten at least $152,000.
Mr. Staley
asked Mrs. Raskin if she could generate a report that would reflect those
figures and that he’d like to know how much we are making or losing in these
programs. He noted that his concern is
that we have to take these kids and spend whatever it takes – I want to know
how much we are losing or making on special education kids.
Mrs. Martinez
reported, we screen two times a year and if a parent comes with a child, we
must screen them and we must take them if they have disabilities.
Mr. Staley
stated, if we are losing money on these special education students, maybe we
should look at the number of times you screen and if one area is jeopardizing
another area financially, we need to look at that.
Mrs. Janssen
noted that research has shown that the money you put into early childhood
prevention early on – you save money in future years.
Mrs. Staley
stated, we need to keep track and see where we’re at. Dr. Newton added, it would help for
projection purposes.
President
Fleming noted that Mrs. Navarro would be meeting with the legislators the first
week in February and these are some of the issues she will be taking to them,
as well as fully funding for IDEA. She
noted that districts have only received 20% out of the 100% they promised in 1976.
Mr. Campbell
noted that Kids & Co. is entirely tuition funded and DES. Mrs. Raskin noted that
Mrs. Brooks
pointed out that as the preschool grows, so does the daycare end of the program
at Dexter. She noted that it has grown
every year with 1st year = 125, 2nd year = (not sure), 3rd
year = 210, and 4th year = 230.
She pointed out that as the numbers increase, we have to follow the
Arizona Health Services rules and regulations and they say you must have a 1:20
ratio. She added that the moment you go
over five students, you must have two people and that the site director must
have more qualifications than the assistant.
She noted that the problem comes
when a substitute is needed, because they must have the same qualifications as
the director and a certified substitute teachers costs $75 per day.
Mr. Campbell
asked, why does the district want to keep a program that we’re not required to
have? We’re losing money ($125,000). Why do we want to keep this program?
Mr. Staley
asked, these are net loses? Mrs. Raskin
responded, yes.
Dr. Newton
suggested raising the prices. Mrs.
Brooks noted that for three years we did not raise the cost and last year we
raised it by 10%. She noted that you
could raise it again, but you must look at surrounding programs.
Mrs. Brooks
responded to why we keep this program – because people come back to the district
because of childcare and because we provide a safe environment, homework time
everyday, and people who are trained to be with those kids. Mrs. Raskin noted that it’s getting better.
Mr.
Mr. Staley
stated that we should keep the program because it’s the right thing to do.
Mr. Campbell
stated that it was hard for him to watch every year and that the only reason we
started this program was to supplement the budget.
Mr. Kapp noted
that the other reason we started the program was an effort to be convenient for
kids to come and stay in the district.
He stated that he believed it has contributed to the overall growth of
the school district, but that he had no proof.
He also noted that parents have told him that we are providing the best
childcare in
President
Fleming stated that she thought it was necessary and that the district should
consider raising the fee.
Mr. Staley
stated, it’s a huge convenience for parents – let’s raise the cost to at least
break even.
Mr. Kapp
suggested looking at this year’s final numbers and then make a final decision.
Mrs. Walker
stated that we’ve said the same thing for the last 3-4 years – are we ever
going to make the hard decision? Mr.
Kapp responded, we did make decisions last year and it has improved. He noted that there are more young kids
involved in our childcare and at the YMCA and the numbers are also up.
President
Fleming directed the administration to look at raising the fees. Mrs. Raskin stated that she’d bring it to the
summer retreat.
Mrs. Brooks
noted that if the district is looking at ending the program, please give the
parents plenty of time to find another program.
Mr. Staley
said, give it the fifth year, then make the hard decision. Mrs. Brooks noted that some parents send
their child, sign a contract, get a book of payment coupons and then don’t
pay. Mr. Staley responded, at some point
in time, the child should not be able to attend if payment is not received.
BUS DRIVERS
Mr. Staley
reported that we got new buses through the bond, talked about the amount of
time kids have to wait for buses, and keeping some of the older buses as relief
buses. He noted that the problem we have
now is we have the buses but not the drivers.
He reported that many field trips have been cancelled because of lack of
bus drivers. He stated that he felt we
should increase the bus driver wages, get some new bus drivers, even if they’re
part-time to accommodate field trips.
Dr. Reynolds
asked, do we take the current staff and improve their wages and the number of
drivers? He noted that it would cost
approximately $15,000 for each new driver.
Mr. Staley
asked, how many would we need to cut down on waiting time and field trips? He noted that if the answer if three or ten,
we can look and see if we can handle that.
Mr. Kapp
responded that the transportation department would need to re-vamp the bus
system and in order to cut the wait time in half it was estimated that they
would need 2-4 more bus drivers – and that does not include drivers needed for
field trips. He noted that Mr. Cowan was
going to look at the entire bus route.
Mr.
Mr. Staley
noted that this would be a perfect use of tax credit donations.
President
Fleming asked, are any of the custodians qualified as bus drivers?
Mr. Munson
responded, we’ve actually had parents inquire how they can get qualified to
help. Mr. Moore stated that he agreed –
we don’t have a pool or work force out there that want to work for under $10 an
hour.
President
Fleming noted that the district is planning on putting the sale of the
Mr. Kapp
stated that he would like a feeling from the Board whether to put this item on
an agenda. Mrs. Raskin added that the
appraiser would cost approximately $3,400 and the survey would cost
approximately $12,000 ($15,400).
Mr.
President
Fleming asked, do you think the
Mr. Staley
noted that if the district held back 1-2 acres, that would be $100,000 - $150,000
per acre.
Mr. Campbell stated
that if by doing so would significantly decrease the value, he would not
support it.
President
Fleming asked the administration to put this item on the February agenda as a
voting item.
Mr. Kapp noted
that he had talked with the President of the Yakashba Homeowners and that they
are aware of this discussion.
CLOSED
CAMPUS
Mrs. Dee
Navarro noted that the only reason she wanted this on the agenda is so we keep
talking about it and the public realizes we are looking at all the possibility
of a closed campus – contingent upon the cafeteria being built. She stated that she felt there is an accident
waiting to happen over at the high school and would like to eliminate that risk
by closing the campus.
Mrs. McCraley
noted that she felt we should and added that you don’t have to close the campus
to all students – that you could allow juniors or seniors in good standing to
leave the campus. She noted that with
the phone calls they get every year it would certainly promote a “good
neighbor” policy. She went on to say
that the only group it would be difficult for would be the fast food places in
the vicinity. She suggested that maybe
Barbara Van Fossen could see about making business deals so they could sell
their food in the cafeteria.
Mr. Kapp
asked, what year will the cafeteria be built?
2007-08? Mrs. McCraley responded,
2007-08 hopefully. She suggested phasing
in the closed campus with the incoming freshmen each year.
Mrs. Walker
asked, would there be other hidden costs such as additional security or
fencing?
Mrs. McCraley
responded, there must be some kind of barrier and we would need additional
security guards. She noted that with a
cafeteria that large you would have to have additional cafeteria workers also.
Mr. Kapp noted
that the cafeteria workers were self-sustaining and that we don’t want to see a
12’ fence with barb wire either.
Mrs. McCraley
noted that fencing would be needed in the front and on the north side of the
campus.
Dr. Newton
stated that he liked the idea of more choices in food through kiosks.
Mr. Staley
stated that he felt this was something the Board should look at in the future.
Mrs. McCraley
added that when tracking attendance, the early morning classes and right after
lunch are the classes the students are missing.
She noted that this could improve attendance.
Mr. Staley
stated that he was concerned with the shortness of the lunch period and asked
if the high school could consider lengthening the time to cut down on the
rush. Mrs. McCraley responded,
experience has shown me that the more time you give kids, the more time they
take. Mrs. Walker noted that it would
cause a problem with the buses too, that the transportation schedule drives our
schedule.
ASBA
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS AND BOARD TRAINING
President
Fleming reminded Board members that it’s time to think about proposals we’d
like to submit to the ASBA and legislature.
She noted that
regarding the Board Training, we’ve had to postpone it, but she felt that the
Board still needed to do this as an entire Board.
Mr. Staley
suggested that if she picked a date and gave him enough time, he could usually
arrange it with his work. Mrs. Navarro
agreed. Dr. Newton stated that
Wednesdays were best for him.
ADJOURNMENT
Hearing no
objection, President Fleming adjourned the meeting at 3:07 p.m.
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