February 13, 2007
Minutes of the Governing Board Study and Voting Session of Tuesday, February 13, 2007, beginning at 5:30 p.m. held in the District Office Board Room.
Governing Board Members Present:
President Steve Campbell
Dr. Joan Fleming
Dr. Andy Newton
Mrs.
Mr. Tom Staley
Also Present:
Mr.
Dr.
Mrs.
Mrs. Andrea Mayer, Assistant to the Governing Board
Others Present:
David Martin Victor Wrublik Vaughn Delp
Susan Clark Ann Chavez Ray Chavez
Jim Williams Patty Delp Maddy Delp-McCrady
Mekayla Delp-McCrady Aaron Polkoski Louis Giallanardo
Lloyd Gillum Dave McGee Stephanie Hillig Susan Clark Totsy McCraley Nancy Martinez
Mark Duncan Wynne Gheiler Laura Cummings
Sara Logan
Lauren Millette
President Steve Campbell called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. and welcomed everyone in attendance.
Dr. Andy Newton led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Campbell asked Mr. Kapp if the agenda was in order. Mr. Kapp responded that it was and noted that Item No. 1a had been added to the agenda as a study item only.
Mrs. Dee Navarro moved that the
Governing Board approve the agenda as presented. Dr.
Mrs.
Mrs. Susan Clark, Principal of Miller Valley Elementary
School, reported that both Sara Pederson and Chris Reed come to
President Steve Campbell presented Ann Chavez, Maddy Delp-McCrady, Wynne Gheiler, Laura Cummings and Sara Logan with certificates of recognition.
Mr. Kapp noted that the district wished to honor more people that contributed to the Automatic Emergency Defibrillator cause.
Mrs. Stephanie Hillig reported that a training session was held on how to use the AEDs, first aide and CPR that over 75% of the staff attended. GMMS had a goal of having two AEDs – one in the gym and one in the office by the nurse. She noted that they put the request in the newsletter and had received a donation of $2,000 within two days of the newsletter going out. She noted that through donations they were able to buy three AEDs, with one of them going to another site. Although they weren’t present at the meeting, she gave thanks and recognition to Mr. John Sanderson, Mr. Tucker, and Womack Enterprises.
Dr. Joan Fleming gave an update on the Federal Relations
Network Conference that she recently attended in
President Steve Campbell reviewed Governing Board Meeting Protocol and how he’d like to run the meetings as President at both the study and voting sessions. He distributed a handout of a Chart of Motion Precedence, reviewed the chart with fellow Board members and answered their questions.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
Mr. Kevin Kapp reported that he had attended the
Certification Advisory Committee in
He reminded everyone that the School Fair will be held all day on Saturday, February 24th at the Prescott Gateway Mall and added that it will be a great day for showing off our school district and will kick-off registration for next year.
Mr. Tom Staley reported that there has been a delay in the completion of the tennis courts, which were supposed to be completed by mid-February. He noted that our tennis players continue to practice at other sites. He stated that it was unfortunate that the district had signed a contract with no penalty clause regarding the deadline for completion and suggested that the district add a penalty clause for any future contracts for contractors that don’t finish their work on time.
Mr. Staley reported that
STUDY AND VOTING SESSION:
CONSIDER APPROVING THE PARTICIPATION IN THE YAVAPAI COUNTY EDUCATION SERVICE AGENCY SAFETY NET EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND CRISIS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (SAFETY NET PROGRAM) IN ORDER TO MEET AN ESSENTIAL NEED TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF OUR STUDENTS, STAFF, SCHOOL FACILITIES, AND REAL PROPERTY
Mrs. Dee Navarro moved that the Governing Board approve the participation in the Yavapai County Education Service Agency Safety Net Emergency Response and Crisis Management Program (Safety Net Program) in order to meet an essential need to ensure the safety of our students, staff, school facilities, and real property. Dr. Andy Newton seconded the motion.
Mr. Tom Staley asked what is the purpose of this
program? Mr. Kapp responded that the
Mrs. Dee Navarro asked if this would include training at the school sites, because she had heard from some teachers that they don’t know what is expected of them in the event of a crisis. Mr. Kapp responded, absolutely, and that training is a key piece to the entire plan.
Mrs.
Study Item:
CONSIDER APPROVING RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE
Mr. Kapp reported that the Growth Committee had met last Thursday and that the original committee members had unanimously approved the recommendations that will be presented to the Board. He noted that the Board can accept, reject or modify the recommendations.
Mrs. Nancy Martinez, Chairman of the Growth Committee, reported that the committee has been looking at information regarding district growth for the last three years and in 2005-06 recognized the need for a new high school, new middle school and new elementary school in that order and presented this information to the Board at their summer retreat. She noted that when the district received the news that the School Facilities Board was offering to build a 500 student school for the district, the committee began looking at future growth plans. The committee has been looking at different plans and also at problems within the current high school facilities. She noted that the committee began brainstorming and looking at many different options before finalizing this recommendation. She noted that the original voting members of the committee came up with the following recommendation:
The Growth committee recommends that the Governing Board requests approval from voters for:
1. A bond in November 2007, in conjunction with the Arizona School Facilities Board funding.
2. The
sale of the current
3. To
build a new high school at a new site, which will also accommodate
4. To leave all remaining schools at their present locations.
5. To hire a consultant to assist the district in further analyzing our needs.
Mr. Victor Wrublik addressed the Governing Board and stated that he would like to challenge this recommendation and felt that it was not following the mission and vision statements. He stated that he did not think it was being effective and didn’t believe it was thinking “out of the box.” He recommended utilizing the current high school, adding a building, looking at a partnership with Yavapai College to give students college credit during high school by raising the culture of the high school to be more academic and allowing students to pursue a college degree by obtaining an A.A. degree before graduating from high school. He added that the $55 million could be used to pay for those degrees.
Dr. Andy Newton stated that it sounded like the committee had explored every available option and asked how much of the discussion was centered on the funding? Mrs. Martinez responded, quite a bit – we discussed the SFB funding, revenue from the sale of the high school, the range of the bond, and using the revenue from the sale of the high school to buy down the bond.
Dr. Newton asked, the new high school would serve the needs
of the high school community for how long?
Mrs. Martinez responded that the new high school could have a student
population of approximately 2,200 – 3,000, which should hold us for at least
the next 30-40 years. Mr. Kapp added
that
Mr. Newton asked, what about Northpoint? Mrs. Martinez responded, Northpoint would be located at the high school property, but on the opposite to make them two distinct schools, but able to share some facilities such as the cafeteria, library, and fields.
Mr. Staley asked, any numbers on what the bond might be? Mrs. Martinez responded, between $50-70 million in order to build a state of the art high school to meet the needs of the students.
Mr. Staley asked, any estimate on what the sale of the high school might bring in revenues? Mrs. Martinez responded, Mr. Lavington estimated between $25-30 million.
Mr. Staley asked, how much would a consultant cost to hire? Mrs. Martinez responded, approximately $30,000. He suggested presenting this to the public first and felt that voting on the committee’s recommendation was too soon, especially when there are other plans out there. He suggested a plan with zero net by combining the two middle schools at PHS, building a new high school, using the SFB money to build a new preschool, relocate Northpoint and the district office to GMMS, and sell the district office, Dexter and PMHMS. He stated that he knew there was some concern about combining the two middle schools, but added that there are a lot of successful middle schools that have 1200 students, but that first we needed to get input from the public.
Mrs. Martinez noted that this was only a recommendation to the Board, not the final plan. President Campbell added, what the Board approves may be totally different from this recommendation and that of course there would be a lot of public discussion.
Mr. Staley stated that if we’re looking at doing the best for students, everything should be on the table, and sentimentality about a campus is not a good enough reason not to sell it. He added that both the city and county would be interested in the PMHMS property. He noted that he was concerned about voting on anything without a lot of public in-put and the district needs to do as much as we possibly can to help pay for it.
President Campbell stated that it’s important to come to a consensus about how to do this and determine whether we wish to move forward at this time.
Mrs. Dee Navarro stated that her concern was for the number of students at a new high school. She asked, did the committee talk about the small school concept? 1900 students seems like it would be very crowded. Mrs. Martinez responded that they talked about it, the possibility of using pods, school-within-a-school concept, pods within the school for separate departments. She added that Mike Taylor was on the committee and was extremely helpful. She stated that she agreed with Mr. Staley regarding moving a little too quickly and felt there was a need for focus groups.
President Campbell stated that next week, if the Board wishes, we can move forward on looking at a new high school – not necessarily asking for a bond.
Mrs. Navarro added, continue negotiations, but November 7th is too soon to ask for a bond.
Dr. Joan Fleming stated that she appreciated Mr. Wrublik’s comments about expanding educational opportunities. She noted that she felt strongly that the district needs an outside consultant who can do an analysis and survey the community and thought it would be worth the expense and would be more credible and objective. She stated that she was opposed to combining the two middle schools and that continuing the middle school concept would be very difficult with 1200 students. She stated that the 32 acres at the high school is not big enough for a high school and that there are already huge parking issues. She added that she felt we needed a new high school in the north part of town where the majority of the growth is occurring and that she felt it would attract students.
Mr. Staley stated that $30,000 is a lot of money and did not think the district should use a consultant. He stated that he felt strongly about combining both middle schools at the high school. He stated that the agenda says we are considering approving the recommendations from the Growth Committee.
President Campbell stated, that’s only a starting point and it will depend on how we craft the motion next week.
Dr. Newton asked, what would you expect from a consultant? Mrs. Martinez responded, to look further into the needs of the district, evaluating the number of acres needed, the value of the land, selling of equipment, making sure that we’ve looked at all the costs, and that we’re going in the right direction. She stated that a consultant would have no emotional ties to the properties and could be more objective. She added that the Growth Committee supports public input and recognizes it as an important part of the process.
Dr. Newton stated that he felt that if the district didn’t use a consultant it would be a huge mistake.
Mr. Staley noted that the value of the land would be determined by an appraiser, which we don’t need right now – we have a purchasing agent. He suggested adding public in-put to the recommendation.
Mrs. Navarro noted that APS just finished their energy conservation project at all the district sites. She asked, how would this affect the repayment of that loan?
Mr. Kapp stated that he had spoken with our bond consultants,
Stone and Youngren, and they had brought up that whether we pursue the idea of
a new high school or remodeling the existing high school, we must go through
SFB and get their approval and said that it would be very beneficial to have an
outside consultant. He stated that
CONSIDER APPROVING THE PROPOSED COURSES FOR THE JROTC
PROGRAM AT
Dr. Andy
Newton moved that the Governing Board approve the proposed courses for the JROTC Program at
Dr. Newton pointed out that of the five new courses, two of them would allow students to receive college credit. Dr. Fleming added, the proposal would also not cost any additional money.
Mrs. Totsy McCraley reported that 140 students signed up for ROTC and that we can increase that number and that in the second year of the program we will retain those already in the program and add more students. She added that these courses would allow students to pick up science, social studies, and P.E. credits. She reported that the maximum number of students a teacher can have is 170, and that between the two instructors, they currently have 70 students each.
Mrs.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF DIRECTING THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT TO CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS WITH HUMBOLDT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT TO BECOME A MEMBER OF PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT’S EMPLOYEE BENEFIT TRUST (EBT) HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM FOR THE 2007-2008 SCHOOL YEAR WITH REORGANIZATION OF THE CURRENT EBT PROGRAM AND STRUCTURE FOR THE 2008-09 SCHOOL YEAR TO CREATE A FULL PARTNERSHIP WITHIN THE EBT PROGRAM
Mrs. Dee Navarro moved that the Governing Board direct the administration of PUSD to continue negotiations with HUSD to become a member of PUSD’s Employee Benefit Trust health insurance program for the 2007-2008 school year, with reorganization of the current EBT program and structure for the 2008-09 school year to create a full partnership within the EBT program. Dr. Joan Fleming seconded the motion.
Mr. Louis Giallanardo from The Segal Company was in attendance to explain the process and answer questions. He reported that EBT has been a self-insured program since the early 1980’s and has worked for the district for the last 20 years and works like insurance in that EBT is responsible for maintaining its own reserve. He stated that EBT has always been at a marginal level with about 650 employees and there have been times when the EBT and Governing Board had to make some hard decisions. He noted that the concept of bringing school districts together in a pool is not a new concept and that he has handled many such mergers. The purpose is to maximize the number of participants. He added that bigger is not better – just more predictable. He added that two adjacent districts merging would double the pool and create and advantage for both districts from the risk perspective. He noted that when the discussions began they had reviewed the relative risks, the demographic make-up and histories. It would provide HUSD with better benefits at a lower cost and would provide PUSD with a younger age group from a growing school district, so it would be beneficial to both districts.
HUSD’s Board voted to continue working with PUSD to finalize the merger. He noted that the Governing Board of this district has the final decision over the EBT Board and noted that Dee Navarro is your representative on that board. The recommendation is that you approve the administration and EBT to establish a committee to meet and study the issues in order to become comfortable with the final recommendation.
He noted that a trust agreement would have to be approved by both district Governing Boards that would dictate the legal operation of the trust and can only be amended by the Governing Board of both districts. He stated that it’s not an easy process, but designed to protect the members of the trust.
Mrs. Navarro noted that at first she was uncomfortable with the wording, but after the last discussion, she was now comfortable with the wording and added that Louis Giallanardo would be there to help us put the trust agreement together.
Mr. Staley asked, do we have a capacity on our plan? Mr. Giallanardo responded, yes we do. HUSD is not self-insured. The current stop loss is $125,000 for individuals with a lifetime maximum of $2 million and so is HUSD’s. He noted that currently HUSD has five plans and they are not requesting any changes to our plan. The only issue they’d like to see included is the option for a healthy savings account.
Mr. Staley asked what the time frame would be. Mr. Giallanardo responded, two months at the most to complete this in order to begin by July 1st. He noted that once we get approval tonight, they will be sending out to staff members from both districts a series of questions. He added that he would not be pursuing this if he did not believe it was in PUSD’s best interest.
Mrs. Dee Navarro withdrew her motion and Dr. Joan Fleming withdrew her second.
Mrs.
Mrs. Dee
Navarro moved that the Governing Board direct the administration of PUSD to continue negotiations with HUSD to
become a member of PUSD’s Employee
Benefit Trust health insurance program for
the 2007-2008 school year and to create a full partnership and reorganization with
Mr. Kapp identified members of the EBT committee: Dee Navarro, Jane Orr, Jeff Coughlin, Renee Raskin and Kevin Kapp, with the same number of people representing HUSD. He stated that he would be updating all staff members through e-mail.
Mrs.
CONSIDER APPROVING A CHANGE TO THE PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT’S CURRENT POLICY FOR ONE YEAR ONLY FOR BUYING BACK UNUSED SICK LEAVE FROM ELIGIBLE STAFF MEMBERS CHOOSING TO RETIRE OR SEPARATE FROM PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH THE CHANGE IN POLICY TO BE REVIEWED AFTER THE 2006-2007 SCHOOL YEAR
Dr. Joan Fleming moved to table this item until such time as
further information is available. Dr. Andy Newton seconded the motion.
Mrs.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE RESIGNATION AND RELEASE OF MS.
LYNDA KLEIN, FIFTH GRADE TEACHER AT
Mrs. Dee
Navarro moved that the Governing Board approve the resignation and release of Ms. Lynda Klein, fifth grade teacher
at
Mrs. Navarro noted that Mr. Yeager had said they were interviewing already. Dr. Chris Reynolds noted that he would be making a recommendation tomorrow.
Mr. Staley asked, how does this differ from the gentleman we had to put something in his file? Dr. Reynolds responded, that employee chose to leave before we hired a suitable replacement.
Mrs.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE RESIGNATION AND RELEASE OF MS. SHAWNA HODOVANCE,
FOURTH GRADE TEACHER AT
This item was deleted from the agenda at the Study Session on February 6, 2007.
CONSIER APPROVING POLICY SERVICES ADVISORY, VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1, FOR JANUARY 2007, FOR POLICY ADVISORY NUMBERS 281-283
Mr. Kapp suggested excluding Policy Advisory #282 since we’re still researching that policy through the ASBA.
Dr. Joan Fleming moved that the Governing Board approve Policy Services Advisory, Volume 19, Number 1, for January 2007, for Policy Advisory Numbers 281 and 283. Dr. Andy Newton seconded the motion.
Dr. Newton suggested that the Board read Policy Advisory 283 a little closer since it deals with Board members personal home computers.
Dr. Joan
Fleming amended the original motion to read that the Governing Board approve Policy
Services Advisory, Volume 19, Number 1,
for January 2007, for Policy Advisory Number 281 only. Dr. Andy
President Campbell called for the vote on the amended motion.
Mrs.
President Campbell called for the vote on the original motion with the inclusion of the amendment.
Mrs.
APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA
President Campbell asked if there were any items the Board wished to discuss and vote on separately from the Consent Agenda.
Mrs. Navarro stated that she would like her question answered from the Study Session regarding the overdrawn public relations account. Mrs. Renee Raskin responded that the account Mrs. Navarro was referring to was money the district used to send out the tax credit brochures and will be replaced by each school.
Mr. Staley noted that he’d like to discuss Item No. 9, 10, and 12.
He asked Chris Reynolds if the Professional Development Coordinator that had been hired was a full-time position. Dr. Reynolds responded that she was a 60% employee and that once she had her administrative certificate she would be making 60% of $62,342 plus a $2,000 stipend, but was currently on the teaching salary schedule (60% of $36,896 plus the stipend). Mr. Staley asked why she was not fulltime. Dr. Reynolds responded because the federal government had reduced the grant money. He asked if the new bus driver hired completed the four new hires approved by the Board. Dr. Reynolds noted that was true.
Mr. Staley thanked all of the generous donations and highlighted some of the donations made to the district.
Mr. Staley commented that he was still confused with the tax credit balances and the five year averages presented at the retreat and still felt there were some discrepancies.
President Campbell acknowledged Dr. Lloyd Gillum’s attendance at the Board meeting.
Mr. Kapp stated that he would also like to acknowledge Dr. Kirchbaum from Prescott Anesthesia for their donation to the AEDs even though he was unable to attend the meeting.
Mrs. Dee Navarro moved that the Governing Board approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Dr. Joan Fleming seconded the motion.
Mrs.
CONSIDER APPROVING DR. LLOYD GILLUM AS A DESIGNATED
HEARING OFFICER FOR LONG-TERM STUDENT SUSPENSION HEARINGS FOR THE 2006-2007
SCHOOL YEAR
CONSIDER APPROVING THE CERTIFIED AND
CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL ACTIONS
Certified Staff Employments: Connie Donovan.
Certified Staff Resignations: Isabel Creach, Susan Geske, Larry Legler, Justin
Plaskov, Joan Roulier, and W. Dorrean Walker.
New Substitute
Teachers: (Total of 127 ) Becki Brown, Dennis Goldsmith, Diane Greer,
Brendan Haggerty, Jeanne Helmich, Stephanie Kessler, Hervona
Myers, Lauren Parsons, Rachel Parsons, Dana Steward, Tom Vondeck, and Daniel Zuberbier.
Classified Staff Employments: Rowena Balint, Amanda Beno, Brittany Fuller, Laura Frohm, Marcia Hawley, Jenna Howard, Jerome Kreitlow, Rebecca Lee, Jonell Moore, Rosa Reyes, Russell Razo, and Kathryn Roach.
Classified Staff Resignations: Kay Barnette, Gabrielle Carlson, Miriam deLevie,
Mary Hill, Donna Krosky, and Amy Stewart.
New Volunteers: Carol Ann Houston.
Funding and status for the above as designated in the Personnel Report supplied in Board Briefing #314.
The acceptance of donations as presented:
Time Life Library of
Art books valued at $800 from Mrs. JoAnn Ramsey to the art department at
A HP printer/fax/scanner/copier and color ink cartridge valued at $150 from The National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs.
A computer, monitors, keyboard and mouse valued at $200 from Mr. Henry Dahlberg.
Five hundred dollars
from Prescott Women’s Clinic to the
Two thousand dollars from Prescott Anesthesia LLC to be shared equally to Abia Judd Elementary School, Taylor Hicks Elementary School, Granite Mountain Middle School and Prescott High School.
Five hundred dollars
from the Rotary Club of Prescott to
A HP Inkjet Photo printer valued at $75 from Mr. William Bonewitz.
The following have donated to the Jimmy Kretzmann Memorial Fund:
Yvonne W. Morgan $200.00
Doherty Enterprises Inc. $100.00
Donna Miller $172.00
John Lay $100.00
Charlie Vadnais $100.00
Wayne and Joani Clark $50.00
John and Stefanie Weddle $50.00
Bill Casner $200.00
Bob and Diane Travis $200.00
Brian and Denise Norris $40.00
Doug Kohler Service $50.00
Yavapai
Two hundred dollars
from Womack Enterprises, Inc. to purchase an additional defibrillator for
Football pads and
related equipment valued at $75 from Mrs. Becky Howard to
A refrigerator valued
at $200 from Mr. and Mrs. Mike Harlan to
A MAC computer, a Macbook laptop computer and two printers valued at $150 from Edie Dillon and Tom Fleischner
The ratification of vouchers as presented:
Voucher # Amount
Expenditure Voucher #7040 $229,422.16
Expenditure Voucher #7041 $227,679.54
Consider approving the Auxiliary Operations and Student Activities Fund Statement of Receipts and Disbursements for the month of December 2006 as presented.
Hearing no objection, President Campbell adjourned the meeting at 7:52 p.m.
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