PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1
146 South Granite Street
Prescott, Arizona 86303
April 12, 2005
Minutes of the Governing
Board Voting Session of Tuesday, April 12, 2005, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
held in the District Office Board Room.
Governing Board Members
Present:
President Andy Newton
Dr. Joan Fleming
Mrs. Dee Navarro
Mr. Tom Staley
Mr. Steve Campbell
Also Present:
Mr. Kevin Kapp,
Superintendent
Dr. Chris Reynolds,
Assistant Superintendent
Mrs. Renee Raskin,
Director of Business Services
Miss Justine Bunger,
Student Representative
Mrs. Christa Simmons,
Assistant to Personnel
Others Present:
Dorrean
Walker Jim Williams Libby Sluder
Jan
Richards Rennie Anderson Rita Riley
Renee
Crain Shawna Hodovance Pam Martin
Jim
Riley Tim Erickson Carla Groom
Mardi
Read Debbie Grahlmann Janie Phare
Susan
Shapter Ruth Willson Kathleen Newman
Cambria
Gloyd Cheri Arnold Leisa Geiler
Roberta
Schamber Kevin Keighron Jean McGee
Helen
Vick
CALL TO ORDER
President Andy Newton
called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m.
OPENING CEREMONY AND
WELCOME
Miss Justine Bunger led
the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance and President Newton welcomed
everyone and thanked them for attending.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
President Newton asked Mr.
Kapp if the agenda was in order. Mr. Kapp responded that under
presentations, Item No. 2 would have to be rescheduled, that under the
Voting Session, Item. No. 2 would have to be rescheduled, and that under
the Voting Session, Item No. 6 should be heard first.
Mr. Steve Campbell moved
that the Governing Board approve the agenda as amended. Mrs. Dee Navarro
seconded the motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye, and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
PRESENTATIONS
Mr.
Kapp introduced Mr. Jack Vance from the Yavapai Shrine Club and presented
him with a plaque of recognition for the Yavapai Shrine Club for their
Dress-A-Child Program.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
None.
VOTING SESSION:
CONSIDER APPROVING A NEW
TEACHER SALARY SCHEDULE FOR POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION PENDING FUNDING FOR
THE 2005-2006 SCHOOL YEAR
Dr. Joan Fleming stated
that due to the fact that the Board still did not have all the figures
requested and that the Board still needed to discuss this proposal in
executive session, she recommended that this item be postponed.
Dr. Joan Fleming moved
that the Governing Board postpone this agenda item until the Study Session
in May. Mr. Steve Campbell seconded the motion.
President Newton noted
that the Board had looked at some of these numbers that were presented by
PEA and didn’t match the numbers that came from the Business Office. He
noted that the cost for implementation was not the same as presented and
that the Board was not comfortable voting on this item for that reason.
He also noted that the Legislature has not given a good indication of how
much money the district will have to fund this proposal.
Mrs. Dorrean Walker
addressed the Governing Board and stated that PEA would really like the
Board to consider the salary schedule as presented, that they would get
with Mrs. Raskin and reconcile the numbers. She noted that teachers were
very excited at the prospect of the new schedule.
She asked the Board to not
make the mistake of just raising the base and not the top salary. She
stated that the salary schedule would put the district on par with
Flagstaff and make it possible to compete for recruits with the Flagstaff
area. She reminded the Board that it takes 15 hours to move from column
to column and that the cost to the teacher could be up to $4500. She
reminded the Board that 301 funds were to be used to supplement, not to
supplant. She thanked the Board for their work in the past and encouraged
the Board to consider the new schedule.
Mr. Kapp noted that from
his past experience in meet and confer it has almost always been true that
if people can just be patient until May, things almost always get better,
based on what the legislature might pass.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING A
LEASE/PURCHASE OF A SUBSTITUTE TEACHER FINDER SYSTEM
Mr.
Steve Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve the lease/purchase
of a substitute teacher finder system. Dr. Joan Fleming seconded the
motion.
Mr. Arn Lavington reported
that the personnel department had gone to great lengths to seek out
suppliers of a substitute teacher finder system. He noted that the search
and evaluation committee found only one that interfaces with the
district’s business software, thus making it a sole source procurement.
He stated that this purchase would be over a two year period at $19,565.88
per year starting with the 2005-2006 school year, and that the total is
over the $32,899 bid level. He went on to say that in order to make sure
we have all our legal notification obligations correct, he was advising
the Board of this and requesting to purchase this system over a two year
period. He noted that the district has done purchases of this type many
times such as for the APS project and buses.
Dr. Chris Reynolds noted
that the district has had a substitute caller (Lucy Rodarte) for the last
23 years and she has come in every morning at 6:00 a.m. and arranged for
substitutes. He stated that she is retiring from that position, which
caused them to re-examine the position and it was their recommendation
that an automated system be used instead of rehiring for that position.
He noted that the system the committee was looking at is compatible with
the business software. He reported that this system would be able to give
detailed reports in many different configurations that are now done by
hand. He noted that substitute teachers would have access to the system
and teachers would be able to call in or e-mail the system at any time of
night or day. Substitutes can give times when they don’t want to be
called, or they can enter the system through e-mail and make their own
placement. He noted that by paying for the system over a two year period
out of soft capital, it will free up money to be used in other areas, not
to mention the money the district will save in salaries by not rehiring
that four hour position.
Discussion then followed
regarding power failures, access by the school principals and secretaries,
and who would monitor the system for glitches, etc. Mr. Kapp noted that a
lot of other districts have moved to automated systems and they have said
wonderful things about this type of system.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE
SELECTION OF (__________________________)
AS PRINCIPAL OF TAYLOR
HICKS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOR THE 2005-2006 SCHOOL YEAR
This item was removed from the agenda.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE
EXPANSION OF THE PARTNERS FOR HEALTHY STUDENTS PROGRAM TO PRESCOTT HIGH
SCHOOL
Dr. Joan Fleming moved that the Governing Board approve the
expansion of the Partners for Healthy Students program to Prescott
High School. Mrs. Dee Navarro seconded the motion.
President Newton noted that this has been a good program through the
hospital.
Mr.
Kapp noted that the district was requesting the hospital to expand the
program and that Mr. Kevin Keighron from YRMC was present to answer any
questions.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE
FOLLOWING EXPENDITURES ($___________)
UTILIZING 2004-2005 SUDDEN
GROWTH MONIES
Mrs. Dee Navarro
moved that the Governing Board approve the expenditure of $300,000
utilizing 2004-2005 sudden growth monies to include $170,000 for the cost
of the buy-out and $130,000 for the Employee Benefit Trust. Dr.
Joan Fleming seconded the motion.
Note: The $130,000 for
the EBT was in lieu of raising the premium rate for employees.
Mr. Kapp noted that the
remaining $177,000 could either be left alone for a few months, or carried
over to next year.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING A
METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION FOR THE INSTRUCTIONAL IMPROVEMENT FUND MONEY
(PROPOSITION 202) FOR TEACHER COMPENSATION
Mr. Steve
Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve an equal distribution
method of distribution for the instructional improvement fund
money (Proposition 202) for teacher compensation. Mrs. Dee Navarro
seconded the motion.
President Newton stated
that his understanding of that method is that the total amount of money
received would be divided by the number of teachers to determine
individual compensation no matter what level of teaching they are at.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER RATIFYING A
MINI-GRANT OF $5,000 FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE SUNUP ROTARY
Mrs. Dee Navarro
moved that the Governing Board ratify a mini- grant of $5,000 from the
Foundation of the Sunup Rotary. Mr. Steve Campbell seconded the
motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER RATIFYING TWO
MINI-GRANTS FROM THE EDUCATION FOUNDATION OF YAVAPAI COUNTY
Mr. Steve
Campbell moved that the Governing Board ratify two mini- grants from
the Education Foundation of Yavapai County. Mrs. Dee Navarro seconded
the motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING A
60-DAY PREVIEW OF TEXTBOOKS AND MATERIALS FOR SCIENCE K-12
Mrs. Dee Navarro
moved that the Governing Board approve a 60- day preview of textbooks
and materials for Science K-12. Mr. Steve Campbell seconded the
motion.
President Newton noted
that the materials would be available at the district office for preview
by anyone interested with a sign-up sheet. Ms. Linda Ryan distributed a
list of the textbooks and materials to the Board.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE
SUBMISSION OF LEGISLATIVE ACTION PROPOSALS FOR THE ARIZONA SCHOOL BOARD
ASSOCIATION FOR THE 2006 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Dr. Joan Fleming noted
that she had submitted a proposal to the Board during the Study Session
last week.
Dr. Joan Fleming
moved that the Governing Board approve the legislative action
proposal for the Arizona School Board Association that was
submitted to the Board last week for the 2006 Legislative Agenda. Mrs. Dee
Navarro seconded the motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER THE APPROVAL
OF THE FOLLOWING STAFF MEMBERS REQUEST FOR A FULL OR PARTIAL LEAVE OF
ABSENCE FOR THE 2005-2006 SCHOOL YEAR
Mr. Steve
Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve the following staff
members request for a full or partial leave of absence for the 2005-2006
school year as presented by Dr. Chris Reynolds. Mrs. Dee Navarro
seconded the motion.
NAME: POSITION: LOCATION:
LEAVE: REASON:
Jesus
Felix Spec. Ed. PMHMS
Full Leave Personal
Cassie
Habeck Lang. Arts/ GMMS Full Leave
Professional
Social Studies
Harvey
Habeck Computer/ GMMS/DX Full Leave
Professional
Staff Develop.
Katie
Huffaker First Grade AJ Full
Leave Personal
Colleen
Jonovich Second Grade MV Full Leave
Personal
Kim
Kloos Science/SS GMMS Full
Leave Medical
Pamela
Mar Fourth Grade TH Full
Leave Personal
Ginger
Nolte Kindergarten AJ Full
Leave Medical
Diane Pecharich
Math PHS Full Leave Personal
Kelly
Poynter Second Grade MV .5 FTE
Leave Personal
Julie
Rockwell Spec. Ed. LN Full
Leave Personal
Kelli
Rogers Math/Science GMMS Full
Leave Personal
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE
RECOMMENDATION FOR TERMINATION OF MRS. CINDY BROWN, THE DIRECTOR OF
TRANSPORTATION, EFFECTIVE APRIL 12, 2005
Mr. Tom Staley
moved that the Governing Board approve the recommendation for
termination of Mrs. Cindy Brown, the Director of Transportation,
effective April 12, 2005. Dr. Joan Fleming seconded the motion.
President Newton noted
that at this time there were two people who wished to address the Board
and reminded them of the three minute limit.
Mr. Jim Riley addressed
the Board and stated that he was pastor of a church, that he has served on
many boards over the years, and has learned that not everything is as it
appears the way it was presented. He noted that he was speaking on behalf
of Cindy Brown, that he has known her for many years and knows her
character in his position as the pastor of her church. He deals with a
lot of people, such as paroles, and felt he had a little bit of experience
in dealing with the character of people. He stated that Cindy Brown has
shown a lot of character in the situation at hand. It seems to be a
situation that is not in blatant violation of the procedure because the
procedure is not even written in black and white. He noted that he had
talked to several people within the school district and asked certain
questions and they had all confirmed the fact that this is a policy right
now of hiring contracted personnel that does not go through the personnel
department and there is really no written procedure on what is right. He
went on to say that he has spent a lot of time over the past week with
Cindy watching her with a broken heart, saying how could this have
happened - it was an oversight, and how she feels so bad about it.
Speaking on her behalf, when there is an automatic termination of an
individual for a mistake, when every person in here has made mistakes at
one time or another and needed a second chance. It’s not because
something happened – it could have happened, but didn’t happen. Without
having a policy you are dealing with an automatic termination without
considering other alternatives. I know that you’re going to have to deal
with this situation in the future, because it could happen in any area,
either statewide or nationally, because contact labor is not something
that has been dealt with and has been an oversight on everybody’s part. I
feel that in this situation an automatic termination would absolutely be
wrong. It’s not the right moral choice to do. A lot of it has been based
on hearsay and in our great nation an individual deserves their day in
court to find out what’s going on. I would suggest that she should be
able to come before the Board, or at the very least be able to resign her
position without a termination on her record where she can’t go out and
get another job in an administrative position. I believe that most
everybody here knows and recognizes that she’s a very trustworthy, moral
employee and has done everything even above what has been required, and
this definitely needs to be taken into consideration. To vote on an
automatic termination would be morally wrong.
Rita Riley addressed the
Governing Board and stated that she also was present to support Cindy
Brown. She stated that she has known Cindy for about 8 years and have
worked with her on several projects outside of a work environment. Most
were church related projects and activities. I also have found Cindy to be
completely dedicated and dependable. I know that Cindy takes her job with
the school district very seriously, and the buses and all the children
that are transported. I know that she has been concerned on various
occasions when kids have not been picked up or dropped of at the wrong
location. I know that she really cares about the kids and the job. I
heard Mr. Kapp say on the radio the other day that Cindy was a dedicated
and trustworthy employee for over 13 years and I’m sure that was a true
statement. I would ask you to look at Cindy’s record over the years and
not make a judgment based on this one incident only. It is my
understanding that there is no policy or procedure in place at this time
concerning hiring contract employees and I’ve heard on the radio by Mr.
Kapp that there are possibly many contracted employees working at schools
all over the district and we don’t know their past and have no idea what
problems they may have been. She stated that she had talked to Dr.
Street’s office and was informed that this was not just a problem in this
school district, but statewide and national. I do not know how you can
justify the termination of a person when there really isn’t a policy in
place that has been broken. I think this is a very unfortunate incident
that happened. I’m a mother and grandmother and understand the feeling of
having this type of person in the schools - it’s scary to think that you
don’t know everybody that could come into contact with. Since there is no
formal policy in place, shouldn’t the fault start at the top and fall on
everybody’s shoulders, and not only on the person at the bottom of the
totem pole? I ask that you look at Mrs. Brown’s record and realize that
she is the type of person the school district should be glad to have as an
employee.
Mr. Steve Campbell asked
if Mrs. Brown had a chance to come to the Board and speak on her own
behalf. Mr. Kapp responded that state law and Board policy describes the
situation this way. Outside the 24 hour time limit we scheduled an
executive session with the Board beginning at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon.
By law, we must have notified Mrs. Brown at least 24 hours in advance,
which we were able to do yesterday at around 3:36 p.m. At that point Mrs.
Brown received a letter from me advising her that she could indeed come,
let us know ahead of time, or come right to the meeting at 4:00 p.m. and
request that the discussion take place in an open meeting. There are
seven reasons in which a Board can go behind closed doors and personnel
matters is one of them. The employee can require that the discussion take
place during open session and Cindy was aware of that. She knew that if
she came at 4:00 p.m. she could have the discussion in public. At that
point it would have become an open meeting, with an agenda item, and
anyone could have spoken, just like Mr. and Mrs. Riley. The answer to your
question is yes, she could have come. She would have requested an open
meeting, which means I would have presented all of my facts and findings
publicly and she could have addressed the Board for approximately three
minutes.
Mr. Campbell asked if she
was given the opportunity to resign. Mr. Kapp responded that the option
of resigning was available to her for a while during this process. He
noted that he needed to keep his comments concise, because this was not
the time to publicly share all of the information. He stated that based
on his investigation and the evidence that he had found, he did not offer
her the option of resigning when he had met with her on Friday afternoon.
I informed her that I was going to regrettably, and I mean very
regrettably, recommend that her employment with Prescott Unified School
District be terminated based on my findings and evidence that he had
collected over the last ten days.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton 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. Dr. Joan
Fleming seconded the motion.
Mrs. Dee Navarro voted
aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mr. Steve
Campbell voted aye and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried
5-0.
CONSIDER APPROVING THE
CERTIFIED AND CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL ACTIONS AS PRESENTED
Certified Staff
Employments:
None.
Certified Staff
Resignations:
Michele Helmken, Catherine Schnitzius, and
Linda Heim.
New Substitute
Teachers: (Total 143)
Starla Barstow, William Dekemper, Kristi Gagnon, William Garrett, Jennifer
Guszkowski, Matt LaVoire, Susan Menkov, Brittany Michelson, Brian Myers,
Vincent Myers, William Park, Fe Sheveland, Anna Waddell, Michael Wallrich
and Maxine Wegener.
Classified Staff
Employments:
Dave Fontes, Meryl Finnegan, Pamela Lugo, Victor Nelson, Mark Vadivia and
Danelle Wilson.
Classified Staff
Resignations:
Kathleen Reed-McTighe and Margaret Robinson.
New Volunteers:
Brittany Sarvis.
The acceptance of
donations as presented:
Wireless system components
valued at $150, from Mr. Drew Alexander, to Lincoln Elementary School.
Fifty dollars from Ms.
Vivian Davenport for the Brian Gianelli Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Twenty-five dollars from
the staff at Prescott High School for the Brian Gianelli Memorial
Scholarship Fund.
One hundred and forty
dollars from unknown donors for the Brian Gianelli Memorial Scholarship
Fund.
Water and juice valued at
$65 from Prescott Pepsi Cola, for the Creative Arts Day celebration at
Granite Mountain Middle School.
Fourteen dollars and fifty
cents from Robert DeArmond, to help restore the 1947 Dodge bus.
Four hundred dollars from
the Rotary Club of Prescott, to Discovery Garden Preschool.
Two thousand dollars from
the Prescott High School Class of 2005, to the Brian Gianelli Memorial
Scholarship Fund.
Seven hundred and fifty
dollars from Prescott Summer Pops Symphony to the music department at
Granite Mountain Middle School.
The ratification of
vouchers as presented:
Voucher #
Amount
Payroll Voucher
#17 $856,408.33
Payroll Voucher
#18 $843,169.37
Expenditure Voucher
#5061 $51,665.89
Expenditure Voucher
#5062 $40,703.49
Expenditure Voucher
#5063 $32,107.06
Expenditure Voucher
#5064 $283,514.57
Consider approving the
Auxiliary Operations and Student Activities Fund Statement of Receipts and
Disbursements for the month of February 2005 as presented.
ADJOURNMENT
Hearing no objection,
President Newton adjourned the meeting at 6:25 p.m.
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