August 1, 2006
Minutes of the
Governing Board Study and Voting Session of Tuesday, August 1, 2006, beginning
at 5:30 p.m. held in the District Office Board Room.
Governing
Board Members Present:
President
Mrs. Dee Navarro
Dr. Andy Newton
Mr.
Mr. Tom Staley
Also
Present:
Mr. Kevin J. Kapp, Superintendent
Dr.
Mrs.
Mrs. Andi Mayer, Assistant to the
Governing Board (left at 7:45 p.m.)
Others
Present:
Nancy Martinez Lauren Millette
Michael Stinson
Marianne Brooks Totsy McCraley Joe
Howard
Jim Cowan Kim Belli Dave
DenHartog
Susan Clark Arn Lavington Donna
Norris
Linda Ryan Rowle Simmons Steve
Bill Munson Dan McCormick Steven
Nelson
Charles Mentken Melissa Roseman-Orr Kaye
Callihan
Susan Boquet Chris Lawrence Lynne
LaMaster
President
President
Fleming welcomed everyone and thanked those present for attending. Dr.
President
Fleming asked Mr.
Mr.
Mrs.
Dee Navarro voted aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Mr.
None.
SUPERINTENDENT’S
REPORT
Mr.
He noted that
he would wait to do an enrollment report until the first week of school, when
schools would be reporting enrollment to the district office on a daily basis
for the first ten days.
He reported that
there would be a new Jr. ROTC program at PHS and that Col. Denny Peeples would
be running that program.
He distributed
copies of Prescott Woman and noted
that he had been asked to do an article on “Show interest in your child’s
success, get involved.”
Mr. Staley
suggested that if
Mr. Kapp
distributed the August Calendar of Events to the Board.
PUBLIC
HEARING
President
Fleming entertained a motion to hold a public hearing, noting that this would
be held in order for members of the public to ask any questions regarding
revisions to the budget limits for 2006-2007.
Mrs. Dee Navarro moved that the
Governing Board recess the regular meeting to hold a public hearing to discuss
revisions to the 2006-2007 budget limits for the Maintenance and Operations and
Capital Budgets. Mr.
Mrs.
Dee Navarro voted aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Mr.
Mr. Michael
Stinson addressed the Governing Board regarding substitute pay rates. He noted that last year they had received a
$10 increase to $75 per day, which was the first pay raise in five years and
added that they were seeking a raise of $85 per day – 3% over five years. He
noted that since that didn’t happen, they were going to approach the Board
again regarding a pay raise for substitutes.
He directed the Board’s attention to a handout he had provided regarding
a substitute survey that had been done and rates of pay for substitutes in
other districts within
1. Increase
daily rate to $90.
2. Add
a ½ day minimum (there are many 1 hour assignments at the high school and
middle schools).
3. Increase
daily rate after five days.
4. Increase
long-term rates to a negotiated rate based on teaching experience.
5. Start
long-term rates after 15 days.
6. Increase
substitute pay whenever teacher pay increases.
He also noted
that they recognized that these changes may not be possible in one year and
pointed out that they had created alternative changes over a three year period.
(A copy of the handout is available from the Superintendent’s Office.)
Mr. David
Martin addressed the Governing Board with some questions. He asked regarding page 13 of 17 in the Board
Briefing enclosure, was their a carry forward of $862, 068? He also noted that
he had spoken with Renee Raskin regarding the $180,000 in Arizona State
Retirement System and had wondered whether or not there could be a claim
filed. He noted that he had spoken with
Mr. John Flanders who indicated that it would not pay any of this money and
that a claim had never been filed. He
suggested that this Board direct Mrs. Raskin to file such a claim.
President
Fleming noted that Mrs. Raskin could respond to those questions during the
Study Session.
Dr. Andy Newton moved that the
Governing Board adjourn the Public Hearing and reconvene to regular
session. Mrs. Dee Navarro seconded the
motion.
Mrs.
Dee Navarro voted aye, Dr. Andy Newton voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, Mr.
STUDY AND VOTING SESSION:
CONSIDER
APPROVING THE REVISIONS TO THE 2006-2007 BUDGET LIMITS FOR THE MAINTENANCE AND
OPERATIONS AND CAPITAL BUDGETS
President
Fleming entertained questions from Board members.
Mr. Staley
noted that there was an increase in M & O of $322,453 and that $491,445 was
from an increase for new all day kindergarten.
He stated that the use of that money was to be for kindergarten purposes
only. Mrs. Raskin responded, there was
nothing from the legislature that says we have to use it for kindergarten. Mr. Staley asked where that was noted on the
budget. Mrs. Raskin responded, we will
be meeting with the principals to decide where that money should go, so it hasn’t
totally been decided yet, so it was placed into educational salaries and benefits
for now. She noted that it would mostly
be spent on personnel and about $10,000 for each new classroom.
Mr. Staley
stated that he was concerned that there was not a separate line item for that
money and that it didn’t appear to him that the money was be used as
intended. He noted that there should be
$331,000 left after hiring new teachers and $300,000 left after three new
classrooms. He asked, where’s that money
going?
President
Fleming responded that this Board is totally committed to spending that money
on all day kindergarten. Mr. Staley
asked, where is it on the line items?
Mrs. Raskin responded, the plan is to spend it on all day kindergarten
and that some of the money would also be used to replace the Title I money and
tuition fees that currently pay some of our kindergarten teachers, as well as
the new teachers and classrooms.
Mr. Staley
stated that next week he’d like to see more line items – what’s coming in and
what’s going out and that maybe we should use the excess money to add classrooms
at Taylor Hicks for kindergarten. He
added that he was not comfortable voting on this because he doesn’t see it as a
line item on the budget. Mrs. Raskin
responded, there is no separate line provided on the form for that item. She added that she would bring back a plan
for those funds after the principals had met that would outline the
expenditures.
Mr. Kapp
stated that there is no one in this administration that ever considered using
that money for anything other than kindergarten. He added that three of the five schools offer
art, P.E. and music to their kindergartners and that the two other schools have
problems doing the same, which some of that money could be used for.
Mr. Staley
stated that he was a numbers person and would like to see something in writing
showing the money coming in and the money going out.
President
Fleming stated that Mrs. Raskin would provide a separate report regarding those
funds.
Mr. Staley
noted, if we can spend that money on buildings, let’s have plans drawn up for 8
classrooms instead of 6.
Mr. Kapp noted
that the media had been incredibly helpful in publicizing the new free all day
kindergarten and that only three more spaces were available at
In answer to
Mr. Martin’s question regarding the balance carry forward, Mrs. Raskin noted
that on page 13 of 17, line #8, the budget balance carry forward figure is
always budgeted to its highest limit, because you can revise down, but never
up. She noted that this figure would be
revised later on because the district is still paying bills from last year all
the way into August, so that figure would change and would probably be more
like $300,000, which is typical.
Mr. Staley
asked, and the $180,000 that Mr. Martin asked about? Mrs. Raskin responded, I have not finished
with the school board – where to pay that money – it was not included yet
because it has not gone to the school board.
Mr. Staley asked, could we ask them to waive that? Mrs. Raskin responded that she did talk with
Mr. Flanders and that she had taken it as “there wasn’t a claim to be
filed.” She noted that she would talk to
him again.
Mrs. Navarro
asked, the decrease in TEI of $131,417 is because of retiring teachers? Mrs. Raskin responded, yes.
Mr. Staley
asked, we had a decrease in TEI, do we know what the savings were? Dr. Chris Reynolds responded, we don’t have
the figures on the summer savings yet, but might have those figures before next
week.
Voting Item: CONSIDER APPROVING A MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR MRS.
ROBERTA SCHAMBER, FIFTH GRADE TEACHER AT
Mrs. Dee Navarro moved that the
Governing Board approve the medical leave of absence for Mrs. Roberta Schamber,
fifth grade teacher at
Mr. Staley
asked, has a replacement been found? Dr.
Reynolds responded, yes.
Mrs.
Voting Item: CONSIDER APPROVING THE CERTIFIED AND CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL
ACTIONS AS PRESENTED
Mr.
Mr.
Mrs.
CONSIDER
APPROVING THE SALE OF THE NATURE CENTER PROPERTY OF APPROXIMATELY 18 ACRES
ADJACENT TO GRANITE MOUNTAIN MIDDLE SCHOOL TO THE CITY OF PRESCOTT TO BECOME
OPEN SPACE FOR THE APPRAISED VALUE OF $1.81 MILLION
Mr. Kapp
reported that he had attended the City Council’s study session earlier today
and introduced Mayor Rowle Simmons and Mr. Steve Norwood, City Manager.
Mr. Steve
Norwood reported that during the City Council meeting this afternoon there was
not one member who was not excited about moving forward with this transaction
and that they were prepared to move forward with it. He noted that it is a win-win situation, very
positive, very exciting and that they hoped to finalize the paperwork this week
in order for both entities to be able to vote on it next week.
Mayor Rowle
Simmons noted that this was yet another example of PUSD and the City of
Mr. Staley
noted that the district has a deadline of August 11th to rescind the
motion to place this item on the ballot and wanted the city to be aware of this
deadline.
Mayor Simmons
noted that there was unanimous support and that the city manager has been
authorized to carry forward on working out the transaction. He noted that the city appreciated the
district offering this land for open space without asking the private entities
first. He stated that he felt the
community was better served this way and that this will lay the groundwork for
future things.
Mr. Kapp noted
that comments made at the council meeting were that the city would like to pay
for the land in two installments, paying $905,000 initially and a like amount
next July. He noted that there was some
discussion regarding the maintenance of this property and he noted that it was
only lightly maintained. He stated that
the district already has an IGA with the city and that this could be something
we could partner with them on, since we have a new Northpoint high school with
about 100 9th graders who probably would love to help maintain the
trails.
Mayor Simmons
noted that they were given a mandate that open space money cannot be spent for
maintenance of the property that is purchased, so it must come out of the
general fund.
Mr. Staley
asked, if there is $4 million in the open space account, why purchase the
property with two installments? Mayor
Simmons responded, there are three other projects we’re looking at and this
would be a major help to us.
CONSIDER
RESCINDING THE PREVIOUS MOTION TO ORDER AND CALL A SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE HELD
IN AND FOR PRECOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISRICT ON NOVEMBER 7, 2006, FOR THE SALE OF
THE NATURE CENTER PROPERTY APPROVED ON JUNE 20, 2006
President
Fleming stated that regardless of what happens at the Council meeting next
week, she believed the Board should rescind this motion because she didn’t
believe it would be passed by the voters.
CONSIDER
APPROVING A LEASE AGREEMENT FOR THE LAPTOP COMPUTER PROGRAM AT NORTHPOINT
EXPEDITIONARY
Mrs. Geneva
Saint-Amour introduced Mr. Steve Nelson and Mr. Dan McCormick, representatives from
Apple Computers, as well as the teaching staff from Northpoint: Charles Mentken, Susan Boquet, Andy Kleinman,
Melissa Wagner, and Sidney Shepard. She
introduced the Northpoint Laptop Initiative – an overview of the benefits of
using laptops in the classroom, through a PowerPoint presentation on the Apple
laptops. She noted that Northpoint
students would be wearing uniforms that consist of t-shirts, polo shirts, and
collared shirts of various colors, all with logos, and students wearing the
bottoms of their choice that meet the dress code. She noted that they have had several
community nights to let parents and students know what Northpoint is about and
what is expected and that all students were required to do 20 minute interviews
along with a required application and essay and that parent support was a
must. She noted that a few students had
decided not to attend, but not many.
She reported
that they were currently had a 91% enrollment with more students who were
applying waiting for interviews, that 25% of the enrollment was from outside of
this district, and that through a survey it was found that 33% of those
enrolled would not have attended PHS.
She pointed out that Northpoint would not be using any textbooks and
that the computers would be the main vehicle for curriculum. She stated that this would be the first
expeditionary school with a laptop initiative out of 11 expeditionary schools
nationwide. She noted that kids are technically savvy and rely on technology in
their everyday lives and that in the future most everything will be computer
based. She reported that
Mrs.
Saint-Amour introduced the representatives from Apple Computer who answered
questions from the Board and thanked Lynne LaMaster for her creation of the
slide show.
Mr. Staley
asked, so the kids would not own the computers at the end of four years? Mrs. Saint-Amour responded, no, they would be
depreciated and be used elsewhere in the district if there was a need, or
disposed of through public auction as all other district computer
equipment. She noted as with any
computer equipment, over a four year period, the technology becomes somewhat
obsolete.
Dr. Newton
asked, if a students comes to the school in their junior year, would they
receive a new unit? Mrs. Saint-Amour
responded that each year there will be some extra units purchased.
Mr. Staley
asked, what is the total amount parents have to pay each year? Mrs. Saint-Amour responded, $375 or $410 with
insurance. Mr. Staley pointed out that
as a senior, that student may not have the same technology available to them
that a freshman would have, because the freshman would always have the newer
units.
CONSIDER
APPROVING A RIGHT OF ENTRY AND TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION EASEMENT TO THE CITY OF
Mr. Staley
expressed concern regarding the 24-month timeline and how it would affect
traffic at Abia Judd. Mr. Munson noted
that the easement would not affect the entry way, but was mainly for the area
around the marquee. Mr. Arn Lavington
also stated that he did not feel the easement would have a detrimental affect
on traffic.
CONSIDER
APPROVING THE GOVERNING BOARD GOALS FOR THE 2006-2007 SCHOOL YEAR
President
Fleming pointed out that the Board had tried to keep the goals short and
concise.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT
AGENDA:
CONSIDER
RATIFYING THE VOUCHERS AS PRESENTED
CONSIDER
THE APPROVAL OF THE AUXILIARY OPERATIONS AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES FUND STATEMENT
OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE 2006
CONSIDER
APPROVING THE PREVIOUS MINUTES FROM THE GOVERNING BOARD EXECUTIVE, STUDY AND
VOTING SESSION OF JULY 11, 2006
Mrs. Dee Navarro moved that the
Governing Board meeting be adjourned.
Dr.
Mrs.
The meeting
adjourned at 7:51 p.m.
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