PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1

146 South Granite Street

Prescott, Arizona 86303

 

August 9, 2005

 

Minutes of the Governing Board Study Session of Tuesday, August 9, 2005, beginning at 5:30 p.m. held in the District Office Board Room.

 

Governing Board Members Present:

 

President Andy Newton

Mrs. Dee Navarro

Mr. Steve Campbell

Dr. Joan Fleming

Mr. Tom Staley

                                

Also Present:

Mr. Kevin J. Kapp, Superintendent

Dr. Chris Reynolds, Assistant Superintendent

Mr. Spencer Johnson, Student Representative

Mrs. Andi Mayer, Assistant to the Governing Board

 

Others Present:   

         

          Totsy McCraley              Frank Lawhead              Jim Cowan

          Bill Munson                             Brian Moore                   Nancy Martinez

          Joe Howard                    Jim Williams                  Marianne Brooks

          Bill Monroe                    Hilary Eller                    Elizabeth Wilkins

          Carol Westfall                 Dorrean Walker             David Martin

          Arn Lavington                Jay Collier                     Mary Anne Kapp

          Mike Harlan                   Denny Colgan                Linda Ryan

          Henry Schmitt               Craig Niece                    Anne Solt

          Michael Stinson             S. Moglewer                             Carolyn Bay

          Joseph May                             LeeAnn Lyall                  Donna Norris

          Libby Reiman                Kaye Cultham                Gerry Janssen

          Susan Clark                  

                                                                                                         

CALL TO ORDER

President Andy Newton called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m.

 

OPENING CEREMONY AND WELCOME

President Newton welcomed everyone and thanked those present for attending.  He asked Ms. Hilary Eller to introduce her guest.  Ms. Eller introduced LeeAnn Lyall, who works for the Chino Valley Review. Mr. Spencer Johnson led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

President Newton asked Mr. Kevin Kapp if the agenda was in order.  Mr. Kapp responded that it had been suggested that Item No. 3 be moved as the first agenda item and Dr. Joan Fleming suggested that Item No. 7 be postponed until the September meeting.  Dr. Chris Reynolds also noted that he had two names to remove from the Personnel Report in the Consent Agenda.

 

Mr. Steve Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve the agenda as amended.  Mrs. Dee Navarro seconded the motion.

 

Mr. Steve Campbell voted aye, Dr. Joan Fleming voted aye, Mrs. Dee Navarro voted aye, Mr. Tom Staley voted aye, and President Newton voted aye. The motion carried 5-0.

 

PRESENTATIONS

Mrs. Dee Navarro gave a report on the Employee Benefit Trust and noted that they were in great financial shape.  She reported that the IBNR of $477,286 was an incurred liability for claims not yet paid.  Mr. Kevin Kapp noted that Mrs. Navarro would be making reports to the Board regarding the EBT every other month.  He also noted that the EBT was in the best financial shape it’s ever been in.  He reported that there may be a rate increase next year, but that PUSD was one of the very few districts to not have a rate increase this year.

 

Dr. Joan Fleming thanked Mrs. Navarro for her report because it gives the other Board members much more information.

 

Mrs. Navarro thanked the EBT Board for doing such a fine job.

 

Mr. Kapp reported on the Wednesday Afternoon Professional Development Activities and Parks and Recreation Activities for Middle Schools.  He distributed a copy of the training schedule for every Wednesday of the first semester and noted that the Parks and Recreation Department has been absolutely incredible in putting together a plan for the middle schools’ activities every Wednesday.  He noted that the general theme for the first two training sessions would be talking about professional learning communities in order to develop a culture throughout the district that we are all life-long learners, always learning more and using data to determine what we want or need to learn.  He reported that some schools already began this process during their teacher orientations.

 

Dr. Joan Fleming asked if Dr. Kane from NAU was going to be involved in any of the training sessions.  Mr. Kapp responded that he was more than willing to be involved and that he was worth bringing in as a speaker.

 

Mr. Steve Campbell asked, what’s data mining?  Mr. Joe Howard responded that it’s essentially digging for data to find out where the focus should be.

 

Mr. Howard distributed a letter signed by both himself and Mr. Kapp that went home to all middle school parents regarding the Wednesday adjusted dismissal time and activities, the bus schedule, along with the results from a survey regarding the possible activities for middle school students on Wednesday afternoons.  He noted that the results from the surveys were shared with the Parks and Recreation Department in order to develop a program and that based on the surveys the activity program will start with four activities:  Field/Gym activities, Dance and Theater activities, computers, and homework and tutoring.  He noted that transportation would be provided with buses running at 1:30 p.m. and then again at 3:25 p.m.  He noted that the student athletes could also take advantage of the 5:00 p.m. bus.  He introduced Ms. Libby Reiman from the Parks and Recreation Department.

 

Ms. Reiman noted that tomorrow would be the first day of this program and that she hoped it would be very successful.  She noted that they had based the program on the results from the surveys and that there were over 200 students participating from Prescott Mile High and about 100 from Granite Mountain.  She reported that her staff is phenomenal with some college students, graduates, parents, etc., and that based on the numbers, they were looking at using Youth Count and AmeriCorp and possibly partnering with other organizations such as Yavapai College.

 

Mr. Steve Campbell asked what percentage of the student population would be involved?  Mr. Howard responded, about one-third of our students.  Mr. Harlan responded that just over 100 of his students had signed up for the activities, but that he anticipated more participating.

 

Mr. Tom Staley said, with two-thirds of the students from Prescott Mile High and three-quarters of the students from Granite Mountain going home at 1:30 p.m. – have you thought about how to attract more students?  Mr. Howard responded that he thought more will come than actually signed up and that more surveys would be done.

 

Mr. Staley asked, will there be a similar program at Prescott High School?  Ms. Reiman responded, no.  Mrs. Totsy McCraley responded that one of the things the high school wanted to preserve was the Wednesday club meeting time and that two of the four weeks each month have been designated for club meeting time.  She also noted that at the high school level there are juniors and seniors who work after school and some who are involved in the athletic programs.  She also noted that they would be providing an athletic study hall.

 

President Newton asked, and the coaches can’t start practices early?  Mrs. McCraley responded, no they cannot and they are aware of that.

 

Mr. Staley asked if there would be the same bus schedule for students not staying.  Mrs. McCraley responded, yes.

 

President Newton stated that he felt it was great that the high school was able to preserve those club meeting times.

 

Mr. Kapp stated that there was no doubt that there would be wrinkles to work out, but that it was shaping up to be a wonderful program.

 

 

 

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Mr. Kapp asked Dr. Joan Fleming to make a presentation.  Dr. Fleming noted that she had a wonderful time on Sunday attending the Summer Pops Concert and that there had been two middle school and a number of high school students participating.  She noted that the Summer Pops organization had decided to donate some money to our two middle schools and presented checks for $750 each to Mr. Joe Howard and Mr. Mike Harlan, noting that they money was to go toward the band and music programs at their schools.

 

Mr. Kapp distributed a copy of the postcards that were sent to all families to alert them regarding the first day of school and the starting and ending times of each school level.

 

He distributed a Day 1 Student Enrollment Analysis and reported that the district was up again by about 3.6%.  He noted that the numbers would change and that the administration had predicted another 2-3% growth.  He reported that the elementary schools were up by 71 students (3.3%), the middle schools were up by 12 students (<1%), and the high school was up by 98 students (5.7%) for an overall growth of 181 students (3.6%).  He noted that the district would be monitoring enrollment numbers for the next nine days since it is vital to the district to know these numbers.  He also noted that growth does not come without challenges and that the administration was looking at some critical needs already.  He reported that there may be an addendum for Thursday night to ask for more instructional assistants because of the high numbers, along with some other needs down the road.

 

STUDY SESSION:

 

CONSIDER APPROVING THE EXPENDITURE OF THE REMAINING GROWTH MONIES FROM THE 2004-2005 SCHOOL YEAR THAT HAVE BEEN CARRIED OVER TO THIS FISCAL YEAR TO INCREASE SUBSTITUTE TEACHER PAY AND/OR OTHER PURPOSES

Mr. Kapp noted that the district has been studying this item for a long time and noted there is about $40,000 of old growth money available.

 

President Newton called on Carol Westfall.

 

Mrs. Carol Westfall addressed the Governing Board and stated that substitutes did not feel that their pay was commensurate with their professionalism, education and experience and that she wanted to bring to the Board’s attention a clearer picture of the substitute pool with information collected from a survey.  She noted that they had received a substitute list from the district with 123 names that volunteers attempted to contact to survey.  She reported that they had reached 66 out of the 123 on the list, over 50%. She noted that all 66 respondents have at least a Bachelor’s Degree, 19 of the 66 have a Master’s Degree, 45 of the 66 have a total of 1,831 college credits for an average of over 40 credits per person, 22 of 66 have been credentialed to teach fulltime in more than one state, 39 of 66 have been fully certified and have taught fulltime for a total of 632 years (an average of 6 years of classroom experience per person), 65 of 66 have 395 years of substitute experience (more than 6 years per person), and 23 of 66 have additional experience as classroom aides, volunteers and coaches.  She stated that she thought the Board would agree that the substitute pool is highly educated and experienced and deserves a raise based on that criteria alone.  She reported that substitute pay is the same as it was five years ago and that the district provides no other benefits to substitutes.  She proposed that the daily substitute rate be increased to $85-$100, that there should be an appropriate increase in pay after five days for long-term substitute assignments, and a minimum of three hours pay for any assignment less than half-day.  She thanked the Board for their time and consideration.

 

Mrs. Elizabeth Wilkins addressed the Governing Board and thanked the Board for letting them talk early, the supporters, and Hilary Eller for her excellent reporting.  She stated that she hoped the Board members would rectify the unjust compensation that substitutes receive.

 

Mr. Staley asked, there are 123 substitutes?  Dr. Chris Reynolds responded, that number fluctuates.  Mr. Staley noted that an increase from $65-$70 would equal a 7.7% increase, from $65-$75 would equal a 15.4% increase, and from $65-$100 would equal a 53% increase.

 

Mr. Campbell asked, what are Chino Valley and Humboldt currently paying?

Dr. Reynolds responded, PUSD currently pays $65 per day, with an increase to $75 after the 21st day of a long-term assignment; Humboldt pays $70 per day, with an increase to $90 after the 6th day of a continuous assignment; and Chino Valley pays $75 per day, with a 3-week assignment being equivalent to B.A.

 

Mr. Campbell asked, what would an increase to $75 equate to the budget?  Mr. Kapp responded, approximately $40,000 – it will cost approximately $20,000 per $5 increase.

 

Dr. Reynolds recommended a $75 daily rate and $85 for continuous assignments.

 

Mr. Campbell noted that the district currently would have enough in sudden growth money for this year and then it would have to be budgeted for following years.  He suggested a $75 daily rate with current funding and then look at possibly raising the rate again next year since the Board has already set our budget for this year. 

 

President Newton noted that would be a 15% increase, or 3% per year for five years.

 

Dr. Fleming noted that you can’t reduce the rate once you raise it and that the Board might be able to raise it more next year.

 

Mr. Kapp noted that when the administration comes to the Board for other needs it would be out of new sudden growth monies.

 

Mrs. Dee Navarro asked if he had a projection of what those might be.  Mr. Kapp responded that a 3.6% increase would equate to approximately $700,000-$800,000 and that conservatively you could count on receiving $500,000.

 

Mr. Staley asked, can this year’s funds be spent on other items besides salaries? Buildings?  Mr. Kapp responded, yes.

 

President Newton noted that if there’s any group of people that have been left out it would be the subs.

 

Mr. Staley commented that these folks get lost in the shuffle and that he was a sub two to three years ago.  He noted that regarding the 1-2 hour assignments, he would like to recommend they be paid the minimum 3 hours that they proposed.  He noted that this would help the district to fill those smaller assignments, rather than a teacher having to use their prep period to cover those assignments that don’t get filled.

 

Mr. Campbell stated that he would like to know what that would do to the budget also.

 

Dr. Fleming stated that all principals and assistant principals have teaching certificates and suggested that they cover those not filled.  Mr. Kapp responded that they have already been doing that.

 

Mr. Spencer Johnson noted that the high school has a lot of those short assignments in the afternoon – especially for coaches the last hour.

 

CONSIDER GRANTING (OR DENYING) A LIST OF STUDENTS TO BE SUBMITTED FOR EARLY ENTRANCE INTO KINDERGARTEN

Ms. Linda Ryan reported that the district had screened nearly 50 new kindergartners between May and July and that the district usually screens about 10-20.  She distributed a handout regarding four students who were screened and noted that one student was being recommended for Washington Traditional School kindergarten on a trial basis until Labor Day, two students were screened out, and one student was pending further evaluation because of the lack of a qualified interpreter.

 

Mr. Campbell asked, if this student is recommended, would it be under the same conditions – on a trial basis through Labor Day?  Ms. Ryan responded, yes. 

 

Dr. Fleming asked if any of those students could attend Discovery Garden?  Ms. Ryan responded, that they have counseled those that weren’t recommended to do so.

 

 

CONSIDER APPROVING AUTHORIZATION FOR THE DISTRICT TO INITIATE APPRAISALS FOR DISTRICT-OWNED PROPERTY (THE NATURE CENTER ADJACENT TO GRANITE MOUNTAIN MIDDLE SCHOOL AND PROPERTY ADJACENT TO PRESCOTT MILE HIGH MIDDLE SCHOOL)

Mr. Arn Lavington reported that he had called Appraisal Services Company of Prescott, who does appraisals for the city, county and the tribe.  He noted that they charge $175 for each smaller parcel and $400 for the Nature Center for a total of $750, with a quick turn around.  He noted that because this was under $5,000, an RFP would not be required.

 

Mr. Staley asked, is he doing comparables, or full blown appraisals?  Mr. Lavington responded, I’m not sure, but I can investigate that further.  Mr. Staley stated that when it that inexpensive, he was concerned about getting what we’re paying for.

 

Mr. Campbell stated that if in the future the district decided to sale any of that property, we would need to have the best information available, if not, it would serve no purpose.

 

Mr. Lavington stated that there are different ways to appraise properties and that he would look into a more detailed appraisal.

 

Mr. Kapp stated that he felt the Board was being fiscally responsible and that because the district is obtaining appraisals for the property didn’t necessarily mean they will be sold.  He noted that it’s been a long time since this property has been appraised and the Board needs to know what they are worth in the current market.

 

CONSIDER APPROVING THE PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT’S GOVERNING BOARD’S MEMBERSHIP IN THE HISPANIC NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN CAUCUS

Dr. Joan Fleming reported that both the ASBA and NSBA have a Native American Hispanic caucus and that it would cost the district $100 to join.  She noted that our student Hispanic population is growing and that the caucus does good work and our support would mean a lot to them.  She noted that individual Board members could join for $25 and that anyone can attend.

 

Mr. Campbell asked, then the purpose would be to further educational opportunities for Native American and Hispanic students?  Dr. Fleming responded, yes, if the district joins.

 

CONSIDER APPROVING A LEASE AGREEMENT FOR A BUILDING FOR THE PEAK PROGRAM FOR 2005-2006

Mr. Kapp reported that it was hoped that the PEAK Program could remain at Bradshaw Mountain East High School, but HUSD needs all the space they can get because of their 10-12% student growth.  He noted that PEAK was temporarily being housed in a portable behind Prescott Mile High Middle School and that our district has enjoyed a great collaboration with HUSD with this endeavor.  He reported that the building we’re looking at is located on Highway 89 and Willow Lake Road, is fairly new, 3,600 square feet, and is about equal distance from both districts.  He stated that this proposal would require some expenditure of funds from new sudden growth monies.  He distributed copies of pictures of the building, along with the floor plan.  He also distributed a PEAK facility incremental cost analysis drawn up by Mr. Curt Waddell of HUSD.  He noted that this program has kept a lot of kids in school and is responsible for about 50-60 seniors graduating.  He introduced Dr. Henry Schmitt, Superintendent from Humboldt Unified School District, and thanked him for attending.

 

Dr. Schmitt discussed the intergovernmental agreement that the districts have currently entered into, the success of the program and how it assists those students not able to function in mainstream schools, and how the program does not take away from M & O.  He reported that 123 students from HUSD had taken advantage of this program.  He noted that Chino Valley may become more interested in the program because of the location of this building, which is very centrally located for all three districts.  He reported that because of the credit recovery program, PEAK and GED – once word gets out, the numbers will always increase for second semester.  He also discussed the need to have the lease reviewed by council and that it was hoped the district would at least break even and even make some money with the combination of these programs in this building.

 

President Newton asked how many students would this building serve?  Mr. Craig Niece responded, about 20-25 students per hour due to the minimum staff. 

 

President Newton asked if the building was big enough for that?  Mr. Niece responded, we’re looking at housing several programs there besides just PEAK.

 

Dr. Fleming asked Denny Colgan, what was it before?  Mr. Colgan responded, it was the Regional Farmer’s Insurance building used for training, is nicely laid out and is an equal distance from all three high school campuses.  He noted that there would be a great deal of flexibility with this building, that the lease would be a gross lease and not a triple net lease.  He went on to say that they wanted $4,700, and that we offered $800 less.  He noted that he had tried to keep the lease flexible, that it would be for three years, with the districts to have first right of refusal.  He noted that the owners seemed very amenable to the proposal.

 

Mr. Staley asked, if the program grows, will it be large enough?  Mr. Colgan responded, it’s flexible with the opportunity for growth. 

 

Dr. Schmitt noted that the superintendents have had earlier discussions regarding the possibility of building our own facility with our own land in a centralized location.  He also noted that working with the Schools Facility Board would be a minimum of two years out and that this building would give us a window to look at these other ideas for the future and that they were trying to conserve human resources and soft capital be merging the districts on this project.  He noted that Paul Street had built an accommodation school with SFB money.

 

Mr. Staley asked, would the districts split the $100,000 up front cost?  Dr. Schmitt responded, last year we used our site, computers, licensing, etc., and that he was concerned about the networking, possibly look at going wireless.  He stated that we can recalculate on what each district can contribute.

 

Mr. Colgan stated that regarding the possibility of subletting, we could ask for that to be put in the lease.

 

Mr. Staley asked, how much land comes with the building?  Mr. Colgan responded, about an acre with split zoning – the front half is residential, with the building part being commercial.

 

Mr. Staley noted, if we were to purchase the property we could building other buildings.  Mr. Colgan responded, it’s on .92 acres and would require a zoning change.

 

Dr. Fleming asked, do the owners want to lease the building, or are they looking to sell it?  Mr. Colgan responded, they would prefer to lease it long-term.

 

Dr. Fleming asked, what’s the time frame?  Mr. Colgan responded, fairly quickly, but he felt that the owner would give the districts time to get responses from their Boards.  He noted that he had done a letter of intent and had spoken with them yesterday and they are aware that they have to wait for HUSD’s Board’s decision and seem willing to work with us.

 

Mr. Staley asked, what about offering them some earnest money?  Mr. Colgan responded, I could ask them about earnest money and applying it to the lease. 

 

Dr. Schmitt stated that he also wanted to look more closely at the septic tank, roof, etc.

 

Mr. Kapp asked Craig Niece to speak about the PEAK program.  Mr. Niece reported that there’s a lot of talk about the nature of  PEAK’s students and that he has found them to be some of the most driven and gifted students and that this program helps students moving in the middle of a semester to transition and helps students that have kids and are raising families.  He reported that once things settle down, he would invite everyone out.  He announced that PEAK will start on Monday and that the lease of this building would help to improve the PEAK program significantly. 

 

Mr. Kapp noted that the Board would be authorizing him to negotiate the lease for the building with the funding to be about $35,000 a year for each district.  He noted that he felt there were some expenses that could be decreased regarding the furnishings and that $30,000-$40,000 per year would cover all costs.  He stated that he thought it was great that HUSD students would be able to access the building from the back way of Prescott Valley.

 

Mr. Staley added, and $50,000 each for one time costs?  Mr. Kapp responded, yes, and that this would raise this program to a whole new level and that this would also be a perfect site for the Virtual Learning Academy.

 

CONSIDER APPROVING NEW PROCEDURES FOR THE BACKGROUND CHECKING AND POSSIBLE FINGERPRINT REQUIREMENTS OF PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN PROVIDING PURCHASED SERVICES FOR PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Dr. Reynolds reported that he was looking for some direction from the Board regarding this topic.

 

Mr. Campbell recalled that the Board had discussed coming up with a new list for an affidavit to be signed and that it sounded like the Board should mark on the existing list those items they feel should be there and determine whether the contractor would sign off on his employees or whether each individual employee would sign an affidavit.

 

Mr. Staley stated that he thought the district needs to do everything we possibly can and at the very least put wording in contracts (once we come up with the list) so that the general contractor would be aware that if he knows of anyone on his crew who has a listed felony they would not be able to work on our school grounds and maybe ask the contractor to have long term employees fingerprinted and for all employees to sign the affidavit. 

 

President Newton stated that he agreed, but felt that requiring employers to do background checks and fingerprinting was asking a bit much and felt that asking the general contractor to sign on behalf of his employees was realistic.

 

Dr. Fleming stated she thought having the general contractor verify that no one on his crew was in violation of any item on the list and having each of their employees sign an affidavit.  She asked Mr. Lavington if he thought such a stipulation in the contract would deter people from working for the district.

 

Mr. Lavington responded that it would definitely make it more difficult because there are so many jobs out there right now and contractors can afford to pick and choose.

 

Dr. Fleming asked, what if the general contractor was to sign off on all of their employees?  Mr. Lavington responded, APS is doing a large project with us and they have a procedure in place.  Would you be asking the general contractor to bear the cost of background checks?

 

Mr. Staley noted that most general contractors have every employee fill out applications and that he would assume they would have a felony question.  He stated that the district has almost $21 million worth of work and that the district should do everything we can to prevent even one incident. 

 

Mr. Jay Collier stated that he just wanted people to understand that if we go to something so restrictive what that might mean.  He noted that the district has a ton of projects that come up spur of the moment – things that need to be taken care of in one day.  He noted that this would mean that I will have to respond back to the principal that it may take awhile and they usually want things done now.

 

Mr. Campbell stated that the Board was talking about major contracts where their personnel would be on our campuses for an extended period of time and not someone who is there for a very short period of time.

 

Mr. Staley suggested that if the district works with some of the same contractors every year to make them aware of what we’re trying to do.

 

Mrs. Navarro asked for clarification – are we asking the contractor and their employees to sign the affidavit and do background checks and fingerprinting?

 

President Newton responded, no.  Mr. Campbell stated that he did not want to require the employer to do background checks or fingerprinting, but have the contractor and individual employees sign the affidavit.

 

Mr. Staley stated that he would love to see it written into the contract that the contractor would not place any individuals on that list on our school grounds and I’d like to see background checks with general contractor and each employee signing the affidavit. 

 

Dr. Reynolds noted that in his discussion with the county attorney, the district can ask the contractor to have his employees sign the affidavit, but they have no obligation to give us a copy. 

 

Mr. Staley stated that from a procedure standpoint he would not feel comfortable voting on this without some type of written procedures being developed.

 

Dr. Reynolds stated that he was looking for direction from the Board on what should be on the affidavit list, to define long-term, and whether both the contractor and all of their employees should sign the affidavit.  He noted that we can add wording to future RFP’s, but that the district would have to exclude some contractors that have already been awarded contracts.

 

Mrs. Navarro asked, would this require a policy?  Mr. Kapp responded, it would be a procedure.

 

Mr. Staley stated that as we formulate a new affidavit, at some point in time there should be a written list for the Board to vote on and he asked who would be doing that?  Mr. Kapp responded, if the Board agrees on the parameters, we would bring back something in written form in September.

 

CONSIDER APPROVING A CHANGE IN POSITION TITLE FROM BUSINESS MANAGER TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER AND PLACEMENT OF THE POSITION ON THE ADMINISTRATIVE SALARY SCHEDULE ON THE COLUMN FOR THE ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT

This item was postponed until September.

 

CONSIDER APPROVING THE GOVERNING BOARD GOALS FOR THE 2005-2006 SCHOOL YEAR

Mr. Kapp noted that once approved, there will be all kinds of committee action taking place.

 

Mr. Campbell stated that he felt the goals looked good.

 

CONSIDER REVIEWING AND ADOPTING POLICY SERVICES ADVISORY, VOLUME 17, NUMBER 2, FOR JUNE 2005, REGARDING POLICY ADVISORY NUMBER 247

Mr. Kapp reported that this was a clean-up on the policies regarding inventories and ASBA catching up with new legislation. 

 

Mr. Staley asked, and someone has looked at this and you are recommending it?  Mr. Kapp responded, yes.

 

CONSIDER REVIEWING AND ADOPTING POLICY SERVICES ADVISORY, VOLUME 17, NUMBER 3, FOR JULY 2005, REGARDING POLICY ADVISORY NUMBERS 248-259

Mr. Steve Campbell asked, regarding the gifted and talented, does that mean we are required to expand that program?  Mr. Kapp responded, gifted would no longer be a subcategory under Special Education.

 

Dr. Fleming asked, what about the site councils?  Mr. Kapp responded that this would allow employees who are parents to serve on site councils.

 

Mr. Campbell stated that regarding early entrance age, we don’t have full day kindergarten funding.  Mr. Kapp responded, right now we get half, if we get full day funding it would negate early entrance.  He noted that it would be 2-3 years before our district qualifies for funding and there would be no more early entrance.

 

Mrs. Navarro asked, we may be required to offer half and full day kindergarten?  Mr. Kapp responded, yes – we already do, it’s up to the parents – the district only has to provide half day programs at one or two of the schools.

 

Dr. Fleming noted that #258 takes care of the anti-bullying policy.  Mr. Campbell recalled that a procedure was developed for the high school.

 

Mr. Kapp noted that we would have to review and develop a procedure for reporting bullying.

 

CONSIDER APPROVING A MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR MR. KEN VICK, SECURITY GUARD AT PRESCOTT HIGH SCHOOL

Dr. Reynolds noted that this request meets the guidelines.

 

Mr. Staley asked, who will be the replacement and will it be at the same salary level or lower?  Dr. Reynolds responded, usually the person coming in is at a lower rate.

 

CONSIDER APPROVING A MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR MRS. CHERRIE VINTON, PART-TIME KINDERGARTEN TEACHER AT TAYLOR HICKS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Dr. Reynolds noted that this request meets the guidelines.

 

CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA:

Dr. Reynolds noted that in the Personnel Report under classified employment, the names of both Mark Martinez and Pamela Reyes should be removed.

 

Mr. Staley asked what are the asterisks for DES and NARBHA?  Dr. Reynolds responded, grants from the Department of Economic Security and the Northern Arizona Regional Behavioral Health Association and is non-M & O money.

 

Mr. Campbell asked, under the auxiliary accounts all of Lincoln School’s auxiliary accounts are in the negative – why is that?  Dr. Reynolds noted that Mr. Lawhead had just left and that an answer would be forthcoming on Thursday.

 

Mr. Staley noted that there was a letter from a Mr. Miller regarding our transportation department assisting someone again and he commended the transportation department for these actions.

 

CONSIDER THE APPROVAL OF CERTIFIED AND CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL ACTIONS AS REQUESTED

 

CONSIDER ACCEPTING THE DONATIONS AS PRESENTED

 

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 2005

 

CONSIDER THE REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES FROM THE GOVERNING BOARD STUDY AND VOTING SESSION OF JULY 12, 2005, AND THE EXECUTIVE SESSION OF JULY 19, 2005

 

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Kapp noted that the district had enjoyed another wonderful first day of school and complimented everyone on a great first day.

 

Hearing no objection, President Newton adjourned the meeting at 7:58 p.m.

 

 

 

 

___________________________________

Governing Board Member