PRESCOTT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1

146 South Granite Street

Prescott, Arizona 86303

December 4, 2001

Minutes of the Study Session of the Governing Board, Tuesday, December 4, 2001, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the District Office Board Room.

Governing Board members present:

Dr. Joan Fleming

Mr. Gordon Maddux

Mr. Denny Colgan

Mrs. Dee Navarro

Mr. Steve Campbell

Also Present:

Mr. Kevin Kapp, Superintendent

Dr. Chris Reynolds, Assistant Superintendent

Miss Taylor Williams, Student Representative

Mrs. Andi Mayer, Assistant to the Governing Board

Others Present:

Floyd James Ed Yeager Arn Lavington

Rick Bothell Tim Carter Bob Williams

Jay Collier Mike Harlan Bea Van Mantgem

Renee Raskin Louise Koniarski Mary Anne Kapp

Cindy Brown Abbie Roses Mary Jo Kirk

Bill Monroe Janie Phares Esther Brown

John Rust Gary Glaser Jim Wahlstrom

Terry Pemberton Jennifer Klein Susan Lynch

Carolyn Peters Bob Luzius Rick Frost

Rickie Frost Tatum Percival Ron Percival

Krysta Martinez Martha Shipley

CALL TO ORDER

President Joan Fleming called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Miss Taylor Williams led the members of the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. President Fleming welcomed the members of the audience and the media.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

President Fleming asked Mr. Kapp if the agenda was in order. Mr. Kapp replied that it was. President Fleming asked that the Board entertain a motion to approve the agenda as presented.

Mr. Steve Campbell moved that the Governing Board approve the agenda as presented. Mr. Gordon Maddux seconded the motion.

Mr. Steve Campbell voted aye, Mrs. Dee Navarro voted aye, Mr. Denny Colgan voted aye, Mr. Gordon Maddux voted aye and President Joan Fleming voted aye. The motion carried 5-0.

PRESENTATIONS

Mr. Tim Carter introduced Mr. Bob Luzius and Mrs. Martha Shipley and stated that he was very proud to introduce these two people. He noted that the high school had received a check for the PHS Alumni Badger Open Golf Tournament, that they were very active in several fundraisers and that they were currently involved in cleaning up “P” Mountain, which has been an on-going project. Mr. Carter thanked them for all of their support. Mr. Bob Luzius thanked everyone and stated that he enjoyed the work and that he thought Prescott Unified School district was the best there is.

Mr. Tim Carter introduced Mr. Rick Bothell, the Department Chairperson for the Math Department at Prescott High School, and noted that Rick works very hard to recruit students for both the Badminton and Tennis teams. The Badminton team recently won the West Valley Regional Championship and Mr. Bothell was named the Coach of the Year by the AIA. Mr. Bothell introduced Miss Krysta Martinez, the Badminton State Champion, who has played Badminton at Prescott High School for four years. He recapped several of the tournaments and play-offs in which Krysta was undefeated. Mr. Kevin Kapp presented Mr. Rich Bothell and Miss Krysta Martinez with certificates of appreciation.

Mr. Tim Carter introduced Miss Jennifer Klein, the two-time Cross Country State Champion, and her coach, Mrs. Carolyn Peters. Mrs. Peters introduced Jennifer’s parents who were present. She noted that Jennifer was the Cross Country State Champion last year, as well as this year, and has only had two losses. She also holds several Cross Country records, has a 3.97 grade point average, is a member of National Honor Society, and is the first female two-time state champion for this district. Mr. Kapp presented Miss Klein with a certificate of appreciation.

Mr. Kevin Kapp reported that Mr. Tim Carter recently won the Circle of Excellence Award from the North Central Association. He noted that Mr. Carter has been very active with North Central by doing a number of on-site evaluations at other high schools. He presented Mr. Carter with a certificate of appreciation.

Mr. Kevin Kapp reported that Mrs. Bea Van Mantgem had recently been awarded the Administrator of the Year Award by the Arizona Association of School Psychologists and was presented with a certificate of appreciation.

Mr. Kevin Kapp gave an update to the Board regarding progress made on the Governing Board Goals for the 2001-2002 school year. He noted that the district does have a strategic plan in place that is constantly being updated. At the Board Retreat this last summer, the Board and the District Leadership Team developed three goals for this school year.

1. Marketing all district schools.

2. Expanding the community school concept.

3. Implementing a modified school calendar.

Mr. Kapp noted that the three goals may seem separate in some ways, but they really are inter-related. He introduced Mr. Bob Williams, Principal of Miller Valley School, and Mrs. Susan Lynch, CASA Coordinator, to update the Board regarding the community school concept.

Mrs. Lynch reported that all across the nation community education is revitalizing school district and communities through many different programs. These programs assist in building community partnerships. The concept is about people and programs and the process of working together to serve the entire community. She noted that most successful programs have some common characteristics such as before and after school programs, serving the whole community, being connected to local neighborhoods, responding to the community’s wants and needs, through collaboration with local agencies, having community access to technology, shared leadership roles among the stakeholders and having sustainability as a local responsibility.

She noted that the committee has been reviewing literature, visiting successful programs such as the Kyrene District and working on structuring a financial sustainability. The district currently has 224 facility users. She reported that the committee would like to offer stimulating youth and adult programs that are focused on customer needs.

Mr. Bob Williams reported that he is the committee chair and that he is excited about the community schools concept. He noted that CASA is the backbone of this program and commended both Susan Lynch and Mary Anne Kapp for their work on this goal. He stated that expanding the community schools concept includes sustaining and expanding the current CASA After School Programs, exploring alternative programs for Home School students, increasing preschool options, sustaining the
Extended Day Kindergarten options, exploring Adult Education options and increasing the rental of facilities.

He thanked the committee for their work, noting that it is a huge goal that is very multi-faceted. He stated that he would be working with CASA and the principals for a complete buy-in for the goal. He also noted that he hoped to one day have a community school director to oversee these activities.

Mr. Gordon Maddux asked how the CASA program would be maintained after next year. Mrs. Susan Lynch responded that there is great hope that we can continue to do some grant funding with many different elements and to continue to develop the program in hopes of using some of the 21^st Century funding.

Mr. Denny Colgan stated that he was delighted to see the community using the school facilities and that he admired the CASA after school programs. He noted that he had some concern that the committee might be going beyond the scope of the mission statement. Mr. Bob Williams responded that the committee was sensitive to that concern, but felt that with the proper allocation of resources, the community schools and academic mission could remain separate but distinct. He noted that the key to that would be to have someone in charge of the community activities.

President Fleming stated that this idea has been around for many years and that she did not see the program competing with academics, but viewed them as two separate things. She noted that having a community director down the road would be a must and was glad to hear that the principals were in favor of this goal. She also noted that she was happy to see the community able to use the facilities they have paid for.

Mr. Kapp then reported on the goal of marketing all schools within the district. He noted that working with the marketing committee has been interesting and he thanked Mr. Steve Campbell for all his hard work in chairing this committee. He reported that the district has hired a part-time Community Relations Coordinator and introduced Ms. Abbie Roses.

Ms. Roses reported that public relations were very common in many parts of the state and that many school districts are doing the same things we are doing. She introduced her colleague, Ms. Mary Jo Kirk, a graphic designer, and noted that they were both parents of children in the district. She stated that she was helping to increase the enrollment by letting people in the community know what fantastic products the district has. At this point, she is trying to understand why people come to our schools, or why not, and why they leave our schools and then come back.

She reported that she was currently working on 47 different projects through the marketing committee. She gave a brief description of some of those projects. She reported that the district has a new 800 number that people can call toll free for information about the district and that the new address for the website was prescottschools.com, which is easier to remember. She is working on a district-wide brochure that will include all schools in the district, as well as separate brochures for each school that will reflect their separate personalities. The district recently held a slogan contest and the committee has narrowed their selection down to 5 from 150 that were submitted. One of the goals is to focus on internal communications to share all those positive things that are happening within the district. She distributed an ad copy that was developed by Mary Jo and will be used by the Prescott Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber sends out over 1,000 directories a month and the ad will be used on a flyer for a six-month period. She reported that the district currently has a spot running on Cable One for the high school and that similar ads will be developed for the other schools, which will be rotated with 200 spots aired each month. The goal is to make sure that we have a clear and concise message. At this time the Board viewed the 30-second spot that was developed by Cable One for the high school.

Mr. Gordon Maddux stated that he loved what was being done regarding marketing the district and felt that it should be pointed out that no public money was being used for this program.

Ms. Roses stated that money had been set aside for marketing the school district and that she and Mary Jo Kirk were very conscientious about maximizing and leveraging that budget. She noted that they were planning an ad campaign and have already obtained underwriters.

Mr. Denny Colgan asked if she was familiar with Flyers by Laura. Ms. Roses responded that she was and that the realtors will be one of the target markets.

Mr. Kapp reported that this was new territory for our district, although districts all over the country have been doing this for some time. He noted that the Mesa district has had a public relations department for about 25 years with a very big budget. He also reiterated that the district was not using tax revenues for these projects and that he was already beginning to feel the success of the program. He stated that he now has the ability to send out inter-district e-mails to all staff and to Board members, which he planned on doing once or twice a week to keep everyone informed.

Next Mr. Kapp introduced Dr. Chris Reynolds to discuss the third goal of implementing a modified calendar. Dr. Reynolds reported that this process began with a committee of about 25 people that included representatives from each site, parents, students, etc. Then the main committee was divided into smaller committees. Mr. Bill Munson was in charge of the survey committee. This committee was to develop a survey for staff and community members to gather input regarding a modified calendar. Ms. Carol Johnson was in charge of the calendar design committee, which was to expand the present calendar into a 9-2 format. The 9-2 formatted calendar was also attached to the surveys that were sent out.

The committee plans on presenting all of this information to the Board in March, along with a 9-2 formatted calendar and two other options due to the possibility that all schools might not have air conditioning by the start of the next school year.

Ms. Linda Ryan is in charge of the intercession committee, which will develop and provide remedial services during the time off in the spring and fall for students that will be identified.

Mrs. Dee Navarro is in charge of the community awareness committee, which will provide information to the community. He noted that there have already been a number of articles in the media, that he has been interviewed by local radio and TV stations, and that the district has been sharing updated information to the media through the Media Mornings that are held each month.

Dr. Reynolds noted that three formal presentations for the community are planned for January 16^th at the Ruth Street Theater, January 24^th at the Dexter Family Resource Center and January 30^th at Hendrix Auditorium. He noted that these forums would give the community an opportunity to share their opinions regarding the modified calendar.

Mr. Gordon Maddux asked if the committee had considered a tri-city calendar. Dr. Reynolds responded that the district modified calendar was aligned with Chino Valley. Both Humboldt and Mayer were sent copies. Mr. Kapp noted that the four local superintendents meet once a month and a tri-city calendar has been one of the topics discussed. He reported that Mr. Arn Lavington had to go to the School Facilities Board and request another $1.5 million for HVAC units. This request was approved for all schools. He noted that it was just a matter of when they could get them all installed.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Mr. Kapp updated the Board regarding a bus accident that occurred last week. He noted that everyone was okay and that no one had suffered any serious injuries.

Mr. Colgan asked if the accident had disrupted the bus schedule. Mrs. Cindy Brown responded no.

Mr. Kapp reported that the district has been reimbursed for all expenses regarding the Stanford 9 scores being sent out late last year.

Mr. Kapp complimented all of the schools for their participation in the Christmas Parade and Dr. Fleming for being in charge of band recruitment. President Fleming noted that Mr. Kapp had been the main announcer. Mr. Kapp stated that he had help from Mrs. Kapp and reported that Taylor Hicks had won the grand prize for their living flag and Lincoln won first place in the school entries.

Mr. Kapp reported that our district had hosted 18 Japanese educators for the entire week last week and that it had been a fun filled, but exhausting week. Our visitors spent Tuesday at Abia Judd, Wednesday at Prescott Mile High and Thursday at Prescott High School. They also attended the Jazz Concert. Mr. Kapp thanked the Nordstrom, Raskin and Yeager families for inviting the visitors into their homes on Saturday. He noted that they had also visited the Dexter Holiday Craft Show and attended the parade and lighting as special guests. He stated that they had been very impressed with our school district, the atmosphere in the schools and the interaction between students and teachers.

Mr. Kapp distributed the November 20^th enrollment report and noted that the district is down 26 students. He stated that he would like to do a more in-depth analysis of the declining enrollment at a future Board meeting. He noted that the 100^th day for reporting would be on January 29^th.

Mr. Kapp briefly highlighted the District Calendar of Events and the different events that would be occurring during the month of December. He encouraged the Board to take advantage of all of the wonderful holiday performances and activities.

Mr. Kapp reminded everyone that there is one month left to take advantage of the tax credit donations. Any tax credits mailed must be postmarked by December 31^st.

ACTION ITEM – CONSIDER APPROVING AN OUT-OF-STATE TRAVEL REQUEST FOR MR. TERRY PEMBERTON TO ATTEND A TRAINING SEMINAR FOR ADVANCED VIDEO PRODUCTION IN BOULDER, COLORADO

Mr. Kapp noted that the Board Briefing had listed December 12-14 as the dates for the trip. Actually, the seminar has been scheduled in January instead.

Mr. Denny Colgan moved that the Governing Board approve the out-of-state request for Mr. Terry Pemberton to attend a training seminar for advanced video production in Boulder, Colorado. Mr. Gordon Maddux seconded the motion.

Mr. Colgan asked how much the trip would cost. Mr. Terry Pemberton responded $1,334.00. He noted that Prescott would have two cable channels in the near future and that the district would have time allotted on those channels and that he would like to do a professional job for the district. Mr. Colgan thanked Mr. Pemberton for doing such a great job.

Mr. Steve Campbell asked where in the budget was the money for this trip coming from. Mr. Kapp responded that it was coming out of the marketing budget, since one of the marketing goals was to use existing talent within the district as much as possible.

Mr. Steve Campbell voted aye, Mrs. Dee Navarro voted aye, Mr. Denny Colgan voted aye, Mr. Gordon Maddux voted aye and President Fleming voted aye. The motion carried 5-0.

Mr. Kapp stated that Mr. Pemberton would give a report to the Board upon his return from the seminar.

CONSIDER APPROVING THE LIST OF QUALIFIED EVALUATORS FOR THE 2001-2002 SCHOOL YEAR

Mr. Steve Campbell asked how the evaluators served the district. Dr. Chris Reynolds responded that most of them were department chairpersons at the high school who assisted the administration in evaluating teachers. Mr. Campbell asked if the evaluations were yearly. Dr. Reynolds responded that they occurred two times a year for probationary staff members and once a year for continuing staff. President Fleming suggested that the district look into some training for these evaluators besides what was offered through ASA. Dr. Reynolds stated that he would look into it.

CONSIDER APPROVING A REQUEST FROM MR. RICH RICHEY TO EXTEND HIS MEDICAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE 2001-2002 SCHOOL YEAR.

No discussion took place regarding this agenda item.

CONSIDER APPROVING THE CLASSIFIED AUXILIARY SALARY SCHEDULE AS PRESENTED, EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2001

Dr. Chris Reynolds noted that this had come to his attention back in July, that it had gone through the Meet and Confer process and was presented to the Board. The Board had then instructed him to make comparisons for these positions within the private job market. He stated that he had not been able to find a better model than other school districts to make the comparisons. He noted that within the community, even when the job titles were similar, the jobs were not.

Mr. Colgan asked how the figures on the salary schedule were arrived at. Mr. Kapp responded that our district had done a survey with data from 6-7 other districts of similar size and then came up with the amounts that were some where in the middle. He noted that most districts were much higher in their salaries than ours.

Mr. Campbell asked what constituted a step, a year of service? Dr. Reynolds responded yes.

CONSENT AGENDA:

CONSIDER APPROVING THE CERTIFIED AND CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL ACTIONS AS PRESENTED