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2025-01-15 Maricopa County, AZ YouTube / Higley Unified School District transcript source: youtube HUSD Governing Board Meeting January 14, 2025 · passage 4

27% reduction um for context on the district side that's a savings about $200,000 uh for our budget next year so um good news uh going into next year in regards to that um obligation that we have on the alternative contribution rate um a little lesser known but this is a rate for employees state employees who have retired uh from the system and now have been hired back and so we have very few individuals that we um have are employing that have already retired um so the monetary benefit from this uh percentage decrease which is greater than the the a larger plan um is far less it's approximately $3,000 in savings for 26 so um some good news for both the district and employees on that State retirement percentage on the third column these are some of our Higgly Higgly special knowns I would say um we have continued to transfer uh M dollars to fund our Middle School lease payment we still have uh 28 years left on our Middle School lease payment our current o obligation for next year principal and interest is $3.55 million and so uh we'll continue U to propose transferring M dollars to Capital in which uh the lease payment must be paid from capital and so that's why we're transferring uh to cover our principal interest payment for next year um the board has previously approved um additional transfers from OTA major projects um in the years past uh we are not recommending any additional transfer at this time uh for any major projects just highlighting some of the challenges that school districts uh not only Higley but Across the Nation have faced is with enrollment and so just a reminder our budget formula is largely based on the multiplier of enrollment right we take enrollment times the base level support and that generally gives our our budget limit um we are not immune uh to enrollment loss and this is again um in December if the the bordering members I presented not only our enrollment loss currently but our neighboring districts um and in we're in line with about 3% loss and that's across kind of the East Valley so we're taking uh some greater projections in terms of enrollment loss into 26 uh so what this graph represents is the uh previous three years so fiscal 22 through 24 those are actual enrollment numbers both preschool through eight on the top and then uh our secondary 9 through 12 on the bottom um currently fy2 that's our current uh ADM numbers we'll have some small fluctuations because that's as of December and then as we um audit and reconcile to 100 day ADM numbers um there'll be some small fluctuations with that FY 25 number but what we're focusing on this presentation is projecting out for 26 and as the board um again previously approved going into 25 we approved um we estimated that we were going to be budgeting to 100 ADM loss as as we've known and as uh we looked at the budget in December we're actually realizing uh far larger um over 300 and enrollment loss and so um we need to be a little more aggressive with our projections and just match our FY 26 projected ADM to a number that's more in line with what we're seeing on most recent ly in our most recent revised budget so in FY 26 we're projecting a 300 unweighted ADM loss um and I've kind of graphed what that 26 would look like on um basically off of historical numbers and so on the preschool through 8 we can continue we're continuing to assume um a steady decline in elementary and again a large part of that is our corts are being smaller our Kinder Cort as it's smaller this year and as that moves up through first second and fourth um we're seeing that attrition uh steadily through just smaller cor horts um on our lower grades on our secondary schools um we are starting to see those Peak out um in in some fashion and so we're starting to budget for a slight decline at our secondary schools for 26 so looking at some of those assumptions again um projecting out our maintenance and operation budget for FY 26 um on top is our current Revis budget this was uh just presented to the board on December 10th um the 125 million that includes again I I indicated trending ADM loss because again we haven't find we haven't reconciled to 100th ADM yet um but that trending ADM budget loss um is currently at 239 we are transferring um are not only our Middle School lease payment but the one-time supplemental funds for Capital um in this year's budget and we currently have an estimated budget balance carry forward in M of 21.5 million now looking at 26 with some of the known that I've just alluded to we're again we're projecting a 300 unweighted ADM decrease uh this is be our first year of our override phase down so as as the board's well aware uh we did not pass our override continuation November we are currently operating year five of5 so this is our last year fully funded uh in year six we now have to phase down by basically 1/3 that monetary value is about $5.1 million we have to cut from our budget in FY 26 and again I alluded to um you know our our unique lease payment um that is $3.55 million and then estimating with those factors taken consideration our estimated budget balance car forward as current projected is about $17.5 million so um taking our current budget and doing the difference off our defi 26 projected budget we're looking at a $ 9.2 million U budget decrease that we'll have to address going forward so one of the main uh before I turn over to Sher to share some of our recommendations that we currently know one of our main uh expenditures as a school district is is salaries and benefits and so um you I'm going turn it over to Sher to share um some recommendations for 26 thank you Tyler um president Wade members of the board with this projected budget decrease of approximately 9.2 million due to both the drop in enrollment and the failure the hsd override Continuum um that was not approved in November district and school have me administrators have met several times to make thoughtful and intentional decisions while we continue to ensure our kids are getting the best education possible we're in the business of developing people and that includes our educ ators our employees and our students I've had the privilege of working here for 14 years and I care so much about the decisions that are being made that impact our employees and our students so in other words I love this District a funding decrease of this magnitude though has led to some difficult decisions regarding right sizing or reallocations moving into next school year some considerations include not filling current vacancies restructuring departments and positions and as a school district our top priority in this scenario is to achieve these changes through natural attrition and to fill vacancies with current employees that meet the qualifications to best support our students the culture of pgly is one thing that makes our district unique and exceptional and this is not something we plan to relinquish during these challenging circumstances so in the next two slides you're going to see position recommendations for the 25 26 school year both at the district and School site levels and remember when you're looking at these slides it's for next school year not right now so this first slide represents the recommended reductions or transfers at the district office level I'm going to say it again we are going to work so hard to achieve this through natural attrition we want to support our employees um and we are going to do the very best we can with your support so when you look at this chart you'll see there's a District administration position that's being reduced in addition there's a maintenance and rounds position reduction there's also one being transferred to rental funds which is a positive move in the right direction I think you're aware that we rent our facilities on a regular basis and it's been well maintained and operated and you just approve some changes in those fees next you're going to see a reduction of four positions in special education and one transfer to Ida grant funding be in mind some of these have restructuring plans and the works at Services you're going to see a reduction of six positions with 1.5 being transferred to either foreign exchange funds or to CAD CTE funding anytime we can look at our positions and transfer them to other funding sources away from m&o is a positive move Finance there are two positions within that part department that are being reduced Higley Center for the Performing heart Arts you'll see a 1.4 HR in student services 2.5 in transportation 11 positions bear in mind some of these um positions listed on this chart are vacancies that we haven't been able to fill so a total for the district office is 32.4 whoops wrong way you go all right next this slide reflects the school sites there are 18 positions at the elementary level once again looking at natural attrition every year we look at our schools how many kids do we have in our classes do we need to write size appropriately based on en enrollment so what you're seeing on the elementary and secondary teachers is not that um unusual than the past couple of years but it's part of this bigger puzzle that everybody needs to understand special ed 2.8 positions custodians eight positions site Administration one Elementary classified 8 Insight information technology to that is a total of 50 positions once again natural attrition some restructuring and also some current vacancies this all adds up to a total of 82.4 FTE districtwide and a total budget reduction of $5.1 million so it's essential that we continue to engage with the community to raise awareness about the importance of funding for education and how further support can help the district move forward by the end of this week district and campus admin Administration will communicate directly with any departments campuses or individuals impacted for the 25 26 school year we also sent a letter to staff this afternoon you should have received it as well while the district is facing significant financial challenges with the continued support of the community staff and policy makers we can work together to find Solutions and ensure that our students educational needs remain a top priority the district will continue to communicate keeping all stakeholders informed of any proposed changes and the rationale behind them so it goes without saying I'm a little emotional and I'm trying to keep it together but we appreciate being able to share this information with you and the rest of the community and our staff so now I'm going to turn it back over to Mr Moore do Madam president do we are we going to wait till the end before we make any comments is that the protocol honestly usually we do and that they go through it and they can have it but if you have a question that's addressed right now it's totally fine I just wanted to voice my support I know it's not easy um to to share point uh the positions are one part of the equation and so um as we continue to work uh through the budget process we have kind of another set of variables in which we I'm calling or labeling as fixed costs with it being January and we're 6 months out before our next budget cycle um we are still waiting on a few a little bit of information um not because of us but so for example our insurance carriers don't have rates out yet um some of these conversations are still being um had and before presenting budget numbers I want to make sure that uh we're confident with those numbers and that they're going to be uh numbers that we can utilize in projections going forward so we're still working through um property Casualty Insurance workers compensation again our reinsurance carriers are don't have our new year rates yet and so um waiting for those before we provide numbers utilities uh we're reconciling our utilities um some pros this is your two of two of town of Gilbert's increases so we should be relatively flat in terms of those rates that we're being charged we also are looking at being um a little more aggressive with how we monitor our utilities and and manage those so over breaks weekends or off times in which we are not using uh sites or rooms are not being used um we're going to be a little more aggressive with how we manage uh those temperatures uh whether we turn stuff on or off um with being respectful with uh facilities that are being used or being rented and so um that's one area we're looking at on the flip side SRP did come out with a notice that they're researching their rates um we did get a letter from SRP saying if any rate increases were to take place they would be in November of the following fiscal year so it's kind of like a mid-year hit so we'll be projecting some conservative budget numbers for that in anticipation of a rate increase I don't think they've ever said they're coming up with rate increase and not increased so unfortunately news there um on Department of school budgets uh this is a small portion of our total operational budget uh we do allocate School budgets based on ADM um those budgets are used to buy paper and a lot of your daily needs our department budgets uh annually meet with our department dep heads to discuss um our department budgets um we're finalizing some of those conversations um but we have made some reductions across the board uh in regards to all our department spend and so um hoping those decreases will offset some of increases we'll more than likely see on the insurance and utilities um but just we're still early in the budget conversations and so some of these will come back in February Andor March when we have final numbers so what we do know as of now as I've just presented the FY 26 projected proposed budget of 116 million represents a decrease from our current year budget of $9.2 million what Sher just presented was uh position recommendations going for 26 of a $5.1 million and reduced M um budgeted positions uh which would still leave us right now at a projected budget deficit of $4.1 million one thing I want the board to maybe get comfortable with or um entertain is the idea of us um again it's not sustainable but budgeting next year to a deficit and utilizing some of our carry forward that we've accumulated with Co relief dollars um to sustain some of our programs for a greater period of time while we go through this transition so um again it's not something I would recommend ongoing for a long period of time um but we have a a carry forward that is large um and utilizing that to continue our support for our schools um is something I would like the board to either uh entertain or um provide me any feedback if if there something they feel comfortable as CFO with the district um it's difficult for me to put up there or budget or recommend budgeting to a deficit but um I do feel we have the contingencies in place uh to do that for a year or maybe two and continue some of the supports that we have at our schools um uh on you know for an extended period of time so just looking ahead we have our next forward board meetings and looking at February 4th we'll bring a second review of this um I hope to have some more information with some of the 2B determin items um one thing we will start uh with District administration and and with our site leaders is looking at a phase two so uh we know going into 26 uh we have to reduce our override by 13 um there's still we currently don't have a resolution or any sort of authority right now to put a continuation on November so um District commission I think it's prudent to go through the process of looking at the next phase of the continuation phase down uh we'll bring forth those recommendations on March 4th I'll bring a third review and like I've stated uh we typically ask the board for tenative approval of this budget so we can HR can issue contracts um one tidbit is contracts are all now all districts are aligned on March 15th no District can issue any earlier so kind of puts us all on the same playing field but that is the soonest board meeting in which prior to we can issue contracts so at that same board meeting um we hope to present again not only the phase two U projections but have the board either give District uh consideration whether you would like to consider going uh for an override continuation in this upcoming election uh with the information on phase two and an exercise that District administration will go through you'll have both recommendations of either continuing the phas down or um the option to put the continuation back on the November ballot so uh that timeline we hope just the board gives us some direction on April we'll switch the conversation to the other side of our state budget which is our capital budget uh we'll have our first review of our f26 capital budget on the um first review I uh would strongly might consider bringing forth some recommendations considering a possible sale lease or exchange of real property for our uh land that is um would it be west of Target we have 18 Acres of property back there um with the continued failure of bonds um we have and our still need of capital funding uh this is an alternative solution to Garner additional dollars for the district to use to support some of our Capital needs which would be potentially sailing leasing or exchanging our uh vacant property um so we'll uh bring forth that conversation on April and then April 22nd we'll look forward for tentative approval for our capital budget again that's to get ahead of the purchases that we typically make prior to the school year starting so I items that take extended time uh to come in for delivery um large H units are still 12 weeks 18 weeks out and so um with our Capital plan we'd like to make those purchases ahead of time and so we have those in July with our short summer window uh you us getting started back on July 17th we have limited time to get into sites and make those Capital Improvements um for the next school year so with that we'll be happy to take any questions all right Madam president may I um first of all um Mr Lon Heiser after I'm having a hard time hearing you clearly Mr Moore and I think it might be the speaker but can we just check your mic not right now we can do it after before everyone packs up I I hear you guys fine it was just really hard to hear I don't know if one of these is out or something uh but it was you heard that um but I understood everything you said but it was just hard I was I didn't want to stare at your mouth but it it was a little bit hard to hear um okay so first I just want to say you know when you enter into the educational world this this to everybody that's out there as well you heard some of these folks when they were here talking about who did you bring I brought my family and I brought my school family these when we talk about some of the cuts we're talking about um I know it's not easy I know it's not easy for you I know it's not easy for the cabinet I've lived through these before it's terrible these are human beings these are people we work with we live with we you know we sweat with we grieve with we celebrate with um it's a difficult thing so I acknowledge the work you're doing and I you know you you presented you did a good presentation that would have been very difficult for me um and it will be difficult when we ultimately make some of these decisions but I also wanted to say to our people in a in a school budget generally speaking and Mr Moore correct me if I'm wrong I don't want to I don't want to give misinformation but when you talk about a school's budget about 70 to 80% generally goes to M and of that 70 of the M of that percentage 70 to 80% is really just people um and it's it's it's salaries and benefits so when you have to make Cuts we can cut things but ultimately when you have to make these Cuts it's it's people it's the people in our community that signed up for a job to make our community a better place and uh so that's what we are talking about um that's not an easy thing and so when you cut staff and you cut some of the supports for staff that makes everyone's job just a little bit harder so um you know one of our responsibilities or things that we worry about as board members or that I worry about I shouldn't speak for others um is teacher retention St staff retention not just teacher retention staff retention so um I would just encourage uh Mr Armstrong Mr lsen Heiser all of you to just start thinking about and ask the staff what things can we take away because we were taking away people but what other responsibilities can we take that will make your life a little bit easier because we are asking our teachers to do so much more than they ever have done the school day hasn't gotten any longer salaries are you know have gone up you know modestly since I've been around here um but we just continue to ask more and more and our you know our state keeps adding things and we have to add this and we have to provide that it's a lot and it might be a worthwhile conversation and sometimes some of these things don't even cost any money but but it's time and things that we do because we've always done I would just encourage those conversation when you have to make Cuts cutting some of the things that we just don't need to maybe do anymore or as a waste of time and just as an example way back in Gilbert Gilbert days way before the internet I've been teaching a long time so in the 990s uh the the kids that lived in Gilbert didn't didn't travel the world or couldn't see the world via the Internet so we started Gilbert started a program that was called art masterpiece and parents would come in it was a good way for parents to come in and be involved and it was a way for kids to learn about artw work from around the world but now we have the internet and so our art teachers can show them all these works of arts and we have plenty of other opportunities for parents to come in but we still continue to do art masterpiece and it takes away it's just a day you know a month a couple times a year that you know teachers have to rearrange their schedule and all this stuff it's just it's a it's a sometimes an added stressor for teachers so these are just things I would just ask you to have these conversations as we make Cuts try to um you know ask people what else we can take away off their workload thank you president Wade Mr Moore um so last night I asked um for a list of positions that are budgeted but not filled vacancies um and you provided the 5.1 million that's shown on page eight um and I just so at one point the state legisl had a 4% cap on our on our carryover um and they got rid of that cap but we've functioned anywhere between 6 and 11 million carry forward within our district um and our enrollment was much higher um and I don't know what the what the percentage of the our carry forward is today um I don't know what it equates to based on my calculation I would say about 133% um closer to 20 so carry forward closer to 20 so yeah I mean even when we had a 4% cap we functioned and our enrollment was was much higher and um you know the the amount that we're getting um now is much higher and so with our current budget we've got 17 million uh more when you compare our budget to our actuals of what we spent last year we've got 17 there's a $17 million difference uh and with even with that $5.1 million reduction uh that would sorry let me read my notes um so you know we're having to resign employment and and terminations and and all these changes but why can't we just simply eliminate the excess budget capacity and then you know there's not this impact so out of out of the the total positions listed There are 16 positions vacant which equate to based on the numbers you provided today so that equates to 665,000 um I support moving positions uh to different uh funding sources that's great that we can do that um and and that allows us to preserve positions without um you know no affecting staff and then obviously with declining enrollment we can justify the cuts um and and I get that um but as far as the funding like we have this very large budget capacity uh so my concern is aside from the declining enrollment is there a possibility to retain some of our teachers by just cutting the budget capacity and utilize that to reduce our class sizes um Not only would that benefit our teachers it gets money into the classroom um but it's also a great way to it's like the best advertisement you can give like small class sizes you know and that's that attracts families um so you know I I appreciate all the work that you guys have put into this and there you know and I understand that for instance the um 11 uh bus driver positions those are positions as you mentioned that are open have not been filled so it's not like we're getting rid of you know current bus drivers that's not the case um and and I want the community to understand that there are many positions here that nobody is sitting in they're vacant um so I I would like to see if uh you know by cutting These unutilized funds um allow us to PR to preserve our teachers and in order to avoid unnecessary layoffs and then be able to you know that will allow us to prioritize student outcomes by putting these teachers in in classrooms and reducing our class sizes um and I mean we have we have the money in our carry forward and we've functioned before as I said with higher number of students we have less students now and if we can work this around to to preserve our teachers um and you know I mean that would be a great opportunity um and I know you've mentioned before that we don't you know we don't like using our carry forward and we're saving it for a rain rainy day well I mean what is considered a rainy day is this not a rainy day um so I'd love to see it used in that in that way um money to the classroom smaller classroom sizes and we get to preserve our teach features thank you president would member van H can I just comment on that I think so what I've heard is so you would recommend keeping the 5.1 million in reductions with the exception of the vacancy save you know positions that are not filled so you know if we assume that nine so maybe it's an $8.5 million deficit that we'll take into the next year that would bring our carry forward down to 13 million that's not sustainable an ongoing basis basically would be kicking the can down the road for a greater layoff in maybe 27 or 28 what I'm saying right here is $9.2 million is is the deficit that so we take all the positions that are being budgeted all the department budgets against our state approved budget balce our state approved budget and we're realizing a $9.2 million deficit for next year we can certainly sustain that and drain our carry forward um but that is not a ongoing solution um we would just be kicking this reduction down down the road to next year and so um what we've recommended is is almost a phased reduction by budgeting to a deficit of of 4 million again that's not the final number but is to steadily U make some I would say right sizing right is the kind of word that we're utilizing for enrollment loss while saving basically the deficit is saving all these positions in the override uh while the board considers potentially going out for continuation again so um certainly the board approves the budget and if that's the direction the board wants to go um I would just heavily advise to consider the implications for 27 will be double what you're seeing tonight because you're just kicking the can down the road assuming enrollment loss continues at the at the rate it is you know but it is uh it is an option but I I'm just saying we we basically just be kicking the can down the road so go ahead president Wade Mr Moore uh I I understand what you're saying um but I I also want everyone to understand the reason why our our carryover is so large is because because of the covid money um and where would we be if that Co money didn't exist decisions that we would have made to ensure that the budget that we had prior to covid that that was sustainable and we need to go back to functioning in that manner knowing I mean we should have functioned in that manner knowing this money wasn't permanent and so we've budgeted we've got a large carry forward we need to be be able to go back and function in a manner that is just the money that we're receiving we know there's no covid money um and we need to be able to utilize this money that we have um and allow us to get that money into the classroom um and you know I if I may I'd like to um read some that I wrote um so the district went out for a bond and override against expert advice and they both failed the bond committee made a huge mistake by putting both on the ballot even though Higher Ground Representatives advised against it um and now here we are when the salary proposals were presented to us last year the only option given to us was a 3% raise across the board I try to make the case that it would be better to give teachers 3% raise and limit Administration to a 1% a 3% raise for admin given their higher salaries what is far more than what teachers would have gotten again nobody listened to me and that is why I voted no unfortunately um you know it was misinterpreted that I I didn't support teachers by voting no and that was not the case I asked Mr Moore at the time if salaries would be sustainable and he reassured both myself and board U member Anderson at the time that it was sustainable but in reality it was sustainable with the hopes that the override would pass um and we need to ensure that um you know as far as we've you know there's I think you showed the on there the land that was on yeah so um you know we're now making payments on that land we're not paying taxes it's a revenue Source um I also recommended possibly considering you know we do have seven schools that are under 60% capacity um possibly considering you know consolidating a couple of the schools um and you know the it's expected that our enrollment is going to drop even more now next year um and you know after consolidation we can possibly have a revenue Source by leasing out those those schools um to bring in more funding um but again like we need to scrutinize also spending um you know when you look at the vouchers there's there's a lot of wants versus needs uh and you know we prioritize our budgets uh when expenses get tight and and the district needs to do the same um you know and our concerns about lack of En you know with enrollment going down uh we also need to consider what is it that we're doing that isn't working and what are other districts doing that is working that is attracting our students um I've spoken on on many issues that uh you the parents that I know that have pulled their children and and why they're leaving I've I've asked to remove certain things from our from our district to in order to preserve students and that request has been ignored um and so you know if we're truly caring about our declining enrollment we really need to look at what's causing it other than um you know birth R because there are other reasons um I mean the the best form of marketing is word of mouth and sadly you know when I see even in my own neighborhood Facebook page when parents ask you know what's which high school is better Perry or you know another school in Chandler when they live in our district uh it's it's sad to see um and anytime I see that conversation like I it's heartbreaking that there's not positive stuff being said and and that people are looking seeking alternatives to our district so all these things I think need to be looked at um and if we could spend some of our some of this carryover and go back to functioning like we were prior to co um then you know I rather do that than see us uh laying teachers off um that's all thank you uh board member Van Hook I wish to take some time to address some of the things that you are expressing because I think in in large Parts I agree with you in certain ways but I also think you're you're expressing things sometimes that seem counterintuitive so for example having worked in this District previously when we have had to make cuts and when we were operating at a very minimal carry forward functioning does not equal thriving and that is a very important distinction in that not only you throughout your speech other individuals who have spoken before us today alone as well as in the past talk about how we are always competing to get kids what do we do to capture people what do we do the expectation that we would maintain a St magnet budget and still be capable of doing that is disingenuous it is impossible for us to both create the best teachers because look I lived in this district and worked in this district and teaching is a small world and you will hear people talk about when I first got hired and I recognize that we have come a long way so I need to emphasis I came back here for a reason everybody told me I was crazy for coming to higgling the salary was low the Str was high and the things that they were experiencing you didn't experience elsewhere and part of that reason is because we were functioning not thriving and it is hard as a staff to put up with you add to that the stress of teaching over the last several years it has been studied it is documented we talk about the stress that staff and students are experiencing all the time here and again functioning does not equal thriving teachers will make it work we are some of the craftiest individuals like individuals who have nothing learn how to figure it out right people who don't have money learn how to budget we figure it out staff that doesn't have the resources we figure it out and to Mr Glover's point I'm so very grateful for your recommendation to talk about ways in which we can say hey staff what is something that you just don't need to do because not only do we have these extra things we're asked more of us we talk about the covid funding and why we shouldn't have just stockpiled it and to some extent you are right we keep that carry forward to help float when things get tough and that is literally what is happening right now instead of taking that budget cut of the 9 whatever it is that we have to do we are looking at what ways can we look at positions that aren't filled fine we've been operating under them we will continue to function as they are we have normal attri all the time because teachers move they they want promotions or they look at different opportunities and everything else so when it comes to laying off we may not we may not that that still exists as a possibility depending on what things Shake as March comes around and everything else and I hope that we not only have staff that recognize that they are valued and desired here and we are working hard to create that and I feel greatly that our Administration has done that and Mr Moore a lot of that is to your credit and ways in which you have looked at things because you not only look at numbers which I think matters but you also recognize that it's tied to people and so every time you have made recommendations that are difficult I am grateful that you at least appreciate the difficulty and the weight behind that we saved that covid money because we knew these things were happening and so I hear you and I think it we are correct we are now at a point in which yes we are moving into that carry forward to Mr Moore's point to just go through and take it all right now it is easier to operate with a little bit less each time right it's like the frog in the pot you can sit there and you can feel it a little bit each time but if you pull the rug out from under me I am definitely going going to feel that and so if we can do it in this fashion where we can make it slower and we say okay here are the hurts that we're already experiencing here's how we can offset and let's see what new hurts we have going forward and dear Lord maybe we can appeal to this community to remind them of what it looks like when we just function higgle in the last8 years has made a remarkable turnaround remarkable we are thriving and part of that is because the decisions that the admin has made to look at staff and students and figure out what it is that they need and we rout routinely do that here as far as the bond in the override I think it is disingenuous to say that a experts didn't recommend it our district recommended it they would be the experts in this situation and I appreciate the care and the time and the consideration they took to that our community didn't go for a bond like so many communities throughout our state and a large part of that is because our state budget in a way that makes us have to beg and that is hard because everybody is feeling the hardship of inflation and everything else when it came to the override we barely lost but we still lost the idea that we shouldn't ask for these things or we shouldn't do these things I agree that it is an absolute frustration we should angle that towards our state legislatures and say this is too much it is painful repetitively and we see it across the board and part of that reason is because the expectation is that we are to function and not Thrive and then what's worse when we function we get left and right told all the ways in which we are failing that is a hard space to exist if you don't provide us the funding and the support that we need and then you get mad when we go out of the way to take the best we want the best staff we want the best students we want the best program those things cost money and if we don't continue to grow we will absolutely fall to the side another number I wish to challenge is your % capacity most of our schools are K through 8 when they were originally built almost all of our elementaries I think somebody wasn't but that Bridges because they're new okay they're k through eight what that means is they're designed to have a larger student body than a k through six so when we say 60% capacity this does not mean that we are paying staff for only 60% of the students we give FTE based on the students available so the schools that are at 60% capacity is because we have space and unlike in Mesa that is ancient and had uh Portables and those types of things we don't have that because they were built as a K through 8 these numbers matter The Details Matter so yes while they are operating at 60% capacity that is 60% of what the building is capable not 60% of what we are paying for those things matter and so I think it's important as we go through through this next year is going to be rough And as far as staff having been a staff that had to do this and having to sit through an Administration that talked to you in a way that showed you they did not care I appreciate the care and the effort and the concern that has gone through here today because this is not easy and so I appreciate that and I think it's important to keep in mind we are in a position that other districts are not and part of that reason is because of the admirable work and the attention to detail with respect to financing that we have done to put us in a position where we may not have to have massive Rifts like some of our other neighboring districts are President Wade um I just want uh the exact words that were going through my mind is that there's a difference between functioning and thriving um I just wanted to say a couple things I know that was very hard for you Mr Richards to get through and um hard for Mr Moore and all of you to work through this and I appreciate the care that you've taken um and what we're able to do I appreciate the fact that we do have the carry forward so we are able to absorb some of this and I hopeful that the community we won't have to go so far um down the road before they understand that the that the um override is not a want but a need for us um and that we do have to beg for it as a school district I also just want to clarify the drop enrollment is largely due to the birth rate we are not the only District um we are not the only city it is across the the country in fact I just learned it was across the world that they are experiencing a decline in enrollment um because people are having less babies and you'll notice it in our numbers and the way we start with kindergarten and it works its way up so um I just want to say that I appreciate all the you've done um and that um I won't get into that any further but I will just thank you president Wade I just I'm kind of new here obviously but I just want to tell you all that um you're doing a great job um I it is wonderful that you guys are being melodic touching base with the admin and seeing where certain things are honestly the economy is not great honestly I know in a lot of people's personal budgets they're having to kind of reassess and touch base so I just want to commend you guys that you guys are doing a great job and we all have valid points and we do need to touch base on all of these things yes it's helpful to recruit more students and all those kind of things these are all contributions and factors that we have to navigate but I am so grateful for every everybody's Insight that we can touch base on all of those different things thank you madam president thank you Mrs charman uh congratulations that was your first time talking publicly good job um I just wanted to add a couple of things um and uh Mr Moore May attack me in the in the parking lot later for saying it but uh you know when school districts budget sometimes we do have unfilled jobs and uh that does end up with a little bit of uh uh money left over at the end but it is certainly not enough to mitigate the the numbers that we are seeing um that work still has to be done you know when you're short a custodian the garbage is either going to pile up or someone's going to do it and you're working in an environment where you have people that will continuously pitch in and do it if I had a magic wand the people who do those things I would give them a stien uh or something because it is a little bit left over that you do have at the end of the year it's something that's always irked me and bothered me um because people just do what needs to be done and that's the kind of people that we have in public education in this country um I also want to say that when overrides Sunset just to explain further you have a grace period where onethird of what you were spending is cut and did you have to make some serious plans the next year it's 2/3 and then it's gone um so the state allowed for that for us to have to do that Charter Schools don't have to do that um but we have have to go out we have to ask every couple every five five years uh is it five or seven five uh to get that reapproved and it seems like you know it's we're taxing again and again and again but that's just the way the system was designed it's confusing uh deliberately but we can't magical thinking and magical math isn't going to get us out of this okay we can't have it all some of these cuts are going to hurt I wish they wouldn't I I can wish all I want but uh they're going to hurt the other thing I just wanted to add is you know I'm a Scot I'm of Scottish ancestry so that means Deep Pockets and short arms I'm Frugal so um and you're allowed to laugh at that that's supposed to be funny um you don't have now I felt like I just made you do that um but one of the things that that that if when you carryovers are important uh excessive carryovers this is things that teachers and and staff kind of fight about all the time but it it affects your bond ratings which means you're paying interest and as a Scotsman I don't like paying interest I want to pay as little as possible um so when you don't have strong carryovers it does affect your bond rating right and you end up paying more in interest and things like that which is stuff that we could use to put in to our classrooms to pay teachers more Etc so that's just another little thing to think about as the carryover will disappear I mean it it's it will it will shrink it has to president Anderson um she's not here oh I'm sorry have it sorry president Wade um so I when I say function I don't mean like survive uh again he mentioned that our carryover as is at about 20% um and that's a large carryover that's not surviving that's not functioning um and even at you know if if we were just to cut 5 million from from our current carryover that would leave us $112 million that's still an amazing carry forward um and so you know obviously when salaries are introduced and staff um admin present the salaries and you know it's their salaries um who's going to argue against their own salary being increased um we hired Higher Ground as the expert to tell us whether they should both be put on the ballot that is the expert that we paid we spent 200 almost $200,000 to put the bond in override on that ballot with the expenses of Higher Ground and paying per voter for for that to go on the ballot um and so that was the expert that the district used so when I say expert that's who I'm talking about but again we have a we have a good amount in our carry forward and if we're going to be using it for a rainy day this is a rainy day and we could we should be utilizing that money um and you know when we when we say deficit like we're in a deficit that that word is kind of misleading because in reality it's it's just a deficit from where we want to be not necessarily where we're at um and so I want to make it clear that um it's not we've we've worked with less money it's it's not the I just don't like the word deficit being utilized in this situation because we've got a good sum in our carry forward thank you sorry just one final point before we move on something else we have to keep in mind with that uh excess and carryover as you describe it we also have aging buildings and our bonds did not pass and so this summer in August williamsfield was without AC and we have to think about those types of things we have I don't remember Corda it was Corda that had something is it not look at that look at me remember the water broke um and so I again I also think some of these things again to express to the community we have to ask ourselves what it is that we hope to accomplish because at the end of the day we we legally are required to provide a certain set of things for the the students that come to us that is our legal obligation not only to our community but to any student who desires to come here and it would be uh a dereliction of our duty if we did not think long term and so again I I just am am grateful for the preparation that we did knowing this was on the horizon we've known that carry forwards and overrides and things like that are difficult to pass our own District's history is for them to not pass then for us to feel what that feels like for a period of time before then they pass and we try to you know work to to recoup in this effort maybe we will experience it differently this year so I appreciate that any other comments or concerns before we move on to action items so um moving on to action item 8.1 discussion of board meeting start time it tells me I'm supposed to turn to you Miss Schultz vice president Schultz thank you president Wade um I asked for this to be an agenda item we had moved the meeting start time from 5:00 p.m.

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