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Um last name uh Cutler. Raise your hand if you want to bring your information. Is that what you're supposed to do? Yes. High five. One. So only one for him. Okay. Uh, Dwire. Two for Dwire. Okay. Okay. Uh, Flarity. One. Two for Flareity. Three for Flarity. Sorry, I'm trying to go I have my notes organized differently. Well, can we go a little slower? Yeah, sure. Would it be um I We should have given up numbers ahead of time. Yeah, probably. Would it be easier? Do you want to I'm going to name my name, but you mentioned seven of the 11 have superintendent experience. Uh, yes. So, you Yeah. Wait. Yeah. What? So, who was the first one? Was it Cutler or Thompson? The first one was Thompson. I have first names written. All right. Let's start again. Does anyone want to simply eliminate anyone who does not have superintendent experience?
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a lot of aliteration, but it was uh it was the genuine reflection of the work that the the middle school and the district has done to be able to better understand some of the information that uh the the state uses to be able to share back to us. And you'll recall that information helped to be able to display the great improvements improvements that we had as a district, but also representing uh Keith Middle School as one of the top scoring uh schools in the uh the region here for us. But it was great to be able to have the opportunity to present and and share our leadership. It was a well attended session. We're really very very proud of that. Similarly, Canton Middle School also hosted the first of our uh district learning walk. So, we had all of our instructional leaders from across the district descend on Canton Middle School to be able to see a great number of these students in class working in these teachers as well to be able to learn about the work that they've been doing so far and then be able to develop practices that will scale out to the rest of our school community for the future.
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Um, and I'm wondering if there and and we may not know, but I'm wondering and with the city, um, if there's going to what kinds of things might be in place then to adopt, you know, adopt and move forward and and and and take this and put these into particularly the ones that are trying to advance the goals into practice. Maybe Larry has something to add on this. Yeah. Um, I was just going to mention, I don't I don't know how much relevance this has to to what you just mentioned, but uh the Wolfpack climate action team is uh in the process of planning another workshop for developers and builders and planners and stuff this November. Um we we had one last November uh and it was very well attended uh this November. We expect even greater attendance. uh we have a number of builders who have and developers who have expressed uh interest in in uh joining in and having this.
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State of New Jersey says that based on the property wealth of our district and the wealth of the town that our adequacy budget we should be raising $197 million in taxes which means we are 44 million789,000 under what's known as local fair share. Basically, guys, the state is saying, "You're asking us for money, but you aren't doing enough locally to raise taxes in your town." Now, I'm not going to tell that to a homeowner in Clifton who's working three jobs to pay their property taxes. Believe me, I know I pay taxes, but under the state formula, Clifton is $44 million under the local fair share. And here's why. And this is not blame. It's because the state expects you to go to 2% each year. And every year you don't go to 2%, that money that you didn't raise compounds and eventually reach $44 million.
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That would be I guess anything in addition to north of uh 2% of our 2% each year and then the right. So what I'm saying is the 2% each year plus last year we were to take additional money and then you know so but are you applying only the additional authority that was provided to us through S2 not just standard adjustments to 2%. I'm saying I'm saying across the board. across the board including the standard 2% plus the uh additional adjustment. Right. And I know you we might not have that exact figure. You know, even if it's a ballpark of of some sort from we could run a calculation for you. Okay. Thank you. I have a couple of questions, but one probably for Mr. creates only because I think the the public has been asking about this and I was hoping you could maybe shed some light on the prek grant, the pea money and the raising taxes for full day kindergarten.
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So they haven't don't have the ability to have all of those perks yet. So for ASBAT for the 256 year, again, they're updating their benefits for the first time in a decade. So we'll look over what those plan changes. They do have six traditional PO medical plans and three high deductible health plans. Um, a little bit on the new program administrator with ASBA. In the past, they used to vary the renewals in a big range from like 3% to 15% and then based on how the claims were running is kind of where you ended up. They narrowed that range. So now the range is 4% to 8%. So anyone in the ASBA district pool will either have a renewal of 4% or 8% depending on how high their claims were. Us knowing that you were trending downwards ended up with the 4.7. Okay. And then again as continue to offer the most comprehensive plans in the industry with your benefits and your coverage.
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Correct. Yes. Yes. So everybody had this problem because everybody had to change their um their chart of accounts to match what the auditor general does. They do this fairly regularly. Um, and so then it makes it difficult to compare year-to-year when they make a change like that. So anyway, you can see though that our average teaching experience is 18.5. That's one of the highest averages in the state of Arizona. I'll also add that the average teacher salary is which we wish were higher still $1,400 above the state average. Um, seven, eight years ago, we were way below the state average. So the board has worked hard to move that up and we have been. That's been a large largely due to funding that we had in the teacher retention and also gaining a larger share of the proposition 123 those we're passing virtually all that on now those two adjustments and so that um that Prop 301 money that's that amount that says amount from CSF that's class classroom site fund so that's that 9403 that'll be higher next year um part of that number is the base salary that comes out of um Prop 301 so there it's it's not super clear um when you just look at these reports because there's no context.
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We we've provided the transportation over time. That's the percentage. So on a per student basis, it that kind of estimates the on a per student basis because it's a percentage. So sort of a like for every dollar that's created for a student, there's a percentage that goes to transportation. That's sort of the analysis. The hard part is that there's numerous funds in all of this. And so that's that's the the difficult part, but but we we're very happy to do it however you think is is appropriate. Um but but we'd have to be it'll take some time depending upon exactly what you're asking. Oh yeah. I'm I'm aware it's a it's a big ask, but I feel like it's a necessity at this point just because there is so much to look at and it's hard to see, you know, we're doing a lot of great things, but as just someone coming in looking at all of these data points, it would make a lot more sense to be able to look at something over an 8 to 10 year period and kind of see the graph that way than rather just looking at this part over here, snapshot 3 to four years, this part over here, snapshot 3 to four years.
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So there's definitely some pros and cons with it, but I don't think hearing it right now there's a consensus to move forward on a vote on this heard two people. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. It was just me and yeah, that's what I'm like there are lots of other voices, but I'm saying there's opportunity work that way. I have to make No, I'm just kidding. I actually don't. So Alex, anybody else want to talk about it? with a non-resident um are we responsible for the transportation and all those I would think so the parent I mean cuz usually if they work here they would bring it and they should understand that we're not responsible and that would be that could be in the put in the policy okay I'm not in favor so oh and and what employees are we talking about?
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So all right, very interesting. Learned a lot. Yeah, I really did. That was uh that was good teamwork from both sides. you see the importance of it and the importance of being able to work together and things don't go your way, how you can regroup and and form a strategy, you know, and I don't want to talk too much like a principal, but I am one, Scott. Um, but you know, these are good skills to take with you after you leave high school. I mean, tell me what business would not want a problem solver, a leader help find together. Absolutely. Yeah. All right. Yep. So, we we have a little time here. Uh, do we right now? Absolutely. Now, now would be a great time for a sponsor. Oh, a sponsor. Sponsor. Okay. Well, you know what? The Moose Garage. Yes. It's the place. It's the garage that we keep moose.
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Yes. Okay. Raise your hand. Okay, that's a unanimous decision. All right. Do you have it marked there? Who doesn't? Who does not? I have it marked. I only have six. I do, too, but I just want to make sure there's five or four with experience. Oh, wait. I I come to six based on their resumes. What? So, from what you just said, Cutler would be out. Okay. Okay. Yes. I hit them on the opposite side. Clarity would be out. Wait, no. That was a superintendent. That's my question. So you would want to consider that. Y So for sure and that would but then we'll leave that question open for a second. Um and Bethanne Cormier would be out. Gulliard. Yep. I wrote that. Okay. Uh and Gillson. What else have you experience? Okay. And then I think then the question was assistant I didn't real she was an assistant superintendent.
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Uh so, we were really excited about that. And then we also had the opportunity to be able to connect that instructional leadership team uh together with consultants to be able to further calibrate our understanding of high-quality instruction and practices that we'll use to be able to coach into um and scale across the entirety of our district throughout this year and in and into the future. So we're thrilled to be able to see a lot of great professional learning, great professional growth, and just highlight a great work that's happening across the district.
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So uh sometime early November um we're going to have another workshop where we gather together you know this time probably over 50 developers that are going to talk about this this whole issue. So if you have any suggestions about topics you'd like to cover if you'd like to attend let me know. uh we're looking for people from you know government entities and other places to uh you know round out the ecosystem. So um you know we're just in the process we have a working team that now is planning this and it includes both developers and architects and builders and things like that. So um just want to let people uh be aware of that and let let me know if you'd like to uh participate or have some input into it. And by the way, Missy attended the uh session that we had, the workshop that we had in November of last year.
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But I know I was here in 1920. I know what the conversations were. The conversations were, "Hey, we're finally get the money that the state told us we were going to get. We're finally get the money that we deserve. Let's give the taxpayers a break. That was and that made a ton of sense and then we did it again. Then we did it again. And those three years, it's not just three years of zero, guys. It's three years where the price of everything goes up. Collective bargaining agreements go up. And not only do we lose that percentage of the tax levy, but we lose the compounding of it. We did make up for it. It's 4% because we utilized uh last two years we utilized bank cap which helped. But once you fall behind you can't ever catch up. You can't ever catch up because of the mathematical principle of compounding.
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What if any impact has that had on our financial situation over the last two years? Has that made us Has that caused a shortfall? Have we taken money out of the general fund? There's a lot of questions about that. Uh so I'll answer in two parts. Full day kindergarten. Uh this district had the special question that was passed in November um 2023, I believe. And um that was to provide $2,90,000 uh of which the majority was for full day kindergarten and a portion was for mental health related services. That number was added to your tax base. Um and that gets compounded with 2% every each year thereafter. So, it increased your tax base, helping support the general fund budget and the associated costs or expenditures that were assigned to that for for kindergarten purposes. For your preschool funding, um that's a a grant provided by the state of New Jersey.
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So, here's those no no cost program enhancements that I was referring to that some of those newer trusts don't have built into their plans yet. So, you have an empower health. This is an on-site biometric screenings which gives your members a baseline to begin health improvements. There's a Thrive 65 wellness program that gives them w um wellness tips, newsletters, on-site mimography, on-site flu shots that usually includes with the power empower health. Um Alliance Health Partners, that's your EAP for confidential. So, anytime anyone has an issue 247, they can call their EAP and they can get guidance um on any issue that they're having. Skin io is a digital app where members if they have a skin issue or if they're looking at something, you can take a picture of it and you can actually talk with the dermatologist and they'll let you know if further treatment needs to be taken.
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So, I just want to give you some context about where we're at. Um and so here you can see our graph um of how things are going along. We're a little bit higher than the year before um I had to do some finagling with the Auditor General's office um because of the changes that they made on our um annual financial report in 2023. They did want us to pull this data out um but they did not change the chart of accounts. So pulling the data was difficult and every school district in the state of Arizona has experienced this. It just how it works. All right. Per pupil spending um around the mountain. So you can see we're there um for teacher salaries. Uh snowflakes just a tad higher than us this time around. Um I can't control how they do their chart of accounts. Um, so it's kind of you just have to take people's word for what they submit.
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Um, and I'm more than happy to sit down and, you know, go over the details of it with you, but you bet. Um, I just feel like it would be beneficial for all of us because then we can look at it as a collective group and say, okay, you know, what are we what are we really rocking it at? What are we doing great? Where is there an area that maybe we've missed or an area that we can I just for my brain being able to see it like that, I feel like I would be able to make better, more educated decisions. That's all. So your um your average teach your average teacher salary question is is a good one. That one would be very easy to pull. Um my suggestion again too would be to look at how we've grown the beginning teacher salary because remember with averages are tricky because we have every year we're going to increase somebody's salary but at the end of the year we have a lot of retirees and stuff and so therefore the average is going to go down.
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Are we just talking about teachers and administrators? Every employee. Any any employee? Any and every employ. So that's seven 700 employees. Would it only be open for I mean we could write I'm sorry. We could write it for whoever we however we want. But I mean um what about because we got a great manufacturing area. So could somebody who's not involved in sports then we would have we would do the same for them even though they're not IHSA involved that that IHSA was what brought it up. Right. Correct. I just didn't know if it was going to be a limiting factor that they had to be involved in an IHSA sponsored activity or if like I would think we have to open up the door for all the kids of employees no matter if they play sports or not. Yeah. And that's why I just wanted to know if the the idea was for it to be across the board or only open for IHSA participants.
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Yes. Or Moosees. Moosees. Is it Moosees? Plurals? Well, it's plural moose. Moose. Moose. Yeah. I don't know. The Moose Garage. Special thanks to the Moose as well. Check out the garage here in town on Main Street. In fact, I remember that used to be like a a car place. used to fix uh cars there and things. Not anymore. It's now a cafe, game room, music venue for the youth of Bluffton to hang out. It's really a nice place. Yeah. Got a lot of cool things here and maybe even do uh some esports there. So maybe Yeah. Great place to hang out. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Now, now what we got time for? We got time for a joke. It's not a joke, Scott. They're my life experiences. Okay. What do we got? Um you know, just the other day, Dr. Yates, our superintendent, Yes. came into my office.
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