Humphries any additional questions dr. Santa Cruz not a question but I just would like to express my gratitude to the administration for making sure that this material was available we recognize as dr. McCord said it was not legally required but to involve parents and to err on the side of involving parents is always greatly appreciated thank you any additional commentary or question I did have one more comment I do appreciate that we're providing these kits so we can have hands-on science projects with our kids in elementary school I think that's a really good way to encourage their engagement and creativity and understanding of science so thank you dr. Newman for that thank you mrs. Humphreys thank you dr. Newman any additional questions then we will go ahead and take the vote please pull the board mr. president motion carries five eyes Wilson we are now at item 6.0 for board of assessment platforms rfp 2030 606 - 25 dr.
Fowler to stay here to to answer any questions on this aspect too but as we've seen with the Auditor General this year and in full transparency we want to make sure that we bring every payments to two district employees to the board I know this is something that is unusual and we have them distant past and I wanted to give you the opportunity to ask questions on this subject it was not put in appropriately for the beginning for the travel expenses and so I asked dr. Fowler to be here to you to answer those questions and to talk about that aspect so I thank you for your consideration president Kaler yes mrs. Reese lots of questions one is I guess I'll go through my questions is like why is this coming to the board because it's clearly outside of our practice and and our policies and procedures we there's one it's not an expectation of our athletic directors to travel with our teams and if we're gonna choose to do so then we choose to do so our selves and that should be our own cost if we're choosing to travel with the team because it's necessary they and they need to be listed on the field trip request and so the the field trip request to Florida for the students for for golf mr.
McClure dr. santa cruz governing board members agenda item the assessment platform solicitation process was conducted in three phases submitted proposals oral interviews and comprehensive software trials in addition input was taken from administrators certified and support staff members this assessment platform will provide assessments for an estimated 35,000 K through 12 students and the cost per student for the first year and the remaining up to four years of the contract will not exceed $11 per student this contract will begin July 1st 2020 we require a budgeted amount of 415,000 for the first year to include tax and implementation in addition to the license cost per student there's about $20,000 designated for professional development the license cost and implementation will be budgeted in unrestricted capital fund 610 and the professional development cost of about $20,000 will be budgeted in the instructional improvement find zero two zero total first year costs is estimated to be four hundred five thousand dollars thank you dr.
dilly was not listed on that it was not approved for him to go and it's not an expectation for him to go he chose to go my understanding is this was a very similar situation as last year and that those expenses were approved but with the caveat of there's a proper process to go through any staff that travels to conferences those conferences come before the board for us to review and approve we have denied teachers who have attended conferences on their own because they did not go through the process of bringing it to the board getting approval doing a Pio and getting signed up we have flat-out told them I'm really sorry you chose to sign up for this conference it was not board approved we will not reimburse the other questions and I'm just going through them and then you can try and answer all of them at one point is why are we traveling out of state to scout teams to play there is so much technology why can we not pick up the phone and have this conversation at one point the Higley football team was looking to go to Hawaii was there a trip to Hawaii first scouting we never did go to Colorado was there a trip to Seattle for scouting not to mention that trip came on the back of the Florida trip so we were being asked to pay for airfare from Florida to Colorado versus even coming from Arizona during that time so those are my concerns and there's no documentation of who they met with in Colorado to talk about playing we never did go to Colorado we what was the purpose and and why would we need to go and Scout when we could call and we can talk to them there's technology we all know we're in the world of virtual but virtual is not new and same with conferences I'm why would that process be any different and when it's repeated when this happened last year it was approved they were paid but I have been told that the conversation was you need to follow the proper process vice president Reese I do hear your concerns and I really do appreciate your feedback I want you to know that the matter when it was brought to my attention that I've been addressing it internally and so because of the personnel-related nature I don't I can't speak beyond that I am communicating a clear picture of our practices and guidelines as well as putting them in writing and so that there's no misunderstanding in the future but if it was 2018 and 2019 or 2019 yeah 2018 2019 why is it repeated 2019 2020 I bid and and these policies and practices aren't new I mean I guess I'm concerned that we have people who are making this choice to do this when our policies practices they're very clear and that if it was addressed a year ago why are we faced with this again and I'm not asking for personnel information and I get that that's fair sensitive and I'm not asking that I'm asking if it was addressed why are we being asked to pay for it again yeah really all I can say is I'm addressing the matter and an interesting eternally and putting everything in writing and following a process that that I know HR has worked with me closely on president Kaler members of the board I would like to address things something quickly is that I was not comfortable with with the request we had a request come in to to pay these these particular costs and our superintendent with what's happening with the Auditor General and the Attorney General across the state with other things I was not comfortable doing an approval from the superintendent without it bringing to the board the processes that we do come to the board to ask for a request for out-of-state travel and out-of-state costs that is the reason why I did ask dr.
McCord item six point zero four is on the table is there a motion some praise deserve second second Thank You mr. James Carr I do have a couple questions I would like dr. Nealon just to explain why we need a new assessment platform and what we're going to gain from this platform that we're purchasing at this time was I'm free to go ahead dr. Newman for over several years have been looking for a new platform we've heard repeatedly from our teachers the platform itself was not user-friendly it's not intuitive for our teachers it makes it difficult for them to use it for the work that they're trying to work collect and for the data they're trying to collect for their students both work within their classroom and across their professional learning communities with that there was also an an ownership change in the platform that we currently use and we have had several problems our teachers have experienced beginning it and test and the platform not working for them that's required a lot of extra time on our teachers in on our students very frustrating for them to start an assessment and not be able to finish and so for that reason it was the right time we had already initially tried to go out to find product before and we did not find one that suited our needs but we do believe that this is the right one for us to move forward thank you thank you dr.
Fowler to make sure it comes to the board so we stay within the general guidelines and respect over the Auditor General and the Attorney General because of everything that's happening across the state of Arizona so it was my my choice and and my reasoning to bring it to the board and have the board vote on it like we would for an out-of-state travel mr. Glover well I mean I you know I'm not I'm gonna vote to reimburse I'm not gonna penalize somebody who expended all that money but you know it's I agree with what you're saying I mean we have leaders and when we have our strategic plan and we have processes and leaders have to set example so you know you guys are the boss of the employees my my conversation I think would be this this is the first and last time that's going to happen and you know I just if you want my opinion as a board member if this happens again to the same person I would be less inclined to vote for reimbursement okay so mr.
Newman any additional questions or commentary I also just thank you ask dr. Newman so how does this new how does this new program comparing costs to what we currently do it is a slight increase in cost but what we get for that cost is more than what we would actually be spending right our current platform does not allow the opportunity for our kindergarteners to participate in some of the practices that we do for our assessment in addition to that there are many monitoring and progress monitoring pieces of this platform that we'll be able to use throughout our kindergarten through twelfth grade in addition our it will make it much easier especially for our secondary folks to create assessments and do some real time and collection of data so that they can do some quick changes to instruction to meet the needs of what the students have at the time thank you thank you mrs.
Miller follow that happened dear this is the second time yes mr. Watauga to go ahead we can hear you I do have some concerns about this request one reference to this process was without follow-through but no in what not one time but three times as I look at this the one is a conference that happens every year so there was plenty of time to get prior approval for this and just in closing I'm really not comfortable with this request and I think this is going to be studying a negative president thank you mr. Otto mrs. Wilson I wish she was here so we could ask some questions about it we normally if there is a travel they are normally here before us so then we could ask I know there's some concerns with kovat and that on why he might not be here but for future reference on something like this that is so outside the box I really wish that he would be here in the future because we could then ask some questions about the travel figuring it out if it was really necessary etc dr.
wood any other questions seeing none this is Wilson please pull the board for them this Humphries Santa Cruz mr. president motion carries five eyes thank you mrs. Wilson will now move to item six point zero five proposal for school entity changes and the card first Anna Cruz go board members we're asking the approval grade UE which stands for ungraded elementary to Harris Elementary Highland Park Elementary pioneer elementary portal elementary and settlers Point Elementary by adding grade level UE to the elementary schools listed this will be able to align all of our elementary schools adding grade UE will allow us to receive full Adm for kindergarten special education students these are the last five elementary schools to be approved for grade UE thank you dr. McCord 6.05 is there a motion I move that we prove they approve the school entity changes for the school year 2019 20 Thank You mr.
Fowler I hope you agree with that going forward I know Kovac has thrown everybody a loop but and I hope this we don't have to have this conversation with anyone else being that this is a second time and three times within it's a struggle for me but I'll just leave it at that it's just those are you saying that this is the second time it's happened and the board was I mean what am I forgetting I was aware of this last year happening - okay it didn't come as a separate item to the board it came as a reimbursement but was in consent with different expense so the conversation was my understanding and again is we're gonna go ahead and put these through there's a process to follow we have procedures and that's my understanding I'm again not getting into person you know personnel or any whatever happened is that that conversation if we're going to approve it this time don't let it happen again happen last year is my understanding well okay but it didn't happen amongst us publicly so see that does sway me a little bit no it didn't no it did happen in consent oh not as it's separate no but it wasn't consent and there were discussions about it does that make sense all right I mean I mean it's a lot of money I wouldn't I would just like to move forward I hope and I hope that we we do when this is like I said this will be the last time that it happens I do agree with mister bateau that if we go ahead and keep doing this then we're setting ourselves up for future decisions that come before us after the fact and we have a clear policy and procedure so I'm inclined to agree with mr.
cars their second sorry that was mrs. humphreys uses Humphries thank you as far as I'm a student perspective our parent perspective they won't see any change in what happens it's just a change in the complication is what you are exactly correct this is just for reporting purpose the state and for funding purposes so when we are reimbursed for special education students at that level we are we are funded appropriately Thank You mrs. wood is there any additional question seeing none and I'll defer to miss Wilson to pull the board from Santa Cruz mr. president motion carries aye aye thank you mrs. Wilson move to item 7 requests for future agenda items [Music] if you have none if mrs. Wilson and she'll add them to our next agenda item 8 and we'll get into committee reports 8.01 mrs. humphreys town of guilford govern Education Foundation yes I spoke with our executive director Teresa doodsen right now she has we have the scholarships have been read and will be awarded so they are creating a video to do a virtual event towards scholarships to students and to educators and that will be coming out soon she'll let us know and that's going to happen also there is a special fundraiser so that if there are families and staff in Gilbert public schools in need of additional aid because of this carbon 19 shutdown we can give people that help so people are welcome to donate to the Kilmer Education Foundation so that we can have our social services our shame program award those little grants to help people through thirdly they're still working to do the grants that have been given to teachers and one of the things that has been ongoing is the garden at Boulder Creek Elementary they're preparing to do the farm-to-table efforts that we're hoping to have in oliver schools so their garden is almost finished and they're really excited about that thank you pop raised item 8.0 to city of Mesa liaison mrs.
moto is there any other questions or concerns before we vote well yeah I think I mean we should all just take a take a big deep breath I mean we could we could we could do as you as you say and leave that leaves somebody on the hook who spent money and time for Higley that's fine and and I understand that there was a previous history but we could also I think I'm saying that I'm throwing a very large line in the sand now and moving forward from there so just think about the repercussions it's this is not an insignificant amount of money to to a public school teacher or administrator and I and I can appreciate your stance mr. Glover but the line was drawn last year and it was very clear so that's where I have a struggle that it's a repeat and that's where I'm struggling because I again don't want to set this up for future people to think well if this person got away with it two years in a row then I'm gonna be able to so that's kind of my concern on this anybody else wants to chime in president Kaler there's and I guess in different aspects that as board president I was asked multiple times for different situations on you know should we bring this to the board this policy wasn't followed this and that and as difficult as it was I following our policy we are as board members responsible for ensuring we have policies and procedures and that they're followed and then it's up to our leaders to make sure that those are followed and then we have to hold them accountable that there were teachers who had decided to go to conferences for professional development and actually I remember one specifically who went to Tucson for their national certification and it wasn't pre-approved it didn't come to the board it was an after after the fact and we denied it and we had to go back to the teacher and say I'm really sorry it was not approved travel we can't cover your expenses in the future for things like this put it forward to your administrator let your administrator bring it forward and hopefully we can get that approved so I hear what you're saying this is a large amount of money for any individual and it doesn't sit well with me but we do have policies and procedures in place and we do have to have accountability and that this is an administrator setting the example and and it's very concerning to me that it's repeated and especially when this person is responsible for reviewing items that come to us for travel for review that's that's where my my concern lies and we've been talking about accountability and setting the example and when we start deviating for anybody and again I hear you on the amount when we start deviating for anybody in our practice and procedures and processes then we set ourselves up for future problems and I hear what you're saying is well now I'm can you know now this is the line in the sand if we have someone else who bring stuff to us like this who says oh well that line in the sand wasn't drawn for me that was for someone else who had already done it once this is my first time and from an HR perspective when we start deviating from what we do and how we do it we've really open ourselves up for for problems later we have to be consistent we haven't been consistent we've talked about accountability with this board and that's why I have such concerns about it can we have legal counsel on this I reload to ask for legal counsel and at this time I believe mrs.
woods I just had a couple updates from councilmember he wanted people to know that Mesa has received funding as part of the cares Act but they're waiting on instructions from the federal government as to what it can be used for and we'll let this know as soon as they know this it's closed and employees are working from home furlough a few employees but are working hard to reassigned as many as they can and keep them employed until we can get back on our feet again and [Music] City contacted their nonprofits and businesses and the overreaching response was that they need funding and food the city of Mesa is gonna be doing canned food drives in the coming weeks to help replenish the chefs at United Food Bank and the food banks here in Gilbert so if we can support that as we can thank you ms wood for your report town gilbert lays on mr car thank you dr.
Goode was asking us also to put this on the agenda correct dr. Thomas Center that is correct I did I did confer with her before it was put on and she said this needs to go to the board for approval and I feel the probably the same way especially with everything going on in the state of Arizona with the Auditor General and the Attorney General for assignments for administrators and teachers for addendums so dr. Thomas and I have a question for you last year I remember there was some question and I can't exactly tell you what it was because I'm not sure I was on the board when this came before us was there a question if we can deny this because he did pay for a school function is was there something in a caveat to that president kaler members of the board it is coming to the board as a request to reimburse for his expenses for school related expenses and the board would have the ability to approve or deny the requests okay any other comments questions or concerns well I mean dr.
santa cruz had a conversation this afternoon with mr. bill spence who is a new council member and has and with has been appointed the liaison to gilbert public schools were excited to have him aboard and to build a relationship there would just highlight as many know that that with elections coming up several council members have resigned so we have three new council members and have taken office in the last six days six weeks or shorter mr. Spence who is our liaison is a GPS parent who lives over near mesquite high school and he expressed in our conversation or asked me to express his deep gratitude for the schools or the support that he has seen as a parent and as a member of the town council from parents and our from teachers and and faculty and is excited about although not ideal as it still excited about the learning opportunities that his children have had so we look forward to working with him and finding opportunities to increase the cooperation Thank You mr.
Fowler dr. Thomas and anything else you guys want to add I feel like this is going a certain direction and I it could have a chilling effect I mean particularly on an employee anything else you guys want to add I mean you handled some go ahead president Reiss president I mean remember Glover president Keeler and and remember Wilson also I know court member to--because also chimed in I completely agree with all the comments that you've made in terms of what the process and the procedure are certainly I'm clearly aware of the process and procedure and and I'm working to make sure that that's clear with with with the with all employees and so as dr. Thompson said this item has come because it's required if we're gonna reimburse on these the board has to approve I understand the reasons what you've expressed on either way I'll continue to work with all employees and ensure that they follow the process and preach procedures in an events when that doesn't occur I'm gonna continue to follow the progressive discipline which not going to go into that but I can assure you you know we're not you know we're we're doing all we can within our control to make sure that those policies and procedures are followed in every case president Kaler dr.
Carr continue with your finance audit committee report 8.04 nothing to report the audit committee has not met since we last spoke Thank You mr. Carr insurance trust representative miss you jetty a report yes fortunately we met this afternoon at 4 o'clock on WebEx and we are in a very good place as we've said before one of the things that happened today is we talked about tell a doc which is getting to call your doctor on the telephone and GPS is one of the most used and the series of with our consultants so far this year we've saved ninety nine thousand dollars by using tele doc and as of today with all of the reports that we have no one in our district that's on the insurance has tested positive for kovin 8.06 the legislative agenda you have been a copy of the ASB a legislative agenda which we will address and entertain and discuss I believe on the fifth or at a work study session I think that's correct dr.
feller can you help guide us on your you've indicated you're trying to communicate these policies and procedures to all your staff and make sure it's clear and can you help provide the board guidance on what would make it clearer than where it is and how we can ensure because we do want clear and concise messages there's no doubt about it and if we have policies out there and practices and standard procedures that were doing that perhaps would not be clear how how can we make sure if we're going to hold people accountable how are we how can we make sure that that is clear well I know there's a number of things that that that we do each each year and it's especially with with athletic directors as in terms of our perspective we meet monthly every meeting the beginning we talk about the financial aspect of pieces and we we talk about these items so so for me personally what I'm going to include is more detailed and specific reminders all right I think part of the challenge is there's lots of items that that our administrators are dealing with all the time lots of things and it doesn't mean that you can't that you don't follow policies it just means that there's lots of things going on things happening I do think that I agree that it's not necessarily a requirement that an administrator would travel on an event but I I think also on the other side there's a lot of events where we do have administrators travel and so the I think the important thing is that if somebody wants to do those things that they follow the processes its laid out and get that approval and so from our perspective it's it's a it's a constant reminding and and refreshing and and and making sure people follow those those processes I I know even just going back to my own career I mean we went and I was when I was teaching you know Alberta I was the coach /sha athletic director but in two different years we traveled with groups of close to thirty from Alberta Canada to Florida and competed in a tournament basketball and then in a different year to San Diego and the same thing and I do think the the level of of time and involvement in pulling off a trip like that is pretty intense and all of the issues that could happen while you're there I do think there are reasons to have an administrator there that doesn't mean that it shouldn't follow the process and procedure which it should but I do think there are there is rationale for considering that but I do think as a board you should have that opportunity to consider that before as the policies written so I completely understand your perspective that it's a it's a difficult situation but I value your input and will respect your decision and I appreciate that information and and I get we've had more specific conversation regarding field trips but I think there's a difference between want and need and you as you were talking you know athletic directors may want to go and and I know it's newer that we've had the conversation of clarifying if you want to go absolutely we want to we want you to go and support your team but if there's not a need for you to go then you need to go on your own dime if if you if you want to go you pay for your own cost and if you need to go then we need to know that that need is there and I agree to pull off some of these trips it's not a bad idea to have an administrator there because there is a lot going on and we're travelling but I think that has to be very clearly outlined and I think our even with our new process I think with our old discussion I I think that was pretty evident on what that process is so I would as you said you meet monthly we haven't seen these expenses from the other school and I don't like to compare schools but when I'm looking at do we need to be doing this why is the need for one and not a need for another that comes into play but with your monthly meetings I think now more than ever with our new conversation regarding our field trips that that has to be a discussion and I think that if our athletic directors are saying yes I really need to travel with this team not based on our discussion that their role that they need to travel with the team and that their role is very important for why they need to be there and not meet up with the team later on because if they need to be there then they need to be there so I think that that's great you're meeting with a monthly and I think that should be part of the conversation but I just wanted to make sure of our current policies and procedures and practices if there was something we can do to make it clearer than I want to make sure we're doing that again I appreciate that feedback thank you both of you guys you would have been aware that he went on these trips correct president Kaler members the board I was aware of one of the trips that that he went on I was not aware of the other tail I concur with dr.
McCord is the fifth one we're going to discuss that mister will happen as a work study eight ajan item okay and then beyond that we're still waiting from forward from the governor regarding community closures and probably information from the legislature relative to their status or whether or not they're going to adjourn so we are really in limbo in lots of ways but we have lots of work ahead of us and that legislative agenda from ASBA may may prove interesting that's my report 9.0 meeting Thanks 9.01 dr. McCord the next meeting we is next Tuesday 6:30 may 5th it will be a board work study and brief board business meeting as you discussed a second ago dr. Santa Cruz will have some ASB a political agenda items to discuss as well as hopefully we'll be able to have some information regarding situation that we can discuss during that time will we be doing that meeting virtually as well that meeting will be done virtually yes sir anything else doc in the court nothing other than thank you for joining us this evening all of our governing board members cabinet members this was our first shot at doing something like this and I think it went very well I'm sure mr.
Thomason it's the same yes now it doesn't mean that all three trips if they brought to us that that we wouldn't have considered it as a possibility but it's just the fact that it happened and that's why we're bringing it here that really did change things but so I feel like though in in the time that this was on the consent consent agenda in between that time we did spend a lot of time talking about field trips and clarifying a policy that we would all agree was pretty muddy right and so and I did listen to what you said vice president Reese you know and I don't think anyone the first two years said procedures and policies more than I did but you know at the same time I also recognized you know there's times to make an exception to the rule and for this one time I would be inclined to do that you know I think just that having this conversation is probably making making the point that I think we want to make and I think that denying this will probably have a much greater effect than they you know the modest amount of reimbursement and I do trust that you guys have made things clear to your administrators and will continue to do so so that this doesn't come up again but it's a lot of money I just would like us to take a breath and think about it just a couple thoughts the Florida trip was a golf team trip correct that is correct yes but Colorado and Washington DC mr.