Does that exist? I know it used to not exist. So, I'm just asking. >> Yeah. >> Would you know anything? >> Yeah. So, the core textbooks, we do have money that we've included in the budget if there's anything replacement for consumables. Many of the curricula that we have now come with the digital platform but also have the consumables. So that becomes like an annual expense that we account for. But we're also trying to make sure >> if there's consumables that were not used this year, we're not ordering more for next year. So that process literally just started last week um by the principles and classroom teachers in each of the elementary schools, middle school, and high school to go through identify what they have, what they're using, and what they anticipate needing for next year. And then when we get that back, we'll do the same thing.
You have to regionalize and you can't count on Joe Cumber. She cowtowing to to superintendent and administrators. If we get any money from her, it's going to go it's not going to students. We are on a downhill slide. We cannot afford We cannot afford to do this on our own. Join the party. regionalize. It's the only way out. If somebody's dead, they don't know they're dead. Everybody around them knows they're dead, but they don't. The same works for stupid. Let's not be stupid. It's not working, folks. >> Join the party. Regionalize. They're voting in September. >> Thank you. >> All right. Just checking the comments. Um Jeff, was that okay? Could you hear and see that person? >> Yes, I could. Thank you. >> Great. Any other public comment? I'm not seeing anyone online at this point. >> Microphones. All right. >> Yes. >> I've never been told that was qu.
>> Thank you very much for those comments. Glad you came out tonight. Appreciate you. >> Okay. Um I'll go back online just in case anybody online >> that might have a public comment. Again, you can use that raise hand feature if you'd like to make public comment from online. >> Okay. I I would post public comment, but just this final comment that the board meets again on April 7th. Uh and of course, we'll have public comment at that point. So, if somebody feels that they didn't get a chance to speak or have further further observations, they'll be able to do that at that time. All right. So, I I'll open up before I turn it over to the superintendent. I just wanted to uh our chair of the board of finance is here and I just want to say that I thought that the uh board of finance I didn't attend the meeting I was able to uh get a pretty good briefing on it but I just want to say the board of finance did a great job really I think in a very difficult task and uh the thing that I'm very pleased about uh as as chair this time with this board and working with the board of finance and the board of selection there is this joint cooperation tri cooperation if you will together to try to do everybody has the best interest of the town at heart and we all have different ways we have to get there and of course we're advocating for our children and selectman advocating for the town and the hard thing that they have to do is to figure out what we can afford and then they come back to us but I thought um I thought the board of finance was levelhanded and fair in the way they evaluated budgets and uh I just wanted to tell Brian we very much appreciate it.
Members, any questions? Question. Senator DeCourcy. Uh DOE. Shawn, please. Thank you. So, the state auditor had done an audit um on the school meals and on page three, it does show that uh DOE does not have data about the cost of each component of the meals served at its schools. Without such data, the department is unable to determine what dishes or items, etc., etc. Let me just move down to the final uh specifically what ingredients within those categories provide the best opportunities to increase local food usage and spending. So, um to keep it at its your preferred language, which is not less than 1/2, um that would take us to like regardless of how the system is performing, right? And so, the no more than 1/4 actually prioritize prioritizes affordability and accountability. Um so, I think in conjunction with the auditor's report, it would seem more specific and direct if we do keep the no more than 1/4.
Members, any questions? Okay, um co-chair. Yeah, question for DOH, please. Thank you. And thank you for taking the time to meet with me on on this measure. I know this is a priority for the department, um but I have a few questions as it relates You heard some some of the testimony from HGEA with um some of these positions. Um currently now are these positions What is the total amount of the positions and is it currently funded in our budget? Yes, the positions are all currently funded. Um I believe we have uh a total of 11 positions that we are requesting. Okay. Thank you for that. And then for some of the positions, have you worked with perhaps maybe some other agencies in terms of security or other agencies that you could that you could work with and share responsibilities rather than having to create new positions?
Yeah. United Health and we will switch to Etna, Etnerbanner. Um, and so for some people, obviously, if you have a a particular condition and you have uh uh docs that are that are on one network and you have to go to another network, that can cause some, you know, some issues. So, no matter what we do, there's always going to be someone that might not get what they like out of it. But, uh, from a business perspective, um, I don't think there's another choice. And then that will, depending on what you guys do here in a few minutes, then that will domino what else we have to do with the budget as we come forward. Um, but but at a swing of 500,000 and a savings or and a cap of 5% for the next two years, I don't think there's any other choice, you know, to move forward with that.
Congratulations go to best third quarter attendance, Santa Rosa Elementary School. >> [applause] >> Perfect. Most improved third quarter attendance, Desert Wind Middle School. >> [cheering] [applause] >> Yes, don't spend it all in cash. Runner-up for best third quarter attendance, Pima Butte Elementary School. >> [applause] >> Yay! Pictures, yeah. And runner-up for most improved third quarter attendance, Maricopa High School. >> [applause] >> He's not running yet. No, he's not running, but he's walking really fast. >> [laughter] >> Congratulations to Governing Board President Pattie Cuchary on being named the 2025 Sunny Dunn Citizen of the Year by the Greater Maricopa Business Alliance. This recognition speaks to the impact she makes that you make across the Maricopa community. >> [applause] >> For more than 13 years, President Cuchary has served MUSD and been involved in countless efforts across our community. Always keeping students and the future of the City of Maricopa at the center.
That's so kind. It's so nice to have a best friend in your class. Hi, I'm Zitaara and I'm in Miss Clifford's class. Because why I like Miss Shaw cuz she's really nice and helpful, and she helps me learn new skills and learn how to write new things and words. And add a lot of details. Can you share a little bit of your writing? All about ice skating. Hi guys, I'm going to teach you about ice skating. It is a sport. It's even in the Olympics. Both men and women can be in it. That is wonderful. Thank you. Hi, I'm Roman. I'm from room 20. What I like about working with Ms. Shaw is that she helps me get better at writing and working harder and adding more detail. Wonderful. There are many college teams like Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M, and Indiana. That's awesome. Yeah, that's a good one.
Make sure there's any if there's anything that we have that they need that we go there first. Um, unfortunately, as you know, it's like sometimes when you order certain things, they come in like these set amounts, >> 20. >> So, sometimes we end up having a little bit of extra that we're able to roll over. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> But the renewals we've tried to stagger in the next few years, too. So, renewing the Amplify curriculum, I think, comes up in 208. And then, >> you've owned it for six years. What's that? >> You owned it for six years, >> right? And then the math one is the year ahead. I think that one's the end of 2027. Okay. So that they're not all coming up the same year. >> Budget line. This would be in the assistant superintendence. >> Correct. >> Um does that mean that with the seeing what we're no longer using and needing that there be a chance that the real number will end up lower than what we currently have budgeted?
So, I guess this is easy. >> All right. name, affiliation with the schools. >> Absolutely. Uh my name is Mike Toronto. Uh I live at 171 Log Plain Road if anyone cares. Been here my entire life. Um there's a couple things. You have money, spend it. It's a rainy day. I've said this for the last couple years. Everyone's comes back to me every budget season when I was on city council and I said spend your money and they said we don't want to spend our money because it's we have to save for rain. Well, it's pouring right now. Sorry, excuse my French. It's pouring right now. And in my opinion, that guy sitting over there is a goddamn criminal. Okay. I said my opinion >> allow personal attacks. >> Sorry at all. >> No. Sorry. Doesn't matter. It's criminal what has been happening with our schools and our budgets right now.
So, having said that, we have been uh we've been asked to reduce our budget by $200,000. And uh at this point, I'll turn it over to the superintendent for his recommendation. Super. Thank you, Mr. U. Before I begin, I I I want to take some time just to remind the board in the community where we are now and where we were December 9th. I I think that's really important for everybody to understand that the board of education has been having budget workshops I believe since we started the conversation about the budget and sure team actually started uh in August really analyzing we where we were budget and as part of the the tri board meeting and Mrs. Robin, correct me if I'm wrong. I I believe that we were forecasting there would be somewhere in the eights or nines um of 100% increase at the tri board.
Do you have a response to that? Yeah. Um so, for the regard regards to the the audit, the part that they were focusing on was um how much does each ingredient cost in every meal. So, uh even in our new system So, we do have a new system that we're starting up next year cuz we have a we finally uh set up the contract for that so you don't keep track of everything. Um I still don't think it's going to be able to calculate how much is every ingredient. But as far as the with regards to this bill, we're using the total cost of each meal, which is basically calculated but So, we have that number. And it's basically calculated by the total expenses, which is how much the food costs, how much milk costs, how much labor costs, and how much the equipment costs.
Yes, we we did look into it um because the at HSH it's an acute care facility 24/7 and um the patients are um uh the the security and and the protections that are needed for them are very specific and the training required of the security personnel um have to be trauma focused and um more patient related than what would normally be occurring um on the outside. Um so for that matter, at least right now we feel that uh we would really want to pursue this exempt position status, um but we are um for future purposes long-term would look at um possibly um uh moving them to civil service in the future. Okay, and then the last question I have Uh-huh. chair is specifically Thank you, doctor, for answering these questions. Um last question I have is um how did DOH come up with this? Was this a result of something or what what's what's the reason for wanting these positions?
So I'd recommend uh the move as presented. >> I have a question. Anybody else? >> Yeah. >> Um so you had mentioned that there will be no more than a 5% increase. Um, is that for the total package similar to how there's an approximate 220 320 here or is that also because from my understanding um this looks to be really great for the majority of the of those individuals that will be utilizing it. Um, however, there's a small subset of individuals that they maybe don't have a spouse or they don't have dependence. And so for those individuals that are only receiving coverage for themselves, the price is going up. >> Is that no more than 5% increase also going to >> in the future >> affect them so that even though they're getting a substantial increase now? >> No. No, they're not getting substantial increase.
This is a well-deserved recognition um and of the all the time and the energy and the heart that you invest in everything that you do. We are so lucky to have you here on our board. Congratulations, President Cuchary. >> [applause] >> That's my report. I was really kind of hoping you would forget about that. Um there is a reason that I am wearing that ugly pink shirt. Just It was a themed party, so. All right, let's move on to governing board reports. Member Owens. All right, thank you President Cutright. Congratulations um first off. Uh so I have two uh two things here. So as we're into um the beginning of fourth quarter, right? We're we got some sports that are wrapping up from winter and we've got some sports that are kicking off for for spring. Um uh just congratulations to all of our uh students that have participated in those uh sports and activities actually because there's a lot of activities that are kind of not well known that uh students really engage and connect with.
They're all good. They're great. You guys did such a wonderful job. As you heard from our students, um, we're very fortunate to have Ms. Shaw. So, Ms. Shaw not only works with Ms. Clifford's class, but as I mentioned, um, she's in many of our second grade classes, also some of our first grade classrooms. And it's one where it's not limited to this. Donna has put herself out there that anyone that would like her support, she's connecting with. And it's, uh, different teachers work with her throughout the year as well. And again, just something I wanted to highlight right here, of just one of those another amazing pieces about our community is here in Ashland that we have amazing individuals that are willing to dedicate themselves, their time, and their efforts to be able to help our children. Uh, so again, Donna, thank you very much for everything you Thank you so much, Donna.
>> What do you mean? So it have we budgeted as though we need to replace everything but then oh we yes yes so it could be adjusted it's like those are the >> so I'm not >> so like even this year like when we did go through a similar process last year this year there was one unit at one school where the um the core materials were starting to get beaten up so that they needed to be replaced. So, it wasn't the consumables. So, we have some contingency for those things when those come up. >> Um, right. Right. The the manuals, but also the unit readers that students are reading are expected like they don't go home with students at the end of the year, but students are using them. So, they start to develop some wear and tear. And when you're getting to year four or five of having it, you're starting to have to turn some of that.
You have been hoarding money that was supposed to be turned over to the city. That's illegal and no one has actually put anybody under the gun for that. Spend the money you have before you ask for any other money from the taxpayers. Bottom line, you have a rainy day fund, so does the city. Don't ask the city to spend their rainy day fund on the school if you're not going to spend your own rainy day fund first. first and foremost. Um, also I got chastised and on for saying a 19th century word about being a kiss when I said bootlicker. Yet we have another person that's sitting on the school committee currently who dropped fbombs on her own sign. >> Nope. That I'm sorry. That is unrelated. >> It is. It is completely related. >> And you are dropping the fbombs right now. I'm going to have to respectfully ask you to refrain from your comments.
And so those are all things that we had to take into consideration. And on December 9th, if you remember, I I did a forecast budget that was presented to you and was also presented to the board of finance. And at that time, at that time on December 9th, we're at 6.7. And uh what really has me thinking about this whole process is where we were on December 9th and where we are now because a lot of things have happened and I want to make sure we understand. I want to take another opportunity um to just educate the the community a little bit. The the final budget that we proposed the superintendent proposed through the administration when we were proposed in February was the 6.67. So it was actually below where we were um what they what they thought at tri and where I was at the forecasted time.
If you add all of that up for the year, you divide that by the number of meals served, that's the that's the cost per meal. So, we we have that figure. But the part the audit is focusing on is like how much every ingredient costs in every meal. We don't have that. So, as far as the the locally sourced one, we're we're working on that. But for this purpose, we do have the cost per meal, which is a total expense divided by the total amount of meals, which is $9.05. Yeah, cuz the not less than 1/2 actually like the DOE is more so prioritizing flexibility in pricing, right? Where the no more than Excuse me. No more than 1/4 um actually keeps accountability over those operations. So, your plan to be more precise is based on a system that hasn't even been implemented yet. So, >> year?