So, if for some reason 70% of the teachers didn't uh vote that in, then that increase isn't going to happen. Um, we'd have to go back to the drawing board and then try to come back out with another plan. I mean, I think we all feel like it's going to happen, but again, we got to get that um approval there through the certified staff. The classified staff uh is more of a done deal because it's just this group saying, "Yes, we want to move forward and do that." So that means that that classified staff would go from a 500 merit to a,000 merit with a $200 uh dollar uh sofg goal attainment. Okay. So when you put all that information into all those columns and then you sort by who would get something or not get something. Um if you look for take out the the classroom site fund part and the merit part and then sort all those staff to see what would they get without the merit and the classroom site fund.
It's an online application. We encourage everyone to fill it out. Um any other anything else to add about that? Where Where our our district percentage is over 60%. Do you know what it is? Yeah. Got you. And there's a range based on school. Not every school is at 60%. That's the district percentage, so there's a range of above 60% to um around 50. To follow up on member Owens' question, when we pulled them in, that means that they don't have to apply that if they've been awarded a category, then that transfers over here. So, there's no secondary process. >> There's no There's as students uh you know, are identified in certain you know, groups, um they're they automatically qualify for free and reduced lunch or reduced, usually free. Um I I have an issue with raising the breakfast cost. Um just because you start the day off with something to fill your stomach.
We would we would implement that once we tweak it. You know, I met with our first insurance company, when was that? Tuesday this week. Uh, we meet with another another one next week, and and one the week after. Our renewal date is September 7th. Um, we attempted to three insurance companies last year. We got a bid from one, so we're trying three different ones this year along with what we already have. So, something I didn't know with with uh, insurance until I started this job is there's something called first to market. Um, anybody any idea what first to market means? If an insurance company can can use five different carriers in the first to market with that carrier, nobody else can get a bid unless I write a letter for them to get a bid. It's called first to market. So, um, I did that 2 years ago with Astra, uh, and they still didn't give us a bid after I signed off, "Hey, I don't want um, this other company that was first to market to to have that." So, it's a very um, it's not a very competitive market when it comes to commercial insurance.
There's 500 minimum after years of service and schedule repair. So, this these are all of the people and it would cost about $167,000 to get every single person to at least have a $500 increase, not counting classroom site fund or merit. So, it's really it needs to be very intentional. Then, if you do count classroom site fund and merit, the only group that's not getting classroom site fund or merit increases would be the admin group. It's 30 admin people. It's not all of them because some of those admin did get a slight years of service uh adjustment. So if you go and look at like all admin, there's a handful of them that did get a years of service adjustment. So that's that's the two groups that would be affected depending upon how you look at it. So if you say it's before the classroom site fund, then it's all of those people and those are the amounts.
I mean, this is me as an as an adult, right? Start the day off with breakfast, the day goes a whole lot better for me personally. And I'm not sitting in a classroom trying to learn, right? Um Is Is this something that we have to do this evening? Do we to meet a certain timetable or is this something that we're looking to put into the budget and do the planning for next year? Are there potential other funding sources or grants or that kind of thing that maybe you know, we could move just a little bit of money around to kind of help cover at least the breakfast component? Um you know, if if we increase the um the lunch, you know, it it is what it is, right? Lunch was a 50 cents increase, right? Yeah. Lunch was 50 cents, correct? >> Correct. Yeah. Um I'm just I'm just having a tough time kind of swallowing that that's a pretty big increase.
Because of that, you know, agent gets first to market, that's it. I mean, that's no they won't get bids from anybody else that carrier wants. So, um, that's what we're going to fight against a little bit. We did talk to a consortium, which will be a different carrier. Um, so, we'll see how that works um, moving forward. But, that's also why everybody in this area has seen the 1% wind and hail damage. Cuz there's no competition. So, if that's what they say you're going to do, that's what they say you're going to do. Questions about that? That's a paper copy. I'll I'll send out some other information um, just to get some feedback. If you have feedback on it, you can send that to me as well. That's all I have for you. Thank you. Good. So, now with the principals, Miss Johnson. Uh, so, a couple weeks ago, a few weeks ago, we had a roundup event.
If you want to go ahead and say, well, the big bulk of what will happen for certified and classified through all of this with the merit pay and the classroom site fund, then it's those 30 admin would be the ones that weren't getting anything through all of the choices up to that point. Now, keep in mind there are some options on the list that I was looking at. I saw there was like a 0.5% increase. There were some other things. Um, so it really is a you got to be thoughtful about which options are you selecting before you make this decision. So I think this is kind of like maybe it's the last decision to be made through all the options and then you come back to it and say we decided to do this, this, this, and this. Now is there anybody left on the table that isn't getting any kind of increase?
Um and I understand that there's other factors, right, that go into this whole thing um that we're not getting funding from the state from the federal government like we're supposed to, right? Well, it's things like the cost of the commodities, the the aggressive and highly attractive raises that we've given. Um it's you know, it's it's costs that we bear. Um I think Mr. Harmon might be able to give you the chronology because uh the state did at one time uh help us in this breakfast this no charge breakfast. Originally, students paid for breakfast. Maybe you can >> free post COVID. Jason, wasn't it for a year? Yeah, which is why the impact would be on our maintenance and operations budget. So, it's a choice of do we include it in our budget and I I I'm on the same boat and same thinking as Mr.
Um, taking a look at early learning numbers that came back, it's pretty much in line, right where we were last year at this time. So, encouraging. Um, we just [clears throat] like to see in the school year, numbers have been right where we want them. Um, an influx in our preschoolers, uh, specifically three-year-olds. So, there's preschool and pre-K, we refer to it all as preschool, but um, those numbers are quite a bit higher than what I was expecting. Part of that, um, we have the new interest, but then we also have 18 from child care that will move up into. So, assuming we retain all of those, which I don't have any reasons why we wouldn't, that helps. So, we're we're feeding and growing our own on that one. Um, the only other thing that I have for you this evening, you may have heard, it's kind of been out there in the the news, the changes with vouchers with the update to vouchers.
And maybe that's where this lives. I'm not sure. It's up to you guys. But that's what this is for. And if you have other options that you um come to consensus on, we can add it into this and say, "All right, if there's a 0.5 increase, a percent increase, bless you, um you know, we can add that in here and then see the minimum that everybody would get through that that piece or if it's, you know, any of the other option items. So this is just a mechanism to keep applying the different options that you guys agree to and then see how it affects line by line each individual. >> Okay, Ivonne, you had a question, but I don't know if it was about this or about the special ed conversation >> before the special ed. >> Okay, >> so are we did we just add three more options to the recommendation list?
Owens. Um I think breakfast is the most important um meal of the day, especially when the students are coming into school and they're going to be sitting there learning. It would be interesting to know, and I don't know if this data is easily attainable or not, but at our different school levels, how many students do get the breakfast? By by grade level? What or you just elementary, middle school, high school? Just out of curiosity because um I I think for me, and I said this at the last meeting, I don't want to increase the breakfast. I think it's a 200% increase. Um thank you though for providing what it would cost if we um if we tiered it and um didn't do all at once, and I appreciate that data. Thank you. Um But I guess it's a point that yes, we haven't we have invested in um generous raises for all positions, and I'm I'll stand behind that any day of the week.
Um, nothing set that we know for sure. You know, he has that money has been approved, and I believe they said the number was 14,000 children that would be taken off of vouchers. So, hopefully that means that we'll see some come our way. That's all I got.
>> Did we just add three more options? Well, I I'm don't I need to see the option list, but I think this had been a conversation. There were questions about it and so I was seeking clarity on it. And I think given the special ed one is a costneutral one. It's something to be considered. >> It was always on there just never landed on the >> it's >> so we just we just added >> Yeah. But we're going to go through an evaluation of all of them and >> Okay. So everybody, does everyone have clarity about your previous question about the $500 now? Okay. Okay. All right. So before we get into the options because to be we we have options. We have not come to consensus on which options. That's the work we're going to do today. So before we do that, I want to uh jump back into because we left the evaluation of the fiscal uh fiscally responsible and sustainable.
Um is it going to cost us? Yeah, it might cost us. Um we want to be that that that gold standard district, and this might be something that the board may need to consider. Um Is this something that we want to put in our budget and fund going forward because we're not going to get the money from the federal, so it's got to come out of our M&O. So. I don't remember if this was asked last meeting or not. Do we have an idea of what the districts around us let's say Casa Grande um We looked. Um even, you know, possibly up up into the valley, that kind of thing. Yeah, Mr. Wood >> You guys are pretty smart about this. >> Mr. Wood pulled data of a number of surrounding districts. Many districts were in this ballpark, the the $4 we've seen, you know, mid-3s to to mid-4s.
Any questions? Thank you. Is it the assistant principals or the principals tonight? >> [laughter] >> I guess we'll ask the two bosses here who's going to go. So, I can go ahead. We'll just go bottom up. So, we'll go ahead and give you guys some Same with Leslie over there. >> [laughter] >> All right. And so, to kind of piggyback off of what Angela had mentioned, we had our roundup a couple weeks ago, and we had about that we felt was a huge success, about close to 300 folks come on through, and that's from all ages, from child care all the way up through kindergarten, kind of showing their interest. And so, it's always fun to see um, those people come through and get to answer questions and see all the families um, that are part of that. So, huge thank you to all the volunteers and the people who showed up to help us out for that evening.
We didn't score that one because we didn't have all of our data. Uh and I believe that we have that now. So when we get to that, we'll we'll evaluate those. So let me but um I also need to jump in on option three. We need to take out that not admin. That wasn't about years of service. That was about schedule repair there. Okay. Thank you. That does include a handful of admin. >> Okay. >> And then the 500 that's in yellow, those amounts, the amount needs to be adjusted for at the end of it. I just think that one can't really be on there yet until other decisions are made, right? It's like the final decision. It's after all the other options are decided and we do a discount double check running the numbers and the options then there will be some people on the table depending upon how you look at it either before or after merit and classroom site fund that may or may not.
Um and breakfast was around the $2 um for most districts. It's highly dependent on all of those factors. If districts aren't giving raises, then they're the pressure's on on the the labor costs are not maybe as significant as what we've really done over the last 8 years as far as aggressive raises. On top of that, the uh the high inflation that we've seen um nationally. Do we know if any of those neighboring school districts are still offering free? Free breakfast, universal? I don't I don't know. It's a good question. Okay. Um there are several districts around the valley, and in Casa Grande, you know, the valley that are on what's called the community eligibility provision, which is if your district is a high enough percentage district, you can offer free breakfast and free lunch to all students. However, our district falls below the threshold where we would be sustainable.
Um, we're right now working with um, folks that maybe weren't able to be there or aren't currently at a preschool and needed a kindergarten screening. So, we're working with that, um, being able to provide those kindergarten screenings, um, to kind of know what to expect when the kids start in the fall, and that can help us be prepared to meet their needs when they when they start school in the first place. Um, we also have some uh, high school students that have been coming over, about eight of them have been coming over twice a week, um, to work in our classrooms because they are actually becoming teachers. [clears throat] And so, that's exciting to know the folks that are getting into education. Sometimes education gets a bad rap, and people don't want to go into the career field. Um, I will say yesterday we went to IUK for um, the open house for folks that want to do residency and student teaching and I have to tell you that the folks that came through at least at the elementary level he worked with the high school one fantastic.
So I guess the intent of that one when we had the discussion before was at the end of everything is there someone on the table that's not going to get any increases at all and we wanted to make sure we knew that 500 is just a number. >> Okay. So let me ask you >> that should move to the end is my recommendation. So, I'm going to ask this group given what you just heard. Are you be listen I've got a plan for how we're going to tackle these options. But before we do that, I want to make sure that you all understand what Vanessa's saying. Are you okay with this particular option living outside when we start to do the work until we make some other decisions? because I if I understand correctly if they were to select some other option or options you may not need that highlighted option.
It's rare to see a a non-CEP district offer free universal meals because it's expensive. What was the cost before pre-COVID? Cuz during COVID, that that was when breakfast was funded, so what was the cost before? I don't That's I we can look that up. I don't know that. Cuz they could I mean there's a chronology here, yeah. So, just to confirm the um member Owens asked if there was a timeline cuz it sounds like we want to have more discussion. So, one, is there a timeline? Are we at the point where we must vote on it tonight or there's an opportunity for further discussion and we can Uh we're still in the budget process. Uh we we really don't adopt our budget until July. Obviously, the sooner we make decisions, the easier we can it is for for planning purposes, but we have time. So So, we don't have to take action on this.