001foreign okay thank you all for being here tonight and thank you for bearing with us with our photo up there really quick to get a new board picture we welcome you and we're glad to have you here with us we'd like to begin our meeting tonight Tuesday January 31st our regular board meeting and we're going to start on 2.01 I'm calling this meeting to order and we will begin 2.02 with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mr Chad Thompson if you'll all stand with me and join in a moment of silence foreign I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all [Music] thank you I will now
002ask Mrs Wilson to call roll Mr Chad Thompson here Miss Rhonda page here michiela eugetti here Miss Laurie wood sure miss Jill Humphries here Madam president all board members are present you have a quorum thank you that will take us to the approval of agenda 3.01 board members is there a motion I move that we approve the agenda as presented thank you Miss Humphries is there a second second thank you Mr Thompson it's been moved and seconded that we approve the agenda as presented tonight all those in favor please vote by saying aye aye any opposed with nay that past five zero thank you that will turn us over to the superintendent's recognition Awards and I will turn the time to Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members if you join me in
003front of the diocese we can uh recognize some of our students and staff this evening thank you [Music] good evening do that again I know I've been up early this morning but I didn't know all you were good evening oh that's much better thank you guys uh for being here to the very best part of any board meeting that we have and that's when we recognize our students and staff for some of the great things that go on we could probably do this for hours on end because so many great things go on in Gilbert Public Schools but we're able to highlight a few here and uh each month we we do this and we think it's uh just add something special to our board meetings and to our school district first off I'd like
004to is Ethan cone here Ethan come on up you don't even know what you're clapping for but good right here you're perfect a little bit farther out so everybody can take your pictures there you go let me read to you a little something about Ethan he was selected for the U.S Air Force j100 scholarship the j100 scholarship is a highly prized award for just 100 Cadets worldwide in its first year we were fortunate to have Jake Hayes Campo Verde class of 21 selected and this year Campo Verde has struck gold once again Ethan our Cadet Corps Commander was notified the other day that he is a selectee for this award again Ethan is one of 100 Cadets worldwide and one of only four Cadets in Arizona that received this honor this gives Ethan two outstanding
005post-graduation choices he currently has a letter of assurance from the U.S military academy at West Point in addition to his j100 offer this is uh you add this to the uh award or the the Honors that Dean Kern he was uh for the appointment to the U.S Merchant Marine this puts Campo Verde ROTC on the map as always and so we want to congratulate Ethan Cohen for his accomplishments and we are extremely proud of you and your service thank you to Ethan [Applause] hey Nick Cohen did you notice he's like huh trust me I would like to go sit down there as much as you would but neither one of us afforded that opportunity again on behalf of Gilbert Public Schools we thank you if you shake hands to the board we'd like to take
006a picture three we got it one more time [Applause] it's kind of Campo Verdi night is Tori and Evan here are you guys here sorry Evan come on up you guys don't know why either huh thank you Tori Barrera and Evan right hankinson what grade are you in oh we're both seniors both seniors at Campo Verde and they have been named finalists for the Flynn scholarship this only happens once in a while in school districts Evan Tori do you guys know what the Flynn scholarship is yeah here we go I don't know my mom made me apply Evan I'm just because you're closer can you explain to everybody out there what this is about okay so the Flynn scholarship is a uh it's a full ride to any of the in-state universities uh along with
007a semester study abroad um it's offered by the Flynn Foundation uh their bioscience Foundation they connect you to a community of all the previous Flint Scholars as well as there's mentors at all of the in-state universities that are specifically selected for you and it's just a great opportunity to continue you know with education past high school and really get connected with a great community of Scholars what are you gonna plan to major in when you get to college I want to major in um uh it depends on where I go but biotech primarily and then I want to take a second major in Spanish language and literature sorry how about you I'm gonna be majoring in biomedical engineering and business with the emphasis in non-profits ladies and gentlemen congratulations to both of you if you
008guys would shake hands with our governing board and take a picture foreign [Music] number two congratulations [Applause] and congratulations to the teachers and staff and administration of Campo Verde it's extremely obvious you guys care about kids because of these opportunities that they have so please give Campo a hand [Applause] next up could I have Amy Bennett the director of orchestras at Highland Junior High [Applause] how are you nervous she's nervous she conducts orchestras in front of all kinds of people and now she's nervous the Highland Junior High School eighth grade Orchestra are the only junior high slash Middle School group bander Orchestra to be selected to perform at this year's Arizona music educators Association state conference that's a huge deal it's also called the amea this is a huge honor as there are many groups
009from all over Arizona that submitted an application and recording the other groups that were selected to perform were all at the high school level including Highland High School jazz Black conducted by who Kevin Bennett Mr Bennett a lot of music going on at that house uh the three concerts that the AMA State conference are the highlight of the conference as this is where all of the music teachers of Arizona come together and become the best of the best and you hear the performance from all of their students we are fortunate to have phenomenal music programs in Gilbert Arizona it starts off at the elementary it accelerates at the junior high and it explodes at the high school and it's because of Educators like this Mr Bennett and all of our music educators out there and
010tonight we have a special treat no they're not performing sorry she's like they didn't bring their instruments they actually yeah they uh let's see maybe they can hum a good two no let's not push it if we could have our Highland Junior some of our Highland Junior students come on up and introduce yourself that would be great [Applause] there you go right there get you lined up you good come on over a little bit more we don't there you go now you're good all right this is what happens at home the mic just gets cut off oh look at the guy from behind I was like what's going on Jack in the Box is coming out all right Michael thank you okay better I tell us your name and what instrument you play okay and
011then pass it down all the way to the end my name is Karen Mosley and I play the bass I'm Easton Perkins and I play the cello I might oh I'm Eileen Marilla and I play the violin I'm nailey Baca and I play the cello I'm Destiny Lou and I play the violin I'm Lily Raymond and I play the violin and it just came back from practice I'm Talia Ortiz and I play the violin I'm Ariana Fiorentina and play the violin I'm Elliot badanza and I play the cello I'm Sophia bakor and I play the violin [Applause] what so you're gonna be playing some some pieces at the amea do you know what you're playing yet just check in do you know the names of them yeah how many are you playing oh that stumped
012him I walked out all right well can you name them for me all right go ahead into the Stars never let up uh conquistador moonless guys and then what's the last one gloves on there and welcome to Orchestra it's not just one person it's a group of people helping somebody out you play at three o'clock on Friday afternoon at the canyon mace Convention Center the canyon room I think that Palo Verde one of those things uh if you have an opportunity come by and see some phenomenal kids played not just here but Statewide as always Gilbert Public Schools is going to be represented extremely well so one more time for our Highland Junior 8th graders you'd check your hands with the board and then we'll take a group picture thank you okay guys what I
013need you to do is I need you to come back up here and take a knee in front of the board kind of like come on over a little bit more a little bit more come on over a little bit I whatever there you go see that uh right knee up left knee down hands on there you go look at this look down the line they got it oh this is going to be great thank you the paparazzi look at that one more time thank you eighth grade Orchestra students from Highland Junior High good luck on Friday okay [Music] Amy for your trophy case thank you thank you very much one a hand for Amy she is phenomenal uh government board members that concludes our recognitions for this evening thank you very much and thank
014you for everybody for being here for this we appreciate it [Music] well congratulations again to our students and their families and the teachers and stuff and administrators that work with them we appreciate all the great things that are going on in our schools each day that will take us to our superintendent's report so Dr McCord I will turn it back over to you thank you madam president governing board members um welcome again this evening thank you for being here wanted to let you know that we had a 50-year celebration at Greenfield Elementary on Saturday the staff the students in the community put on a celebration for 50 years of existence and many of us up here were able to attend and it was exceptional to see all of the past Greenfield staff and students and
015the current Greenfield staff and students and some future Greenfield staff and students and I got to tell you what um Julius new principal of Greenfield L did a phenomenal job recognizing everybody and probably the most important guest that was there during the day was Mr Reimer founding principal of Greenfield Elementary he got to say a few words Mr Martin our historian slash former Greenfield element entry student took us through a history and a little walk from the past to the present and was phenomenal in his presentation and it just goes to show you that Gilbert Public Schools was built on a foundation of phenomenal people and we continue to do that today so it was just one of the highlights of my 28 career so 28-year career so far to be able to experience something
016like that and see that and for Mr Reimer 91 years old looks phenomenal it's speaks eloquently and as always professional and caring about people so congratulations to Greenville Elementary on their 50-year celebration some other things to celebrate real quick we had some spelling bee Champions as we had some oratorical contest Champions and let me just kind of run through their names a little bit we'll have them here at our next board meeting but we had some scheduling challenges with some of those folks we want to try to recognize them and those events happen kind of quick as they led up to this board meeting grand champion from South Valley Junior High safarth rahaman second place Sean FEI ning from Highland Junior third place vaishnavi Shah from town Meadows fourth place Tyler mantanona from Desert Ridge
017Junior High fifth place Caitlyn Jesse from Sonoma Ranch sixth place Gwen Levitt from Greenfield Elementary Seventh Place Lucas caspani from Neely Traditional Academy in eighth place Noel Becerra from Gilbert Elementary I'm sure I slaughtered some names so children families I apologize let's give those spelling bee winners a hand we had an oratorical contest last Tuesday and we have some winners from uh three winners from each division uh from K through two kindergarten through second first place Brent Jepson from Boulder Creek second place Adeline sword Adeline stortini from Spectrum sorry Mom I know you're out there somewhere did I do okay all right uh Third Place Charlotte Lee from Spectrum and then through the third through sixth grade division first place Ruby Webb Superstition Springs second place Oliver Campos from Spectrum Elementary and third place uh
018Brinley Jepson from Boulder Creek and seventh through eighth grade first place Brooklyn Jepson Highland Junior High second place Asha Whedon from Gilbert Classical and third place camber Keeling from Desert Ridge Junior High if you'll notice you'll see the last name Jepsen in every one of our divisions and placing uh just a special shout out to this family they enter every year and they put a lot of time and effort into helping kids with their oratorical skills and it pays off so congratulations to the Jepson family and thank you to um Dr Coleman for helping organize the oratorical contest speaking of Mr Reimer he originated the oratorical contest way back when I don't know the exact date and Dr Coleman has kept it going since he departed from Gilbert public schools and Mr Reimer was in
019attendance that evening to witness some of that so it was really nice to see thank you Dr Coleman please give her a hand [Applause] and this uh as I mentioned earlier when we honored the eighth grade Highland Junior High Orchestra we have some um folks within our music realm that will be recognized and they'll be taking part in some of this so I wanted to talk to you about some awards and honors City Seagraves one of our teachers music teachers she is the OM heart cell excellence in teaching she won that music award and Chip Durham where's Chip oh hi chip chip is being inducted into the Phi Beta moo international band Masters fraternity sure um nice [Applause] [Music] I gotta tell you we um we are oh you guys know we're blessed when it
020comes to all forms of Arts in our uh District honor performances Arizona high school All-State jazz band performance five GPS students made it and will be performing in that and Arizona high school All-State Jazz show slash choir performance 19 GPS students made it and are performing and so congratulations to all of our um music programs that are being represented M aema as I said earlier uh we we do some great things in Gilbert Public Schools uh but I think the Arts is something we do extremely well and it's for a lot of people that are sitting out there right now so one more hand for all of those folks uh we have some attendance here some guests in attendance for our student Senate Bonnie and Ryan are you guys here oh stand up Ryan is
021from Highland High School and Annie's from Highland High School they are part of the superintendent student Senate and part of their requirement is to attend some kind of meeting like this Ryan usually attends when there's food so I'm sorry there's no food for you this evening but um give them a hand thank you for being here and then from our Aspire program these are individuals who are in our Aspire program that would uh consider possibly being an administrator one day and uh can I have Sam Hutchinson there you are Sam Shelby's Sam Seaman ah and Monique there they are congratulations thanks for being here taking the time [Applause] who else did I miss Ed Kathleen how are you welcome to the uh who else are we missing say your name stand up Rosanna first rule
022in administration is when someone hands you note make sure it's complete I didn't say it was you but boom gotcha that's how you flesh people out right there no ladies and gentlemen governing board thank you that is my report for this evening thank you Dr McCord and thank you again all of you for being here tonight we will now go to our request to speak to the governing board which we have it at our regular board meetings and I'll ask Mr Jetty to please read the admonition and then we have one speaker request to speak to the governing board pursuant to ARS 38-431.02 H the board may have may make an open call to the public during a public meeting subject to a reasonable time place and manner restrictions to allow individuals to address the
023public body on any issue within the jurisdiction of the public body at the conclusion of an open call to the public individual board members May respond to criticism made by those who have addressed the board may ask staff to review a matter or may ask that a matter be put on a future agenda however members of the board shall not discuss or take legal action on matters raised during raised during an open call to the public unless the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action during an open call the board requests that speakers refrain from voicing complaints against School Personnel or any person connected with the district as it may impact due process rights policies Keb and Ked are provided by the board for disposition of legitimate complaints including those involving individuals forms
024required for use of these policies can be obtained from the Gilbert Public Schools website thank you Mr Jetty I'd like to invite Ann Schwab up to the stand and and thanks for being here and you'll have three minutes okay thank you thank you governing board cabinet Dr McCord for those of you that don't know me I'm Anne Schwab the Elementary art department and current art department chair and current art teacher at Highland Park and Oak Tree Elementary I have been employed in the district for the past 19 years and have enjoyed every minute of being part of this wonderful District I am here this evening because I believe my dream and the dream of my colleagues will come true this evening Elementary was not always in the Gilbert Public School curriculum in 1991 the late
025casilda Taylor went to the board and superintendency and proposed to have Elementary art at the five elementary schools after a lot of discussion and persistence this was granted but the budget only allowed for two art teachers this is how the Elementary art program started in GPS and we have been part-time on each campus ever since I want to thank casilda for her persistence and dedication as well as for hiring me and believing in me I want to also thank her successor Deborah Garza who's also here this evening who took the department chair position when casilda was too ill to continue teaching Deborah brought a new type of energy and perspective into our elementary curriculum and development I worked very closely with Debra and developed a friendship with her when she was ready to retire she
026recommended me for the department chair position and I interviewed and was offered the position as the Elementary art department chair I've held this position since 2012 and have persistently requested for more art instruction for our elementary students I speak for all the Elementary art teachers when I say how grateful and appreciative we are to see that's finally come to a board meeting thank you to Dr Karen Coleman as well for being our voice and our absence and for her continued encouragement and advocacy we are fortunate to have the support that we do at Gilroy Public Schools I am honored that this proposal has made it this far and I'm hoping that our Dream will finally come true thank you Dr McCourt governing board and cabinet thank you very much that concludes our request to speak
027to the governing board tonight and we will now move to our reports beginning with 7.01 Proclamation National School counseling week February 6th through 10th Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members February 6 to the 10th is National School counseling week we'd like to have a proclamation for that whereas school counselors are employed in public and private schools to help students reach their full potential and whereas school counselors are actively committed to helping students explore their abilities strengths interests and talents as these traits relate to Career awareness and development and whereas school counselors help parents focus on ways to to Future the educational personal and social growth of their children and whereas school counselors work with teachers and other Educators to help students explore their potential and set realistic goals for themselves and whereas
028school counselors seek to identify and utilize Community Resources that can enhance and complement comprehensive School counseling programs and help students become productive members of society and whereas comprehensive developmental School counseling programs are considered an integral part of our educational process that enables all students to achieve success in school therefore I Shane McCord do hereby Proclaim February 6th to the 10th 2023 as National School counseling week thank you thank you Dr McCord and thank you to all of our counselors we appreciate your work 7.02 FY 2023 monthly financial report and second quarter financial report ended December 31st 2022 Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board member I'll turn it over to our trusted associate superintendent of business services for these reports thank you Dr Dr McCord governing board members this report is for the status
029of our financials as of December 31st 2022. so let me get into presentation mode here so this particular month the most notable changes that have occurred at a funding level is on the operating fund so if you in your board packet you have an entire grouping of grids that include all of our funds tonight we're just going to focus on the operating funds which are the funds that we have the most discretion over in terms of spend so to get into some of the details the most notable change occurs always in maintenance operations and in unrestricted capital so I wanted to point out first of all the pending revised budget which you will be asked to approve on a week from now shows an increase of just over three million dollars just over three million
030dollars and that is due to additional budget balance carry forward bbcf as well as additional student accounts our practice has been to assume a loss of 400 students so the information to date indicates that we've only lost about 250 so our conservatism has paid off and we've realized some additional budget capacity in addition I wanted to share at the bottom this is the increase for all of the grouping of funds except for unrestricted Capital that shows because on the pending revised budget we always adjust the budget to reflect the ending fund balances from 2022 and that is done after the annual financial report and the audit is complete so during the during the adopted to the pending revise number one we've seen a total gain in our operating funds of seven million dollars in addition
031the spend on maintenance and operations last month when we presented to you the November 30th information our available balance was just under 30 million dollars you can see today that it's 12.5 million there is still lots of movement in and out POS being unencumbered spend is ongoing but the biggest change has occurred because in December we approved the pre-funding of Arizona State Retirement we have a great deal of one-time money so it was thought prudent to pre-fund Arizona State Retirement into the future holding those dollars in reserve right now it's just encumbered we have not made that distribution to Arizona State Retirement and we are holding it until we find out the final deliberations of the state budget as well as the resolution of the aggregate expenditure limit the AEL so before I go any
032further are there any questions on this particular operating funds report okay great and this is just the details for the reader and for you that just expresses everything that I just shared the one notable thing that I did not share was on unrestricted Capital as we continue to go through the year we are continuing approving understand Capital requests as as you know we have instituted a zero-based budgeting process associated with those allocations so we have just announced that the deadline for the request is February 3rd so it's looming very quickly so there has been a flurry of activity since the new semester has started and then just another note that March 10 10th is the deadline for the submittal of capital requests that's largely because when we're buying Capital items the lead times are great
033so we have to put a deadline on there to make sure that we can receive the item prior to June 30. if we cannot receive prior to June 30 we would have to move it to the new year and account for the expense in the new year so so our next report then moving on is on our second quarter financial report so our practice has been that every quarter we present to you some information that shows how is Gilbert Public Schools doing year-to-date this year fiscal 23 in comparison to last year fiscal 21. so there's interesting um well I think interesting anyway effects I'm associated with those changes over here so we always start with revenues so you can see that the revenue received to date is 149 million dollars and we expect about 312.6
034million because the year is halfway over you would expect that we would see 50 percent or half of that 312 million so that decline is largely due to the delayed state aid payment that was that has been in practice since my gosh 2000 and 2009 2009 2010 right um so that that continues generally speaking the state holds back about 38 million dollars from Gilbert Public Schools until after July 1st of every year and then you can see the the dollar amounts in federal local state and County again this grid is specific to that operating grid associated with our operating funds so this is not just maintenance and operations it includes all of our funds the federal dollars that are included there is our Medicaid reimbursement and then you can see the state local and the
035county I wanted to focus a little bit on the county showing um a hundred thousand dollars in the past we have received somewhere in the neighborhood of about 14 million dollars of of County Equalization assistance in the legislative session this past spring they voted to discontinue the County Equalization so the state coffers are now picking up that roughly 14 million dollars of monies associated with our school funding formula so this shows the annual expected versus second quarter and then you can see the details a local County state federal as well as the total you can see again the county the 14 million dollars that was received I think I can highlight that the 14 million dollars that was received last year it's a hundred thousand this year reflective probably due to delayed property tax collections
036before I go any further are there any questions on that this is just showing the the source and this is a grid that's showing the funds so you can see other is a grouping one of the benefits of having a quarterly Financial is you can notice our capital is only two hundred thousand dollars but you've you just saw a spend of over 12 million so how is it that we only have two hundred thousand dollars in Revenue uh posted to Capital so every year we we estimate how much money should be assigned to Capital versus mno and so we just need to correct that with the county superintendent's office so we will be doing that for the next quarterly report and you can see that the largest fund of course is our maintenance operations fund
037at 133.3 million dollars and again the next grid specifically shows by fund and where we are in each of the funds year over year so before I go on to spend are there any questions on any of that I guess that just brought up a question for me the when you said we need to correct that just at the county it's just a recording moving right so we we have the ability to do a journal entry to post the revenues to repost the revenues accordingly to where they should have gone but um but the county is also able to apportion out those monies accordingly and so we will just work with them to see if they can continue doing it on that percentage basis that we would like them to do it it just facilitates
038the reporting if they actually do it so will that change if you go back that side will that change then what was this what's assigned yes so as an example the capital then should be closer to eight million dollars from 200 000 and then your maintenance and operations will go down okay that's what I was wondering if that was okay thank you you bet so these are just some of the details I I shared um and then the expenditures so second quarter operating expenditures by object we always report by whether it's salaries benefits other operating um or capital so you can see the total expended encumber is 324 million the big takeaway here is that's 324 million but wait we're only expecting a total of 312.6 million in revenues so I'm pointing that out to
039make sure that it's understood when we're presenting the revenue side we're excluding the budget balance carry forwards on all these funds because we already have the monies in our coffers so in this particular case the expenditures are more than that because we are utilizing budget balance carry forward just want to make sure that's clear and then showing the changes year over year it's interesting always to look at salaries and benefits we always see increases year over year quarter to quarter you can see that the salaries have gone from 71.4 million dollars to date versus 82.8 million dollars that's reflective of the large pay increases that were awarded back in July if you remember we adopted in June and then we readapted in July because the state came back and provided additional resources for us and
040that was when we were able to bring our teachers starting salary up to 52 000 annually so that's all I have to share on that question for you yep how much of that remaining um 12 million or so of the budget balance carry forward is earmarked for expenditures that we've already that we've already received or that we've that we expenditures for things we haven't received yet so whenever we we whenever we present the monthly financials we always present expended and encumbered so our largest portion of our budget is in salaries and benefits and those are fully encumbered through the end of the year so at this point in time we are expecting to there to be maybe a million or two more of spend that's not already encumbered in that maintenance and operations but there
041are other journal entries in which we actually move expense out of Maintenance operations and put into other eligible funds and we always do that at the end of the year so we feel confident that the budget balance carry forward to the ending fund balance at the end of fiscal 23 will not be less than 12 million dollars and the budget balance carry forward as one of those areas where we can move money from mno into we um it's not its own separate fund it's part of Maintenance and operations but the movement going back and forth between unrestricted capital and maintenance operations is purely at our discretion we're able to move them back and forth It's Only in Revenue revenues though we can't move the budget balance from under 60 Capital back to mno or opposite
042we have to re-class the revenues coming in accordingly but we have lots of flexibility there and of that so you said at the end of the year we we shouldn't have any less than 12 million is that is that number or that that number that we're retaining in that account is that based on future expenses or is that money or is that a number based on on experience and history of what we've anticipated in years previous and I really like that question we have last year let's see last year during 2022 we presented to the governing board a policy revision to policy DB which is our budget policy at that point in time we made the recommendation to allow school-based carryover of discretionary funds so not salary savings but the allocations associated with supplies and
043that was approved and at the same time the um the Target that was set for a budget balance carry forward and maintenance operations was four percent of the budget limit and that represents about that 12 million dollars so that we were focusing on that as we were deliberating over these financials this this month thank you you bet and just following up with that Miss betz if you can explain to us why how is it advantageous for us to have besides just obviously being able to weather unanticipated things but what other what other tax benefits and different things do we see when we have a healthy budget balance about 12 million about four percent why why you want us to so there's three major components so again we have been conservative in our estimate of student
044counts since 2017 we have been funded on current year student counts so again we're trying to be we're trying to be judicious about how we're estimating how many students we're going to have next year but we could possibly not do that very well and we would have way fewer students in the subsequent Year and that budget balance carry forward would help us weather that for a year in addition to that the the cash balance so there obviously is cash available in a budget balance carry forward so that information goes into our annual comprehensive financial report and that information is shared with our investors which gives our taxpayer an advantage when it comes to the sale of bonds so we do we are getting ready to sell our last 18 million dollars of bonding Authority and
045so by having a very good credit rating because we have a certain amount of cash on hand we are able to sell those bonds at a very favorable interest rate so that we don't have to Levy a tax higher for our local taxpayer and then the final reason is that we in these operating funds they're they're co-mingled the cash of all those operating funds is co-mingled in one fund at the county so when we have excess cash the county is able to use that excess cash to meet the obligations of spend every month if we didn't have the cash available at that point in time the county would charge us interest because we're borrowing money from them and then that interest is actually imposed on a local taxpayer so there are those are three the
046three major reasons why you'd want to have a healthy fund balance at the end of the year thank you okay so you've asked it asked your questions are there any further before I end this report anything further important person no thank you Miss betz we appreciate all you and your team okay great thank you and then before I go on I would like to introduce my team so um please uh Jackie Matten is the Director of Finance you need to stand so that they can see you please and then Ashley Miranda is our budget manager and both of them do all of the work associated with these reports so thank you thank you very much and thank you and all who you work with we appreciate all that you do every day all right that
047will take us to 7.03 revision of the FY 2022 expenditure budget under ARS 15-915 Dash prior year budget correction request Miss betz oh Dr McCart thank you so again just to make sure that we're all on the same page we are talking about fiscal 2022 that is last year and this is budget revision number four so as Ashley and Jackie and I were going through the budge 75 it's a report from the Department of Ed that shows how our annual financial report impacted our budget capacity for last year and that calculates our budget balance carry forward into the current fiscal year fiscal 2023. so when we went through that report we noticed that there was some budget capacity left on the table that we could take advantage of and so this request will lead us
048to an additional about thirty five thousand dollars of budget balance carry forward that we can budget for and utilize in the current year another piece of information that would increase our budget balance carry forward into the future so to get through the details of that we can go back three years based upon Arizona revised statutes this particular budget 75 that we use that's the expenditure report was issued in November of 22 and it reflected a higher capacity in the amino override than what we budgeted for it also reflected a decrease in tuition an increase in the budget balance carry forward as well as a reduction in the proposition one two three amount so we are we are doing both the pluses and the ads together the resulting income increase totals thirty five thousand six hundred
049dollars to our general budget limit which again will be thirty five thousand six hundred dollars to our budget balance carry forward in the current year and we'll share that when we do the revised budget um that's scheduled for next Tuesday night okay so I thought I would just quickly share this um I worked earlier I hope it pops up yay this is the actual report I think I can so we are focusing on this maintenance and operations GBL budget capacity so you can see if you focus on the last column this column here that's the differences so you can see the eighty seven thousand dollars in additional mno budget capacity a negative fifty thousand dollars in tuition we overstated our tuition coming in we understated our budget balance carry forward by five thousand three hundred
050Seventeen dollars and then we overstated our prop one two three add-on funding by six thousand nine hundred and fifty so the the net effect of all of that is an increase of thirty five thousand six hundred uh so we are asking you to approve that budget revision at the end of the action items this evening so please be sure that we'll need you to sign those uh sign the actual cover page of that budget document so that it can be submitted to the Department of Ed presuming your approval um and so let me just get out of here um back to our report and that's all that's all I have today on that thank you yes bets I have a quick question for you can you take a minute and explain to everybody or to
051the board the difference of what Bond money goes towards and what state money goes towards you bet so um whenever we request a bond from the taxpayer we have to indicate to the taxpayer what we're using that money for it's it's usually very general we have high level categories of Technology security and then operations upgrades and renovations so we are constrained to use that money for those purposes in addition historically here in Gilbert we have not requested the taxpayer to approve using bond for district office facilities so all of our bond dollars must be utilized in school buildings on behalf of students so that's that distinction and then unrestricted capital or M O again as I said earlier energy Capital can be going back and forth between mno and unshifted capital depending upon what the
052needs of the organizations are and so our unrestricted Capital goes to provide software our instructional software such as Infinite Campus that's our student accounting software that's paid for out of unrestricted Capital we have recently moved all of our computer refreshes to come out of unrestricted capital and more appropriate out of unrestricted Capital because Bond dollars are generally for those Capital expenditures that have a longer life our Chromebooks generally have a life of four to five years we are allowed to use Bond dollars for that but then we have to make sure that the payback period of the bond is that four to five year period so that's a pretty good summary I think unless you have any other questions on that okay thank you okay great okay that's all that's the end of my report
053Dr McCord all right thank you thank you for the reports we will now move to our consent agenda items board members is there a motion to approve the consent agenda I move that we present or that we sorry I move about the consent agenda that we pass it I'm sorry but we approve the consent agenda I've been here since four I'm gonna be like you're good like Marcy thank you Mr Jetty thank you for the motion is there second nice second great it's been moved and seconded that we approve the consent agenda as presented all those in favor please vote by saying aye aye any opposed with nay thank you that passes 5-0 that will take us to our action items and we will begin with 9.01 the appointment of dawn coberstein as the Director
054of early learning for 2023 2024 school year Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members it is my pleasure to recommend as our new director of early learning for the 23-24 school year the Don coberstein thank you board members is there a motion I move that we approved on koberstein as the Director of early learning for the 2023-2024 school year thank you Miss Humphreys it's been moved as our second second thank you Miss C Jetty it's been moved and seconded is there any discussion I just want to say I think this is a really a step in the right direction for our district for our our little kiddos and for our parents so I appreciate that we're doing this and I think we've got a very good candidate I shouldn't say candidate she's going
055to beat it no I can't predict the vote sorry she's a candidate until we vote yep thank you anything further then I will call for the vote all those in favor of appointing Dawn coberstein as the Director of early learning for 2023 2024 school year please vote by saying aye aye any opposed with nay thank you that has passed 5-0 congratulations [Music] I hope it's okay to approach I want to say Dr McCord governing board cabinet thank you so much for this honor I know there's big shoes to fill when you have a brand new role such as this um and I want to give recognition and say thank you actually to the Mesquite community that I've been the proud principal for the last nine years it's been this is a hard decision to make
056because I love the school and the community trying to tell myself not to cry not to cry and be professional um I love that school Community I've given it my heart and my soul and I cannot thank the staff the teachers the parent community enough for what we've done over the last nine years um when I came in I was told the demographics were going to be going down with enrollment and we have settling in the nine years and even during covid remaining to be one of the top enrollment schools we're not a thousand students but what the demographics say 650 is around what we're holding right now um we've done amazing things focused on tier one instruction making that we're in a and last year achieving a plus and I couldn't have done it
057without the school Community working together and part of Us increasing the enrollment at Mesquite has to do with early learning that we had an advantage preschool program but when I was asked what about bringing building blocks I'm like yeah I will make room there's room on this campus to do that we added a four-year-old program and a three-year-old program and that is where it starts it is the heart of Lane Matt Foundation that when people walk through and they see what's happening in the school Community parents want to be a part of it I've had parents are open enrollment has increased because of that they may move somewhere else to get a bigger home but they come back to Mesquite because of the amazing things that happen I hope to take what I've learned over
058the last nine years and help support our District's leadership with that early learning because this is the heart and the passion that I have and so I just want to thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to working alongside all of you in this new adventure thank you for believing in me [Applause] thank you we would like to just take a two-minute recess that we might offer Don some congratulations and then we'll we'll get right back thank you foreign thank you for allowing us to take that moment we will now move to 9.02 to the renewal of Administrators for the 2023-2024 school year Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members we bring before you and ask for you to renew for the 23-24 school year associate superintendent assistant superintendents executive directors
059director one director two assistant director principal assistant principal coordinator and dean of students has recommended by my staff and myself to you thank you Dr McCord board members is there a motion can I redeem myself please please but I'm not going to say all of the things that you said I would like to to approve the renewal I would nominate I'm going to do it again the renewal of Administrators for the 23-24 school year I'm done perfect that was wonderful thank you Mr Jetty it's been moved as our second second thank you Mr Thompson it's been moved and seconded is there any discussion I think the only thing that I would say is this is earlier than we have done in Prior years would you speak to that yes I would love to speak to
060that our goal this year is to get contracts out earlier to all staff um in the past um we have waited for budgets to be pretty much settled and I think that's the one of the best ways to do it but we have a need to make sure that we are staffed appropriately as we go into the next school year and being able to know what staff is returning what staff may not be returning the only way to do that is to ensure that we get contracts out so this year contracts will be issued and there'll be language that will go out to all staff there will not be a a dollar amount on there other than what your current dollar amount is until we have the budget settled for the following year and this
061is something new in Gilbert Public Schools but we believe that it'll be advantageous not just to our staff but all of our students as we move forward so once we realize what that dollar amount will be then we will issue an addendum to those contracts so individuals will understand what their amounts will be moving into the next school year thank you Dr McCord is there any further discussion thank you and I just also want to add as we discuss this how much we appreciate and value each of our employees and are so grateful for all that they do for our students every day and know that they are the heart of of this organization and truly can't say enough of how much we appreciate our administrators and then as we go forward with other stuff
062as well so with that said if there's nothing further I will call for the vote all those in favor of the renewal of Administrators for the 2023-2024 school year please vote by saying aye aye thank you if there's any opposed with Nay please thank you that will pass 5-0 that will take us to 9.03 renewal of certified staff professional staff psychologists support services staff and hourly employees for 2023-2024 school year Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members has stated we are asking for your approval of and renewal of certified staff professional staff psychologists support service staff and hourly employees for the 2324 school year thank you Dr McCord board members is there a motion so moved thank you Miss Miss Humphries it's been moved as our second second thank you Mrs page it's
063been moved and seconded that we approved the renewal of certified staff professional staff psychologists support services staff and hourly employees for 2023-2024 school year board members is there any discussion seeing none I will call for the vote all those in favor please vote by saying aye aye any opposed with me thank you that past five zero as well that will take us to 9.04 Elementary art teachers Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members we seek your approval of 12 additional full-time equivalent Elementary art teachers for the 23-24 school year this proposal gives elementary students a weekly art specials class which would bring art to the same service level as PE General music and Library using the current average cost of an art teacher this will annually require approximately 940 thousand dollars this will
064be this will provide the Elementary academic classroom teachers planning periods daily with the addition of the 12 FTE art teachers thank you Dr McCord board members is there a motion I move that we employ additional art teachers for the 2023-2024 school year thank you Miss Humphries it's been moved as our second second thank you Mr Jetty it's been moved and seconded is there any discussion so I just want to say I'm not an artist but my kids love love love love art I've got a son at Ashland Ranch um and uh and a daughter that um are always drawing me things and I and I love it our fridge is is littered with stuff that that they've drawn me drawn for us but um I just want to say that the real benefit for this
065obviously is for the teachers having an extra you know 40 minutes every week but the real value in this is the art and the kid the knowledge and the experience that the kids are going to get from the art program so thank you for for what you guys do and we're excited for to see to see what uh what the future holds for our budding artists in elementary school miss you Jenny I would like to just say that I think this is actually very thrilling to me um I've had the privilege of working with Deborah Garza for many years and I saw the benefits of what it did for our students and and in particular my grandson who had some fine motor issues and being in art with her took care of his fine motor
066issues so there's so much more to Art in the brain it's not just art and I was looking at my old report cards from when I went to Loretta School in Douglas and I got to see every year in art so thank you I would not blame an art teacher for that just see this is something that I have desired for a long time because I do think that art brings in a lot of different aspects to learning not only right brain and left brain but culture colors understanding of others work ethic organization there's just a lot of different benefits to all of our specials including art and I am really excited to be on the board at a time when we can make this a possibility for our students and I would say this
067is shows our value is a district because not every District employs our teachers that's not always the ability or the desire to have that and I just really really appreciate Dr McCord bringing this forward because it is something that I personally have desired for a long time so thank you thank you Mr this page thank you um I just want to piggyback on what everybody said and I am so excited to have this on our agenda tonight I have had four kids go through the Gilbert public school system and those specials meant everything to them I also substitute taught for three years in this district and mostly at the elementary level and I can't tell you how many kiddos would come in every day Mrs page it's PE today Mrs page is Art it's music
068they get so excited about these specials and I am such an advocate of them and I believe that it brings our students a more well-rounded well-balanced education so I'm so grateful to Mr Martin and Dr McCord for bringing this up the last thing I want to share with you I had a conversation actually today with a friend of mine who shared this story and so I want to share it with you her daughter went through Elementary School Family Farms and loved the art program she took those skills that she learned and went to college and started to draw and of those drawings she was able to get and sell them and earn some money all because of the skills that she acquired k-6 at Finley Farms so you guys are making a difference you are
069really shaping these kids in ways that you probably don't know and unfortunately you will not see those end results when they grow up and possibly do something with those R skills that they developed in our public education system so thank you thank you to your to the art teachers thank you all did you want to add I just want to tell our art teachers that are sitting here waiting for this vote to happen so I thought I'd prolong it just a few seconds more you guys really need to know when this was presented uh to the board uh in a retreat not one of them flinched not one of them hesitated and everything they saying right here right now they said at that Retreat so um we've added instructional coaches we've added social workers and
070now we're adding art teachers and I just think it goes to show how much this board supports the things that we do in our district and everything that we do in our district is for the betterment of our students and so thank you guys for being who you are and taking care of our kids thank you I don't want to prong this either but I did want to ask Miss Betts but I had to ask Miss betz Miss betz I just wanted to just see from your perspective as far as this being a sustainable option for us for the foreseeable future what's your thoughts on that so I think as this was presented to the leadership team uh it it Rose to a high priority very quickly not only because of the advantage of adding
071extra time for students to learn art but also the advantage of all of our elementary teachers giving them the same opportunity to have planning time as happens at our Junior High in high school so it's a priority and so we prioritized it and it will be funded that's what I need to hear thank you excellent well if there's no further discussion and again with our our comments that have been made thank you very much I will ask for the vote all those in favor of approving more elementary teachers as explained tonight please vote by saying aye aye and any opposed with nay thank you past five zero [Music] and now yes now the challenge is to to find yeah go find somebody find art teachers we need qualified yes and you all know you're not
072getting any more money though right you're just gonna oops well shut that down excellent well that will take us to 9.05 the revision of FY 2022 expenditure budget under ARS 15-915 prior your budget correction request Dr McCord thank you madam president has presented earlier in our report we ask that you approve the revision of fiscal year 2022 expenditure budget under ARS 15-915 prior year budget correction request thank you board members is there a motion I move that we approve the revision to the 2022 FY 2022 expenditure expenditure budget as a as presented thank you Mr Jetty it's been moved is there a second oh thank you Mrs page it's been moved and seconded is there any discussion we heard in the report what this was about so I believe we had any questions answered that
073point if there's no further seeing none I will call for the vote all those in favor of approving the revision of the FY 2022 expenditure budget as presented please vote by saying aye aye any opposed with nay thank you that passed 5-0 9.06 results-based funding distribution Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members we request your report approval I got what you got we request your approval of the results-based funding as outlined the purpose of this agenda item is to inform you about the Arizona revised Statute 15-249.08 results-based funding RBF and its implications for Gilbert Public Schools this is the six-year results-based funding has been allocated the funding consists of legislative Statewide Appropriations that the Arizona Department of Education administers and distributes to eligible school districts or Charter districts based on the statutory formula
074uh through applying the statutory formula GPS received 1.9 million dollars the 13 identified results-based funding schools include Ashland Ranch Canyon Rim Carol Ray Ranch Gilbert Classical Academy Greenfield Elementary Harris Elementary Highland Park Elementary Meridian Elementary Neely Traditional Academy Patterson Elementary Quartz Hill Elementary Spectrum Elementary and Superstition Springs Elementary spring 2021 State student performance data was used to distribute the results-based funding funds to districts receipt of funds is dependent on the number of students who attended the school on the 100th day of the school during the 21-22 school year a stipend will be given to current qualifying staff in those schools to include payroll taxes and benefits professional staff at non-title one schools receive eight hundred dollars based on their full-time equivalency and support staff will receive 400 based on their full-time equivalency professional staff at
075Title 1 schools receive fourteen hundred dollars based on their full-time equivalency and support yourself will receive 700 based on their full-time equivalency as the state gives a higher allocation to Title One schools qualifying for RBF the RBF monies will be distributed to qualifying employees in one check scheduled for February 28 2023 pay date after the governing board approves the distribution of the RBF funds additionally each qualifying School received 10 percent of their school's allocation to use for such things as professional development training resources and materials the remaining RBF ballots will be utilized by the district to assist in replicating and maintaining successful school programs in GPS such as traditional acceleration IB as well as other programs classes or courses thank you Dr McCord board members is there a motion I move to approve the results-based
076funding distribution thank you Miss Humphries it's been moved as our second second thank you Mr Jetty it's been moved and seconded is there any discussion Mr Thomas Dr McCord can you to your if you know do you know what some of the um what some of the things are in the statutory formula that qualified these schools for these funds this is one of those formulas that is extremely complicated and but they take into the account of test scores socioeconomic demographics of the campus what else do they take into account growth points growth points as well yeah everything associated with anything related to us test score I think um initially this was supposed to be designed for those schools that have a higher need socioeconomically free reduced lunch based status and based on what we have
077heard the formula takes into account I don't necessarily think it's hit that Mark necessarily so I think it relies a little more heavily on test scores more than anything else okay and with this uh 10 percent that the district can use to assist in replicating and maintaining successful school programs in GPS do we have plans in place to use that money so that we can have more of these more schools qualify for these funds will we utilize those funds for are things such as professional development related to staff and we're able to utilize that being able to help pay for if we needed additional teachers for acceleration or or IB International Baccalaureate or we're adding traditional classes at certain campuses to expand their program like we have over a spectrum as well as Canyon Rim
078those funds can be utilized to help train those staffs utilize for materials related to some of those types of things as well as additional staff if needed and I think my last question are any of these funds tied to any requirements that these schools have to adhere to once they receive the funds or to qualify for the funds no they're not they're just they had to meet whatever formula was used in order to receive them after that we're able to allocate those funds based on the statutory regulations set forth by the state Dr McCord this is something that we have no control over it's it's done by the state correct yeah we just get a report of who qualified and how much money that um is is allocated to us for for that moving forward
079just so you know I know um it's been proposed at the governor's level in their budget to disband the results-based funding and add that dollar amount that maybe they would allocate each year to the base formula but again that's a proposal and that's up to legislators to decide foreign thank you seeing no further discussion I will call for the vote all those in favor of approving the results-based funding distribution is presented please vote by saying aye aye any opposed with nay thank you that passed 5-0 that will take us to 9.07 policy development first read a policy jfabda admission of students in foster care Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members this policy has come as an update to us and so there are some things that we needed to reword and add
080to this current policy this has gone through the first read of um this has gone through the first read for the policy committee and again that is made up of the governing board as a whole as well as administrators from each level and other individuals from departments within our school district and so the proposed changes for this first read are as follows and this is is a bit lengthy so bear with me but we are striking through some language and they added purpose statement uh basically a children in foster care remain enrolled in their school of origin for the duration of their time and Care unless the determination is made that is not in such child's best interests remain in their school of origin which decisions shall be based on all factors relating to the
081child's best interest including consideration and appropriateness of the current educational setting and the proximity to the school in which the child was enrolled at the time of placement among other factors listed in the law C list for jfabd-r our regulation B if a determination is made that this is not such uh it not in such child's best interest to remain in the school of origin the child is immediately enrolled in a new school even if the child is unable to produce records normally required for enrollment however the student may be required to provide their notice to Providers document see the enrolling School shall immediately contact the school last attended by any such child to obtain relevant academic and other records D in collaboration with the state of or local child welfare agency transportation is to
082provided to and from the school of origin or School of placement for the foster child as applicable and found in the law and policy jfaa and E the school district will some of these changes the school district will work with the Department of Child Safety or travel agency to ensure that the provisions of Essa relating to foster children are implemented including assigning a district employee to serve as the point of contact to work in collaboration with the applicable child welfare agency and notify the Arizona Department of Education assigned to the person of contact and the definitions side of it they listed some definitions um Department of Child Safety is DCs has placement and Care responsibility this includes but is not limited to placements in foster family homes foster homes of relatives group homes Emergency Shelters
083residential facilities Child Care institutions and pre-adoptive homes a child is in foster care in accordance with the definition regardless of what whether the foster care facility is licensed and payments are made by the state tribal or local agency for the care of the child whether Adoption Subsidy payments are being made prior to the finalization of an adoption or whether there is federal matching of any payments that are made and that is um CFR 1355.20 a in Arizona if DCS has received payment care and responsibility then the child is in foster care even if the parent or Guardian is permitted to live in the home of placement such as a kinship home the term School of origin means the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement in foster care including preschool
084if a child foster care placement changes the school of origin would then be considered the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of the placement change and then it talks about liaison it says superintendent will designate appropriate staff or authority as the as a point of contact for the children in foster care who will carry out duties as assigned and notify Ade State foster care education coordinator of the designated point of contact among those duties will be the responsibility to coordinate activities and programs to work in collaboration with the respective child welfare agency either DCS or tribal in the best interest of foster children that will include and procedures to a continue the students education in the school of origin replacement collaborate with the child welfare agency to implement the educational stability
085plan C ensure the best interest is determined regarding School enrollment D insured necessary transportation is provided funded and arranged in collaboration with the child welfare agency e ensure immediate enrollment and transfer records occurs when the student moves schools and F ensure child ensure School staff are trained on the provisions and educational needs of children in foster care that basically sums it up thank you okay you're reading that thank you Dr McCord members is there a motion I move that we pass policy First Street of policy jfabda admission of students in foster care thank you Miss Humphries it's been moved is there a second and second thank you Mr Page it's been moved and seconded is there any discussion you know I just want to point out that um Foster children those are some of our
086kids that need are the most needy that need our time and attention and need to be supported so that they can have the opportunities to go and develop as they need to and I think this is really important that we take care of their needs and and make space for them in our district thank you Miss Humphries is there anything further oh yes I was going to say that thank you this will now go back if well if this well this this will go back for the second read to the policy committee and then we'll bring it back here to be approved before it goes into official policy okay all those in favor of approving policy development first read policy j f a b d a admission of students in foster care please vote by
087saying aye aye aye any opposed with nay thank you that passed five zero number 10 request for future agenda items is there anything that you'd like to add or you could contact myself or Dr McCord if you have anything that you'd like to okay thank you 11 board committee reports I'll begin city of Mesa liaison Miss Miss Wood I actually have contacted Scott Summers today and will be have a meeting set up with him next week to talk about our schools in Mesa and how we can partner to make sure our students have the best opportunities there 11.02 town of Gilbert liaison Rhonda page communication's been with mayor Peterson to set up an appointment young koprowski council member koprowski is actually the liaison between the town and the and Gilbert Public Schools so hopefully we'll
088meet with both the mayor and councilman koprowski in the next few weeks and have a discussion about Gilbert Public Schools thank you 11.03 Gilbert Education Foundation and audit committee Mrs Humphries um nothing on the audit committee yet we have not met um the Gilbert Education Foundation we do have our I believe our scholarship applications are open and available so I would really encourage our senior students to go there and and apply for scholarships most of them are about a thousand dollars also School connect is coming up and um they had their Summit today which was a very awesome motivating opportunity to work towards including our community and I know Gilbert Education Foundation is going to be a part of that and then um in our meeting we have our annual bullying night in the fall
089in September this year will be a cornhole tournament and so they're looking for sponsors and looking for people who are interested in helping with that thank you Miss Humphries 11.04 Insurance Chester representative Mr Jetty we have our first meeting with the EBT on Monday it's our organizational meeting for the new committee and then the regular trust meeting is on Wednesday so I don't have anything to report today thank you 11.05 legislative representative Mr Thompson I don't have anything to report tonight thank you uh 12.01 future meeting dates Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members February 7th we will have which is next week uh board work study and brief board business meeting February 14th the day of love we will have a policy committee meeting and on February 28th we will have our
090regular board business meeting thank you that will take us to adjournment We Appreciate everyone's participation and and attendance and I I call for an adjournment board members is their emotion I think I can handle this one I move that we adjourn thank you miss you jetty is there a second second oh thank you um Mrs Humphries it's been moved and seconded that we adjourn all those in favor please vote by saying aye aye aye aye any opposed with me five zero thank you appreciate it members don't forget we have science stuff [Music]