001e good evening everyone thank you all for being here tonight big energy tonight thank you um I'm going to go ahead and do call to order Mrs Richards may I have the roll call please president Anderson let the record show that four out of five board members are here this evening thank you please join me in a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance okay okay I motion to approve tonight's agenda second all those in favor I I I motion carries four to zero next on the agenda is a superintendent Report with Mrs Richards good evening we're excited tonight for another episode of Higley Adventures we start off congratulating the high school students who were selected as the National Merit finalist the Higgly high students are Mason Osborne cutar renowden Wyatt Rosso and
002Jennifer white and from williamsfield high school we have William Robinson if any of those students or young adults or adult else that's what I'll call them or in the audience will you please stand this is quite the honor we're very proud of them these academically talented High School seniors now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,140 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly 28 million we wish them the best of luck as they continue this rigorous process and I want to give them a round of applause because hopefully they're [Applause] watching next congratulations to the Higley High School choir chamber singers and Bella Norte for earning Superior ratings at the 20 24 Northern Arizona University vocal Jazz ma magal Festival so are they in the audience anybody here tonight all right good job
003we have singers and we have thinkers next we have a sixth grader from Cortina Elementary he participated in the annual National Civics B out of hundreds of essay submissions Cole the sixth grader from Cortina was selected as one of the top 20 competitors and he was invited to compete in the next round against 19 middle school students from other Queen Creek schools the top competitor will now continue to the state competition and the winner of the state competition will compete nationally in Washington DC great job Cole we are so proud of your accomplishment if you're in the audience stand up and wave all right I know his administrators are in the audience so let's give Cole a round of [Applause] applause [Applause] next we have the best buddies Carnival it was hosted last Friday on
004March 1st nearly a thousand students from 17 East Valley Schools attended the event it was a fun and exciting day for all students who participated a huge thank you to miss Aaron Sharp for all of her hard work with the best buddies program you are all amazing and we want to say thank you Aaron are you here tonight all right we're going to acknowledge Aon and her [Applause] team everybody had a great time they got really messy that's what it looks like to me all right next we have Hy yl cheer showcase that stands for our higgle Youth Sports League hosted um by Community Ed this Elementary cheer showcase was highlighted last week you know the day where the dirt storm blew in and we weren't sure it was going to happen they did it
005cheer teams representing Kinder through sixth grade from each of the elementary schools performed for their peers parents and the community is a culminating event to the season so let's give all of them a round of [Applause] applause moving on to points of Pride I'd like principal Kelly papy and Chrissy devono the vice principal to come up and celebr celebrate these amazing individuals from [Applause] qua good evening uh Madame President members of the board cabinet thank you so much for having us this evening I'm Kelly papy I am the principal at Cortina and I am very excited to be able to recognize some special people from our school who are just a few that uh make up our amazing community and we're just super excited to recognize them tonight so we're going to start off with
006our student so if we could have Isa come on [Applause] up so a little bit about Isa as a fourth grade student at Cortina Isa embodies all that it means to be a tiger who Roars I have had the pleasure of watching her grow from a brand new kindergartener to becoming a leader on campus as a member of the tiger ambassadors best buddies and Robotics she is able to highlight her leadership skills and she models the key pillars of character some examples of how she has contributed to her school and Community are by assisting younger students in the cafeteria during lunch mentoring other students facilitating conflict resolution at recess providing monitoring and assistance before school and actively engaging in various Community projects her teachers say that Isa is a kind respectful and a very hardworking
007student she is an enthusiastic learner and tackles new challenges eagerly with a positive attitude Isa is a problem solver and her interactions with her peers are always positive and encouraging she demonstrates great leadership qualities by being responsible and treating her classmates with respect it's a joy to have Isa in our class and we couldn't be more proud of her so congratulations Isa Isa would you like to share who you have here with you this evening do you want me to tell them for you so I know Mom Dad and I believe brother and Grandma are here this evening to help support Isa so thank you for being [Applause] here all right and next we would like to recognize our certified staff member uh Miss Nicole Flores come on [Applause] up Nicole is a kindergarten teacher
008at Cortina and for those of you who know kindergarten teachers she's kind of a secret little hero in and of her self um a little bit about Nicole Mrs Flores exemplifies a remarkable commitment towards a collective responsibility for every student and his or her success and I mean that she demonstrates a keen awareness of others needs and has a solution-driven mindset which allows her to proactively support those around her she guides her team with a student centered collaborative approach working working to ensure that the needs of all students are addressed she also serves as the head of the yearbook committee and provided homebound support providing actually homebound support beyond the regular school day to a student she Fosters strong connections and engages with both students staff and parents in a manner that genuinely demonstrates her
009compassion and concern she seizes opportunities for learning and personal growth demon rating a willingness to invest time effort and hard work in all that she does Mrs Flores comes to school each day with a positive attitude and a Readiness to serve and lots of fun stories about her new grandbaby we are so grateful for her leadership and dedication to students colleagues and our school Community as a whole her Caring Heart and commitment truly have a positive impact on the the students she serves Mrs Flores we appreciate your invaluable contribution as a member of our team thank [Applause] you and would you like to share who you have here U my husband is here my two boys my daughter-in-law and the cute little grandbaby thank you for being this evening good evening thank you members of
010the board members of cabinet and to all of you for helping us celebrate our special uh members of our Cortina family I am Chrissy debono the proud assistant principal at Cortina and it is my pleasure to um share with you two more of our amazing tigers at Cortina um I would like to invite up to the front our volunteer um nominee tonight Mr Brett [Music] [Applause] [Music] Ramold Mr wamble is one of our parent volunteers and more specifically um a member of our super cool Rad Dad's Club um which is part of our PTO Mr wol this year not only helped organize but led initiatives on our campus for campus improvements including uh cortina's new school garden if you haven't toured that please come see our beautiful school garden through his leadership with the help
011of our PTO Mr ramble and the team worked tily to build and donate to Cortina 10 garden boxes um and an unveiled them if you will on make a difference day our students have benefited greatly from his and The Rad Dad's contributions as they have helped to not only plant flowers but vegetables um including cabbage and kale and uh bachelor button flowers on our campus Mr wamble uh worked to secure those donations of soil and dirt from local companies as well as helping us get seeds and starting plants for for our garden and without his dedication to the project uh Cortina students would not have been able to recently donate the fruits of their Labor uh many many bucketfuls of our fresh kale and cabbage to one of the local animal rescue agencies nearby um
012so some very well-deserving pigs and goats uh got to reap the benefits of their hard work um Mr wult is the first to offer ideas in the spirit of of Continuous Campus Improvement at Cortina he spends his free time helping to support teachers staff and students he's a model of perseverance hard work and of servant leadership thank you Brett for all that you do to make a positive impact at Cortina you have the thing right Mr wul would you please introduce who you brought I brought my wife Stephanie my daughter Alexia my son Liam and then the rest of the Brad dad's crew and the great PTO back [Music] there thank you I am equally honored to celebrate with all of you our classified staff nominee tonight Miss Suzanne Anderson if you would please make
013your way [Applause] up Suzanne is one of our dedicated passionate and carrying lunch Aids on campus every day I get the pleasure of being in the lunchroom with her and watching her serve the students and staff at Cortina um specifically through her heart of gold when she's in the cafeteria you can see Suzanne going above and beyond her regular duties as a lunch a supporting individual student needs it may be a Band-Aid for a boo boo a tissue for a runny nose um napkins for faces but most importantly her never-ending warm smile and encouraging words she's always listening to our students um helping to not only problem solve through conflicts but be that solution driven uh person in the cafeteria to help us every day make sure lunches and lunch recesses are smooth and effective
014Suzanne is not only punctual present and caring but she has a deep commitment uh to ensure that not only our students are well fed but safe on the playground she has an astute awareness of what is happening around her and works collaboratively with all of our other lunch aids to truly form a team approach and if you have never had the pleasure of um being in a School lunchroom for lunch and lunch recess it is an experience like no other and Suzanne and her team just truly Embark every day with warm hearts and caring Natures uh students shared with me that Miss Anderson is kind helps them and is the best um so thank you Suzanne for supporting all of Cortina and for making an impact each day we could not function without you and
015we appreciate you go ahead and tell us who you brought I have my husband and my four daughters including Claire shout out to her for her birthday so uh yes thank you picture time certificate next we're ready to celebrate Power Ranch Elementary can we have interim principal Mr Brun Griggs and assistant principal Michelle Kota right so president Anderson members of the board and cabinet thank you for the chance to to celebrate the great things that are going on at Power Ranch those great things are the direct result of the hard work that the students the staff and families are doing and I'm excited to see all the different staff members families and students here to celebrate power ranch and the different people that we're going to honor today so like as introduced I'm the interim
016principal Brian Griggs and then this is the awesome assistant principal Michelle Koda and so coming up first we will have Lisa yamatsu come on [Applause] up all right so in the the very short time that I've I've known Miss matu she has already put in countless hours with house uh huddles celebrations steam day all of that and that's just in like eight weeks and so with that she's done a number of great things so uh Miss frell had written some great words so I'm actually going to quote Miss frell so um uh Miss uatu invest her time and energy into the students at Power Ranch if there's a volunteer opportunity she is the one of the first to sign up whether it be a house huddle steam day class celebration she is there to support
017the teachers and students so positive and kind to all students if the classroom needs anything at all Lisa always offers to help and provide materials needed I'm so thankful I've had the chance to work with her this year I Echo that as well and thank you for choosing power ranch missam Matsu thank you so who did you bring with you he doesn't want me to point him out but I brought my son Elliot so Elliot wave to your mom say I'm so proud of you there we go all right I have the honor of recognizing Victoria buwick this a or this [Applause] evening as you can tell by that Applause she is well-loved on our campus Miss bruck is an outstanding educator who cares about her students and the campus as a whole one of
018her colleagues writes she creates a structured environment that is also interesting and engaging when people want to learn more about writer Workshop or building thinking classrooms she is the class that teachers seek to observe we are thankful for Miss breuck as a teacher leader on campus and all of the extracurricular she does she she's one of our cheer coaches so she spends a lot of time with those students making sure that they're ready to compete for that um competition that just happened last week Victoria thank you for being you and thank you for being part of power ranch's family and who did you bring with you tonight oh I brought um well a bunch of friends and my co-workers and yeah that's it all right all right next up we've got Miss Galloway come on
019down Emily [Applause] [Music] Galloway you're own cheer squad so miss Galloway is our classified staff point of Pride um she is incredibly positive and she is incredibly about every single student and so I couldn't agree more I asked for you know so the two of us said hey give us names for points of Pride multiple folks super positive super about kids and so that is who we are at Power Ranch so thank you Miss Galloway so I'm gonna read some of those uh Miss Galloway is committed to Excellence for all students she encourages students to continuously learn and grow and stretch their abilities another staff member says Emily is always smiling even on her hardest days and checks in with students and staff and how she can be better for them too another staff member
020wrote Emily is such a positive light on our campus radiates positivity he sensing a trend here so positivity loves to help wherever she has needed when she started at Power Ranch last year she jumped right in it was natural in the position so kind patient helpful to all students not just the ones she is assigned to work with we are glad you are a power ranch Panther Miss [Applause] Galloway who did you bring with you I have my kids and my friends [Applause] and next we are honoring jasine [Applause] bottomfish demonstrates both academic care and a kindness towards others Jazzy has all the qualities of being a Power Ranch Panther she is responsible hardworking and a friend to all she consistently makes good choices and leads others to make good choices as well she's involved
021in many activities and keeps herself busy she loves to have fun at school but she knows when to take things seriously she can work well with her with any peers she and she does her best to include everyone inside and outside of the classroom she's a great student we are thankful that you are a power ranch Panther Jazzy who did you bring with you I bring uh my mom my dad and my [Applause] siblings if thank you everyone and congratulations for everyone that was recognized thank you for your service and dedication to our district if you would like to go home and get caught up on dinner homework what time it's dinner time Sports family you're welcome to leave president Anderson next we have our report of upcoming events and I'm pretty sure everybody in
022the school district knows what starts on March 11th white so funny you're welcome lots of love and happiness and Higgly for sure much to celebrate when we look at our upcoming events like I said most people know what starts on March 11th and goes through the 22nd and it's spring break that means no school next we want you to take note of our next job fair on Thursday March 28th here in the boardroom at 5 pm. we're hoping that that will attract a lot of people because it's hopefully after the work or the school day next we have another holiday on Friday March 29th that's the spring holiday and again no school Wednesday April 3rd we have our next board meeting here at 5:00 pm in the boardroom Friday April 5th there will be a
023school visit to Higley High School we hope you can all join us for that and we conclude with Saturday April 6 for our Fine Arts Festival at williamsfield high school from 9:00 a.m. to noon and that concludes the superintendent report a lot going on thank you Mrs Richards next we have our public comments we value input from our constituents this time on our agenda has been set aside for anyone from the audience who wishes to address the board those that wish to speak should have filled out a speaker card which which is due prior to the start of our meeting members of the board may not discuss comment or take action on matters raised that are not specifically identified on the agenda therefore pursuant to AR ARS 38-43 1.01 I actions taken as a result
024of public comment will be limited to directing staff to study the matter responding to any criticism or scheduling the matter for further consideration and decision at a later date also we ask that the audience members practice proper public meeting decorum refraining from either negative or positive responses including clapping or verbal outbursts to ensure fairness to All Points of View those that refuse to follow these rules may be asked to leave in accordance with policy BH public participation at board meetings if considered necessary the governing board president shall set a time limit on the length of the comment period in order to ensure that each individual has an opportunity to address the board the president may also set a time limit for individual speakers thank you for your cooperation and first we'll be hearing from Heather
025Balch good evening I'm going to read an adapted poem to you tonight TW the day before break when all through the classroom each creature was stirring the teacher too I assume the students were antsy and moving here and there in hopes that the clock would move faster if they just stare the admin was nestled all snug in their offices with visions of having no calls about students from all of us and you in your Dr Seuss shirt and cap just want to settle your brain for a long spring break nap when out in the hall there arose such a clatter you sprang from your chair to see what was the matter away to the door you flew like a flash spun the door knob and open the door with the crash the fluorescent light glow
026and hallway gave off quite a glow you looked left and right to see what you could know when the noise that had traveled to your wondering ear helped you realize that it was the Bell you did hear the end of the day really did come so fast it's hard to believe all the days in third quarter had passed more rapid than Bobcats the students they came they hustled and shouted and you called them by name now Panthers now scorpions now Spartans and Hawks now Cardinals now cougars now Knights and Blackhawks by tigers coyotes sharks and Gator children do be careful as you're leaving this dear building to the top of the hall or to the top of the hallway to the top of the hall now dash away Dash away Dash away all as papers
027and dust in their happy wake fly when they meet with their bus they jump in not shy and back to their houses with the bus oh it flew with the B all of the girls and the boys and their energy too and then in a twinkling I heard you so true you're prancing and dancing to your door as you did shoe you got in your car without turning around down the parking lot you and your car were homebound the school in your rear view got smaller by sight have a great spring break to all and to all a good night happy spring break that was cute thank you uh next is June bla good evening governing board president Anderson board members cabinet members my name is June Blaine and I proudly serve as the president
028of the Higley Education Association for as long as I've been a teacher in The District 20 years now uh haa has had a memorandum of understanding with the district since 20 1 we have had a governing board policy in place supporting and securing our role in The District which is to Advocate on behalf of all staff over the years while people have come and gone the policies have remained haa not only sits on meet and confer but we also have Representatives on every District committee we make sure that all staff have a voice and a in excuse me I have a voice in decision making in the district whether someone pays dues or not does not decide the course of our action when taking and advocating for staff haa has been instrumental in uring bonds
029and overrides paths uh we have outstanding members as Educators some of whom are nominated as teachers of the year we are leaders both in the classroom and in the community and the relationship that we have been able to forge with the district only makes Higley stronger together we are stronger thank you thank you next is Jessica D Ambrosio good evening president Anderson governing board members intern superintendent Miss Richards into our husd cabinet my name is Jessica D Osio and I've been a teacher here in Arizona for 19 years 16 and a half years ago I attended a Job Fair held by hickley Unified School District in hopes of obtaining a teaching position in this upand cominging community in Gilbert Arizona that decision has been one of the best decisions of my life as I found
030a school district with leadership who values Student Success and teacher longevity moving my family into this area I found neighbors and a community and community members who actively engage and attend Town Council Schoolboard and HOA meetings enrolling my two two sons in husd schools I have watched them Thrive with the support of talented teachers supportive PA professionals caring nurses invested Administration and dedicated coaches tonight board members will be voting on a proposed raise for all husd staff members Mr Moore presented two options to the board at our February 21st meeting the first option proposed was a four to 5% raise for teachers and a 2% raise for classified employees in administration the second option proposed was drafted by the meet and confer team who advocated for all staff members to have a more proportional raise
031for all employees with teachers receiving a 3.5 to a 4.5 raise and classified staff members and administration receiving a 3% raise I come here this evening to ask you to vote in favor of the second option because as my shirt says our students first in order to put our students first we must first recognize that while all students have classroom teachers many students have additional husd employees helping them and their families to be successful par professionals work alongside students with special needs School psychologists support families through the IEP process counselors support students with social emotional needs and offer insights about Pathways following High School graduation bus drivers transport students safely to and from school each day lunch AIDS supervise and assist students in the cafeteria and at HTA even the plant foran knows the names
032of many students in their interest and works alongside teachers to motivate students to try their best and to act with character looking at the surrounding school districts and the recent tragedies regarding Stu student safety I feel it is necessary to highlight the unified efforts of our certified and classified members all husd employees P play a vital role in making all students successful in both the classroom and in life since 2018 pro-public education supporters and Educators have worn red to show solidarity I ask you to look around the room and recognize a representation here this evening tonight many teachers are still sitting in their classrooms holding parent teacher conferences all hoping your vote tonight will secure all current employees with with a position that reflects inflation and the cost of living here in Gilbert Arizona for
033next school year please recognize the efforts and dedication of all your husd employees by voting for a 4.5% raise for your certified classroom teachers and a 3% raise for your classified and administrative staff thank you for your time this evening thank you next we have Kathleen Richards good evening board and members of the cabinet I um wanted to quickly come here because of uh couple things primarily being the discussion around staff increases I have the honor of serving on the citizens committee that was formed to investigate um whether or not we will suggest to the board at the next meeting to put forward a bond uh as well as a a continuation of the M override and one of the things that the committee asked for was a survey to be done within our community
034to reflect not just what parents here within husd but the community as a whole sees as important in terms of the role of husd and the thing that struck me the most last night as we were listening to a presentation on those results was that the number one one thing that our community members and when I say community members I'm talking whether they have children or not in this District whether they have children in the home or don't whether they're retired age across the board the most important thing in terms of how the M money is spent was in terms of teacher pay and making sure that that was reflected in how we choose to Steward the money that we have at our disposal and as this is the topic primary topic of the C
035meeting I felt it was important to make sure this is all things that um folks can find out by reading the minutes these are all public meetings they're welcome to attend um but it was important for me to make sure that you guys were aware of the fact that that is something that's not just important to our teachers that are here representing tonight it's not just important to us parents and families who benefit from those amazing teachers that HD has managed to secure and hire and educate our kids but it's also reflective of what the community expects of our board and so I hope as the um haa has expressed that this will not just translate to our teachers but the reflection of the fact that it takes a village to educate our kids and
036within a school district that Village is certainly led by our teachers but those teachers cannot do the work that they do without the support of the staff around them and so whatever we whatever you all end up voting and deciding to do with that should be reflective of that of the desires of the community additionally I just wanted to reiterate and take a moment with the last few seconds that I have um I had sent an email to the board because at the last few board meetings there's been some discussion about wanting to start board meetings later and while I do understand that um there's a certain desire to have the meetings start later so that more people can speak given the fact that these meetings are available um publicly for people to plan I'm
037somebody who works at night so I have to make sure that I make special plans um and make arrangements to be here for something like that and when I look at the students and teachers that come for those uh the recognition of the different schools and things of that nature if we push everything back I just want to remind the board that when our meetings are taking anywhere from two to three hours on average that that would push everything much later that's a huge burden on a lot of Staff members our students that are recognized Etc thank you next we have Maryanne good evening board I come here representing many of the people in the community there was this very sad letter sent out to the williamsfield high school families last week regarding a very
038beloved administrator at that school for all the talk of student retention needed what is going on when a beloved administrator has given his notice we chose the school district we chose to move into it based on him our family moved from charter schools to the williamsfield high school because this particular administrator had his eye on the future and was ensuring career Readiness college readiness for our williamsfield students considering that the student retention for elementary is escaping our elementary schools and moving over to the charters and the only schools that are growing right now are high schools we really as a community of Educators and Leadership need to take a look at what would cause such a man to resign from that position furthermore I also sit here and as somebody who had to basically leave
039my job early and missed with my family in order to make this 5:00 p.m meeting I again move for these meetings to be moved to 6: p.m. it allows those of us who work in the community to get here and be a voice for our neighbors thank you okay thank you um now we're going to move on to the cassin agenda I motion to approve the consent agenda from items 5.1 to 5 Z per second I'll give Amanda no no we all care stop it all those in favor I I I motion carries four to zero all right Dr Lindsay do you have some introductions to make after these approvals I do president Anderson and thank you so much tonight we have Mrs Michelle McNab who will be power ranch's principal next school year I
040want to recognize her and share a little bit about her with you and our community and it looks like she brought her family as well with her so Mrs McNab will be joining husd from her role as an assistant principal with Mesa Public Schools over her 20-year career in in in addition to being an AP she has also served as a title one Improvement special specialist and taught multiple grade levels specializing in math she earned her Masters in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University and has been recognized for her mentoring co- teing and fostering collaborative environments thank you Mrs mcav for joining our team for being here tonight and we so look forward to having you start with us this [Applause] summer additionally we have another new administrator whose hire was just approved thank you
041very much Mrs Amy coaches our new early childhood development center director Mrs coaches will be replacing our beloved Mrs Gleason who is also here tonight she as she starts her well-deserved retirement at the end of this school year while Mrs coaches wasn't able to be here tonight it's her spring break and she already had plans this week I want to provide for you a quick highlight on who she is for you and our community Mrs coaches will be joining Higley from ASU Preparatory Academy and has 30 years of experience in education currently serving as the school's assistant principal she has also served as dean of students athletic director kindergarten teacher and preschool teacher she earned her Masters in elementary education and educational leadership from Na and we are very confident that her experience positivity and
042warmth and student first attitude will make her a great fit at our centers so thank you for allowing me to introduce those two tonight and thank you to all of the staff that par participated in the selection [Applause] process thank you and Welcome to our district okay next our our information items um we have the third review of the maintenance and operation budget by Mr Moore good evening president Anderson members of the board uh tonight I'm presenting the third review of the fiscal 2025 manance operations budget this this presentation is going to look um exactly the same as what I presented uh I'll wait a second to do know shocker they don't want to hear the budget presentation all right so as I was saying this is the third review of the M uh 2025
043maintenance and operation budget again we're looking forward to uh to next fiscal year um and this is going to look exactly the same as what I presented at the last board meeting uh with the exception of one slide I added so kind of jumping into this um again just a reminder we we operate on a a fiscal year basis and so school districts fiscal years is July 1 through June 30 um in the budget cycle process we are currently working towards our May revision so that's our current year budget revision um but tonight we have on the agenda for tened approval for our 25 budget um so we can get started with hiring um our staff um um ensuring contracts are renewed uh so we can make sure Staffing is all set for July 1
044looking at some of the highlights again not much has changed since the last presentation we still um in terms of legislative conversations um a is still on the table there's been no you know um confirmation as whether that'll be Exempted or not again I've expressed um uh I believe I firmly believe that there will be some sort of exemption in one of these bills um as as this K12 budget Bill gets pushed through um but that that has not come to fruition yet so um I just want to always point that out um while I while I anticipate that and I think the grander public anticipates that uh until that ink hits the paper you know that that is still a risk for Higgly Unified School District of about 16 to 17% of our budget
045that we'd have to cut so if that does not get Exempted so um it's a that's a dark cloud that always hangs over us um and unfortunately and that's um over the last couple years has been used in the legislative process as a bargaining tool um to get various bills passed so in addition um another area in the legislative process that I feel will affect K12 education as well as Higley um is the school facilities division um this it's no it's not new news that the state has a budget deficit and so one of the entities of the state is the school facilities division um they're annually obligated to appropriate uh $16 million to the school facilities Division and the past several years they've appropriated well above that appropriation so um we feel um some
046of the the conversation is that may be an area where the state goes to cut spending uh they may not appropriate additional dollars to that uh bucket of funding and as a reminder that school facilities division um provides another basically Grant resource for school district to submit capital u projects to um they have to meet a certain criteria in terms of um useful life uh life expect Etc um he UniFi has been great grateful that we just um received $1.2 million from that Grant fund to finish the rest of Higley High School uh we have several other projects teed up in there but uh I I fear those projects uh future and and whether they'll be funded or not going into next year some of the known budget implications that we do know um we
047are um including a 2% inflation adjustment um in this budget uh presentation um the legislator is obligated to increase by the minimum growth rate um and that calculation is utilized there's there's a statute with that but it takes in GDP and a bunch of formulas to come up with like does it does it meet that test and so right now it's trending above 2% so we feel very confident um and including that 2% increase in these estimates because we feel that the legislature will be appropriating that inflation adjustment um I also noted that this is the last year the fy2 next year uh of the fully funded emino override unless um it is renewed in November 2024 so I know we just had a public comment um we just had last night meeting number four
048of the citizens committee um and I feel yeah we have one more meeting and then we'll the April 3rd meeting we're going to bring forth a recommendation so um to put to for the board to put a the override on the November ballot so question president Anderson so sorry Mr Moore can you just remind us what uh happens the first year if it doesn't renew in November what that amount is what the second year is and so on I would appreciate it thank you yeah so um the m&o override while it's a seven-year authorization there's five years of fully funded um right now that funding is providing about $13 million um in additional M uh capacity um and so year six they call it the phase down so if we do not pass in November
049this election we'll be going into um year six of fiscal year 20126 uh that that starts a phase down of um 33% um so that equates about just about $3 to4 million that we'll have to cut from our budget that we'll have another opportunity if whatever happens in that case in the November 25 election um if that does not get renewed in 24 um but then year if that does not pass year seven uh is Phase down number two so that is a 66% reduction and funding and so that's about $8 to $9 million then we'll have again another opportunity looking at would be the 2026 election um and if that doesn't pass there then that preceding fiscal year it'll be fully um expired and so that'll be a total of $13 million at that
050point in time we'll have to cut from our budget so um we do have um an updated graphic on our website um that clearly shows like that basically it's a picture that kind of shows that um timeline um we've been working hard to kind of spread the word and and kind of be uh transparent in the fact that this is fully funded for five years but does have a fiscal cliff it is not renewed so thank you y thank you that last category there um is our budget transfer this has been a uh a tool that Higley has utilized uh over the last several years to support um our Middle School lease payments um as I've mentioned before um the we we do not own um San and Middle School that was a lease agreement
051uh that was done by previous administration so we have an obligation to pay that lease payment we do have to pay it from Capital funds uh and so that's why we transfer those dollars to Capital um to make that payment so um that highlighted we're still um looking at um potential transferring additional dollars to Major projects um uh none of that is being recommended tonight um if there is a recommendation we'd bring that forth in June when we officially propose and adopt the budget so um I just wanted to highlight that because again it is it is March um we're making a lot of estimates and uh for our next year's budget and so um we want to again bring back maybe potentially some additional transfers um in June but again that nothing is is
052being approved for additional transfers in this budget tonight so so looking uh as I as I mentioned before we have to do a May revision for this current Year's budget so it plays an important role in the budget conversation for next year as well um we have not uh revised their budget since June 28 uh statutorily we are obligated to revise our budget to the 100th day ADM Arizona uh school funding is is operated on current year funding um and so school districts are required prior to May to revise their budget and so um we have not revised it yet but we are year marking that May 8th board meeting and so um what I anticipating bringing to the the board on that May 8th board meeting is that second line there again that first
053line is what we adopted in June um it was a budget uh General budget limit of 124 million it included M transfer to Capital of 5.6 million um we did appropriate the onetime state aid supplement to Capital I don't anticipate that being renewed again to into next year that was a um it was almost like a a yard sale at the the legislature last year in which they were appropriating the $2.2 billion in excess cash so um K12 got a little bit of supplemental income from that budget the K2 budget bill so we appropriated that to Capital um looking at our revision um as I mentioned in previous presentations we we have been seeing some enrollment loss uh specifically at the elementaries um that ADM loss was 183 uh that is reflected in that budget
054revision number um as again it's still assumes the same transfer that we adopted back in June um an actual budget balance carry forward of 24 million and so with that revision the difference there is 288,000 um that mostly most of that difference is coming from the actualization of the carry forward which was above what we anticipated um that's making up the difference from the student loss looking forward to 25 again we're in March so we're taking a lot of assumptions here um we take our revised budget that's our new Baseline uh and we look at projecting our proposed budget for 25 and so some of the projections we're taking into consideration is um we believe we want to be prudent and kind of proactive and seeing that we've had a couple years of student loss
055uh we want to now uh plan for that um and include that into our budget estimates and so we're projecting 70 um and weighted student uh ADM decrease um again I mentioned earlier this includes the estimated 2% increase in inflation um that the state is mandated to fund again I wholeheartedly believe that's going to be appropriated this legislative cycle um Amo transfer to capital u this is down from prior years again we're just transferring right now in this uh presentation tonight the 3.55 that's obligated that we that we have to pay for our lease payment next year and then um we are um the board has worked um to do one-time stiens over previous fiscal years to bring down that budget balance Carri forward and you'll see some of that realized um as we look
056to end this fiscal year and so we're estimating ending the year about 22 million um and so that is included in that proposed budget so that total is125 m99 4,094 and you'll see a projected proposed budget has increased over last year uh again mainly due to two factors the uh reduction in transfer amount and then you get your 2% increase in the the base support level so looking at some of the estimated fixed cost increases so um some of the known that we do that we do know right now property Casualty Insurance we're we're going to see an increase there um we've had some claims but um the trust who are insur who's our property insur um um has also relayed us that they are pushing some some increases um down um the reason property
057values are increasing so it costs more money to replace items that are damaged in claims um so it just uh just not happens but this is just the reality um of when when property values go up there's typically an increase in replacing those items so utility increases I I've covered this before but 400,000 of that 500,000 that's projected um is is the phase two of the Gilbert town of Gilbert water increases um we saw 200,000 um increase in this year's budget and now phase two is the is basically double that U so that's 400,000 that we're anticipating next year the other 100,000 is with SRP and Southwest Gas um they are not uh alone and in in offsetting increases to um the consumers so um that's Tak into consideration this budget um in addition myself
058uh Miss Johnson uh in cabinet um we go through uh a rigorous process of evaluating every single one of our budgets our positions um and Staffing accordingly to our our board policy um this year as I've mentioned before we've seen a reduction in elementary students and so um with that and Miss Lindsay's guidance we've looked to um kind of um St stabiliz some of those class sizes in terms of um using reduction um some sections and areas where we've seen a greater loss um again I've reported earlier that all this was done through attrition um we did not have to uh riff or notify anybody or transfer anybody um through uh this contract process we've had resonations individuals leave the profession and so we've been able to satisfy those five sections through attrition on the
059flip side we are seeing increases on the secondary and so uh David um has uh we have a calculation for secondary it's calculated a little differently um than Elementary um because it's not not so much have a home grade you have various courses and the counselors work hard to staff those sections so um we're proposing increasing four full-time FTE uh three at williamsfield and one at higgle High to satisfy those growth numbers that we're seeing there the third bullet point there Esser 3 um we knew um when we budgeted these positions in Esser two three years ago now um that we were earmarking these to bring these back into the budget and so um that is taken into consideration into this proposal um those positions include the assistant director of counseling and three Elementary counselors
060that were previously or currently being funded by Esser and now going into fiscal 25 will be absorbed in the m&o budget the fourth bullet point there the reclassification of par professionals so um in this process of evaluating Staffing and looking at various um kind of needs and and issues across the district we've took a a great note looking with Miss Miller on our inability to fill paros par professional positions um we've contracted out several of these positions at two three times the dollar value um and so evaluating um their grade schedule on the classified uh Staffing schedule our salary schedule excuse me um we felt uh there was some opportunity there to increase or Mo move the grades and so the per one currently at a grade 105 would be moving to a grade 107
061which is a starting a salary of 1662 an hour and then par twos uh would be moving from a 105a to a 110 which has a starting salary of1 1829 this puts us a lot more competitive with our neighboring districts um it doesn't beat Chandler or those larger districts but um we feel this move will help us fill some of those positions and keep and maintain some of the individuals that are currently in that role uh the the last bullet point there um part of the conversations with meet and confer is looking at we're looking at other opportunities to provide uh additional benefits to our classified staff and so um our school calendar is kind of misleading um that really represents a certified staff and calendar and so a lot of those breaks um classified
062staff those are working days and so um staff are working those days um we we that's how we basically manage and keep up up keep our buildings and so um looking at opportunities to provide additional um benefits to those individuals we look at winter break um that's an opportunity where there's a a little more downtime um and so we're looking at adding three days um of additional paid holiday between uh Christmas Day and New Year's Day and so uh that provides some some time for those classified staff to spend time with families provides paid time off for those individuals um and so uh our 10mon this also includes our 10-month and so those individuals would not be working those are non-paid days for 10 months so this does provide some holiday pay um in in
063compensation over the holiday period so this is aligns again with some of our neighboring districts um and I think is a is a just another benefit a way we can honor those staff um that would not to we have these days off so all those are included um into what we categorizing fixed costs um and then we've talked about uh compensation options um we've talked about two different options option one uh which includes a a flat m&o increase of 2% to our certified staff classified Administration and our supplemental schedule um that total dollar value for a 2% increase is 1.6 million um just over 1.6 million in addition I felt um this is really going to plan a factor to option number two but in evaluating our classroom site fund which we do annually with
064our meet and confer team um that fund has grown um substantially and so uh that bucket of money um as I've noted in the bottom can only be distributed to teachers only teachers are eligible for that bucket of money um it can include um different comp compens ation such as performance pay um but is utilized for Teacher development other classroom supported services and then we have an out it's outlined specifically in our paper performance plan and so um looking at that bucket of money um we felt um we can increase that that um portion going to teachers by a dollar amount so it's an increase of 1,750 and so that 1750 represents that that $1.4 million that you see represented there um we the some of the conversation too is moving that mostly to the
065base um there's a base supplemental in that plan um and so that provides additional compensation throughout the extent of the the pay um the teachers contract period so it's not just a one lump sometime it's it's additional pay throughout the entire contract period so um what I have a two and three 3% in there is because when you do a a flat dollar amount um your lower paid hourly staff are going to see on the high not hourly staff lower paid certified staff so your newer teachers are going to see a higher percentage increase um so that's what the 3% represents the teachers that have been on staff longer um will will be closer to a 2% um as that's just how math works when you do a base amount to a salary that's higher
066so um you can see the total percentages represented across the board um it would be 4 to 5% for certified staff and 2% to the rest of the staff represented so again meeting with meet and confer you heard tonight um Meer really really pushed this plan here and so um we have worked hard as a district over the last several years to honor all staff I think you heard that tonight um and that's exactly what option two represents is honoring all staff um and utilizing that bucket of money that is only for teachers um uh to its fullest capacity really it's really leveraging all our funds to to honor all staff and so um you'll see a larger proportion of the increased percentage coming from classroom site fund um in this plan um because they
067taking a smaller increase from the M um but that's what subsidizes the ne another percent to all classified staff Administration and the supplemental schedule so um you'll see the percentage across the board um again it's very Equitable uh for all staff that are categories on the PowerPoint there so the only slot I added was a new certified teacher um with some of these proposals so um excuse me with just option two uh which is what is recommended in a later agenda item um so the certified teacher a new certified teacher um would have a base salary again that base salaries are M obligation um you can see the net change there of 344 so that um is half of the 1.5% and the reason we do that is for compression issues right if um we
068have a new teacher today and they are getting 1.5% if we hire a new teacher tomorrow and providing the same 1% that onee teacher is now getting the same as a new year teacher this year so we have to do um on the salary schedule a percentage difference to create some compression and honor that individual that one-year teacher uh and so that's what that 344 represents the base salary would be salary schedule would receive a half of the 1.5% so 75 um the classroom site fund uh kind of bucket these are our three currently are three categories in that pay performance plan you have classroom site fund base um which currently is at 5610 uh retention pay at 2250 and performance pay at 2500 and so part of the conversation with me and confer was
069kind of um reallocating some of the funds as well as putting the additional 1750 that I talked about on top of the base and so um you'll see the CSF base uh supplemental now is 8110 that's an increase of $2,500 um the reason that's higher than the 1750 is because um part of the conversations were to reduce the retention pay and performance pay and put more money into the base which again provides resources now throughout the the contract period and not just in a lump sum either at the end end of the pay or uh the retention pay paid in December so um so a new starting teacher salary um if option two is approved tonight um would be at $583 120 um that is a new brand new teacher um starting at higgle Unified
070School District so um very competitive wage we we've done a lot of work the board has done a lot of work over the last couple years in improving increases and so um I feel like we've made great strides in in providing a competitive wage the other wins with option two would be um now having our classified minimum hour hourly rate over $15 an hour um I think that's a big wi when a lot of our fast food restaurants and and other chains have already been there um that 3% would now push us over U $15 an hour and so that I feel like that's another big win um with option two and so with that um again um later on the agenda the the recommendation from uh District administration is is option two um and
071April 3D um we'll kind of tonight we'll kind of wrap up the M budget presentation April 3rd we'll kind of uh wrap up capital and and the citizens committee has a recommendation coming and then in June we'll officially bring this back um again I will highlight if there is any um changes um and what I presented tonight uh when we officially propose an adopt in June so with that I'm happy to take any questions president Anderson Mr Moore so I I do have a lot of questions um because I want to understand how we are budgeting um our f Judiciary responsibility as board members is to understand the budget completely um and make decisions based on that understanding um versus making a decision just based on a PowerPoint um so I took the time to
072pull reports um to better understand what we spent last year compared to what we are budgeting for the following year um and my understanding is um as far as salaries are concerned last year our um our actuals were at 61 million um and going forward we're forecasting almost 81 million so I'd like to understand how we are forec investing almost $22 million over actuals um and how we we justify having such a high um forecast in salaries when even our calculations don't don't get us there can you do mind explaining where you got the 64 million from so the the 61 million I got off the AFR um from from last year's actuals and then the 80 um 80 million is based on the numbers of um option number one yeah so uh president Anderson
073Vice President Van Hook yeah 61 million so the numbers that I presented and I provided to you include also benefits um you can't just take salary and provide uh an increase on salary uh there's also incremental increase on benefits um when you increase a salary so 80 million represents um salaries and benefits um and I represent that number as a whole rather than Breaking that down um right so I do have um I I did add up salary and benefits and that came out to 78 million so we're still off by about $2 million over um over on that calculation um and based on the the um salaries and benefits last year as far as actuals um the benefits came in at about 22% of the salaries that were paid out um where our forecast
074is at about um 177% of benefits um versus the salaries that's forecasted um so my I just want to understand why are we so uh so over on on our forecast um I mean $2 million is a lot of money um especially when the proposed salaries aren't um hold on one second so yeah so our our forecast is is an increase of 36% based on the actuals of last year so um that's that's concerning to me also um when we look at when we look at increases a 2% increase for somebody in an administrative role who's making six figures is very different um than a 2% for for a teacher um so what I did was I I calculated it to to see what it would be if we took the base number that you
075provided of8 80 million and if we gave teachers and other certified staff a 3% raise classified 2% admin and supplemental uh 1% each and that would actually increase your recommendation as 1.6 and that would actually raise it to 2 um so but that's based on the 80 million so if we were to be forecasting closer to the actuals from last year um based on those percentages we would actually see a savings of almost $84,000 um and then I do have another question um do teachers who are who are on performance plans get a raise uh Vice President Van Hook uh teachers who are on performance Improvement plans do not get an increased uh they do not they are not eligible for the pay for performance if they're on a performance plan and anyone who has
076been on a performance plan this year H is either they're they're subject to whatever the case may be based on their performance plan so to answer your question would they get a raise um it's subject to the employee either completing the performance Improvement plan or it is subject to next steps so it's an individualized case okay so it's not depends on what has happened with the performance Improvement plan but I can tell you if someone's still on one they will not get paid for performance at least 70% of it this current year thank you um so with with the with our increase in chronic absenteeism um we had a reduction in our special education students which reduces the funding with reduced enrollment um I fear that if we choose to go with a straight 3%
077raise across the board that that would have a huge impact um on on our budget um and so I'm sorry I'm asking president Anderson should we have this conversation when we have the agenda item for the raises specific rather than I know but she's talking about the 3% for the ml so I'm just trying to understand if this is a conversation to be had now with ML or a conversation to be had when we do the the actual part of the agenda that has the salary increase well the this is a information item so I rather have the discussion Now versus when we're voting that's fair but we have to be specific to the agenda item so if if we're going to stick to the raises I understand that I mean having the conversation the
078minutes that we're going to do we all will live those minutes it's either now or later but if we're talking about the M specific that's fine I just feel like if we're going to stick to the the salary increase we should have that when it's the agenda item should we not on um so again I um I my recommendation um would be to do the the 3% for teachers and certified staff 2% for classified 1% for admin and 1% for supplemental and to then consider reducing our forecasted amount um in order to see some sort of saving there um and you know when we have conversations about doing an override um and as I mentioned at the last meeting we need to consider uh the money that we have in our in our budget um
079and and I know we've used Co money over the years which is why we've managed to carry over so much in our m&o um but at the same time I think that it's important to to know that that was onetime money um and we should always keep in mind how we're going to function when that money is gone and so if we hadn't received that money four years ago during covid how would we have functioned over the years knowing that that money wasn't there and that's how we should have moved forward um but I mean it's yes it's allowed us to have a pretty large chunk sitting in our M um but we need to consider all options before um any cuts are made to um to our staff and to any programs for our
080students um and I think that the financially um this option not only rewards our teachers and that is a big complaint not just in our state but Across the Nation pay the teachers um the biggest complaint is we are too topheavy with with admin pay um and I can't say I disagree I want to make sure our teachers are paid um and so um when a school can function if we have if we have our teachers in the classroom and our students um and yes as as much as I appreciate all the other staff our teachers are the ones that provide that service to our students and make sure sure that they're getting the education that they're coming here to get so can I ask I'm trying to follow and forgive me if I if
081I haven't kept up um Mr Moore with the with the both options brought forward and the amount of cost to the district it would take to to carry forward with or move forward with do you feel comfortable that our our district could sustain with the this spending and I'll follow that with since we talked about it and it was mentioned what if and the M override does not continue or or you know what I mean we go V and it doesn't would we still be able do you feel comfortable that we'd be able to sustain the spending yes president without making Cuts yeah without making Cuts I am I I think there's a lot to unpack there um I'll try to answer to the best of my ability um I guess I want to address
082first like the numbers that you presented Miss F hook I mean there's a lot of assumptions there when you look at actual expenditures from last fiscal year um yeah those are actual expenditures that took place when we budget we budget um and and to back of in a given year we may not fill positions we still budget for those positions because if we don't then we don't have the capacity we won't have the money to fill those positions so um when you see variances in our our projected budget numbers versus actual expenditures a lot of those come from vacancy savings um budgets when we budget we budget that we fill every single staff and I'm sure Mrs Johnson would be thrilled if we had no positions open under a job board um but that is
083not the reality and so we we do see relatively Savings in there and so that's uh where a lot uh when you see difference between budget versus actual expenditures a lot of times that's where it comes and into play um second to address Miss Anderson um I wouldn't present this budget if I didn't feel it was sustainable um I I I do in in Miss Richards and all cabinet I'm very conservative uh I I want I'm always I think I try to pride myself on on looking forward and looking not only next year but two three years down the line and I don't want to either whether I leave the position or stay the position I want um the district to be sustainable and have a continuity um not only with salaries but you know
084with with everything that we do and so I'm very conscious of that um and and we make hard decisions because of the um and so this recommendation I I feel it's sustainable um you bring in another conversation with M override that that additional money is was approved by voters for specific purpose and so um yes we do have a m contingency that's rather High I do feel if we were faced um with several failed elections to renew that we would be able to sustain that but uh 13 million is is a Hu it's 15% of our budget we cannot there's not enough Cuts in the world to to to to basically say uh we can absorb all that within our budget uh that's not the reality and so um but that that is two years
085down the road and so um hope that answers your question I do feel we would be able to sustain continuity um if we had multiple failed overrides for the next two years but ultimately when that if that fully sunsets and that 13 million comes to fruition um we'll need to be proactive and looking at ways to um basically either reduce Force um propose no increases because if you look at what that override was approved for it was approved for Teacher compensation specials arts and so that is what the voters approved and that is what we're using that funding for um and so that those are some of the areas we'd look to cut um because that that is what is funding so I hope that answers somewhat of your question president Anderson Mr Moore is
086it possible to do a position study um by an independent auditor um as far as our to be able to look at all our staff and determine based on our enrollment numbers and based on statute for specific positions that are required to have within the district um and from there if if we were to get to the point to where we need funding um to be able to do a position study um to determine whether some positions can be eliminated certainly I I think we are not there tonight though we we're looking at making increases and and we're bringing in s positions into the M budget I'm just right and and it's those increases that I want to be cautious about so that we never get there can I can I ask a question Mr
087van so your proposal that you provided um is is less than what we are recommending tonight so are you recommending that we increase our contingency or M carry forward no so my recommendation is that if we were to so if you look at the option um to the right that's based on the base salary of our actuals last year so if we were to utilize our actuals from last year and applied these percentages we would see about an $83,000 savings uh compared to what your recommendation is um but remind me again the 80 million includes benefits correct yeah okay so that's where my difference is is I did that 61 million is just just salary it is does not include the benefits When I calculated that um so sorry for one minute if I may
088um while you're looking um can I cannot recall I'm going to go off topic still on this item but off topic I cannot recall the number how many more years do we have to pay on the the leases uh so the leases were originally um approved in 2013 that was a 40-year lease um last year I brought forward a refinancing which basically just moved the leases under the district we were previously playing a third party um about $500,000 a year to manage those leases we refinance those under the district um saving 15 million but we still have 30 years left thank you and I only made it to two of those citizen committee meetings for the overriding bond um can you please remind me the survey how many people did they survey for that I
089mean all that information is on the the website but they they surveyed registered voters and 400 um it provides a a net standard deviation of at 5% but yeah all that information is up up on a website yeah thank you did you um I did um yeah so when I add the the taxes in there that definitely changes it from where I expected it to be and I'm not sure if it's calculating properly but considering I can't fully open my file are you are you looking for more information for Mr Moore or discussion I would like to be able to see um if if we're looking at can we go back to the option one oh got it never mind um if we are looking at Option One um and I didn't do this calculation
090as far as what it would be if if the 2% for admin and classified and supplementals were changed to 1% and how different that would look and I know we can't do that now but um but I'm guessing there would still be some sort of some savings there versus a 2% across across those two um okay um I do have a question on the CF um classroom site fund so when we look at the um a ADM numbers uh I know for um forecast we've got it's based on a $750 per ADM and based on my calculation it looks like we're Counting about 15,57 um when our actual ADM is 12,533 so we're 3,000 students over actuals president miss F hook um the calculation weighted ADM um so every student uh I often refer to
091ADM as as looking at like the 12,000 number that's our that's our actual 100 day numbers but um as a reminder um each student um who's identified either with uh disabilities or any one of the group b weights um we receive additional funding to help support that individual um and so that is called that is where you get a weighted add-on um and so that's where that difference comes from so um 15,000 represents our total weighted student ADM count uh and that is what is required to be used in statute um so you take that weighted student count times it by the 750 and that's what determines the classroom side fund amount okay but that is also impacted because of the reduction in special ed students yeah and and I did factor that into when
092uh we discussed that uh 1750 increase into that plan uh with meet and confer um we did run out several different scenarios and we do feel that is sustainable for at least 5 years even if that fund and state sales tax completely tanks um we did carry over 11 million um and the intention of that fund is to get that money into the teachers um into the teachers Pockets right um again but you know looking at the sustainability and continuity of continuing that allocation we're now north of $112,000 per teacher eligible teacher in that plan so we looked at various options to make sure that was sustainable for the next um at least 3 to 5 years and so um I feel very confident that the increases right now even if there was no um
093even if state sales tax went down drastically or that fund greatly was reduced that that would be sustainable that 12,000 um for the next 5 years and also the number that you um emailed today um 780 current eligible employees um but when you look at um the AFR we've got um employees higher in forecast than current it's actually lower 780 is is lower than right but that's where we're at today but if you look at the if you look at the budget um I believe it's the AFR lists 869.485 support staff so our counselors our SLR pts um our speech um our instructional AIDS um structal coaching excuse me um there's several certified support staff that are eligible to to be paid from that fund and so um a part of our pay performance plan
094our classroom siund plan includes those individuals um it helps us increase um pay for those individuals um and doesn't um again utilizes that money and that fund um to support students and and those individuals supporting teachers um who support our students those are all eligible um staff that can be included in that plan and our Mee and confer team and our district hasn't chosen to include those individuals in that plan okay so going forward we can expect to see that 780 be more closer to 870 or that's an if if we include if they're included 780 is with them included that's why you see it above with them included yeah so again so why are we forecasting almost 67 over if they're included in the 780 Miss man I'm confused where you're getting that number
095our current eligible employees are 780 but in our forecast we have 8699 so our variance in employees is almost 67 employees the number I provided you today was 780 and that includes all eligible staff in the plan that is what we're in going forward so I I still don't understand the variance that you're coming up with I'll I'll send you where I found the the 88869995099 our actuals are so much lower that's that's my concern um I would like to be able to see us forecast closer to our um our actuals um but sorry go ahead I I have to find where I found that s can we move on from the information item for this point and then we we'll come back to it at the action item okay all right thank you Mr
096Moore um actually president Anderson just so I I'd rather say it now because it's relevant based off of things that were just expressed so I don't forget because ADHD be strong um so I appreciate that um some things I would like to express uh Mr Mo again um I know I said at the last meeting but uh I respect how you present the information and the the things that you put forward um because there is so much in involved with finance and education that I think uh it is overwhelming confusing it is designed to be as such um and the fact that you you live in that fills me with anxiety um and I appreciate that you you do that and at least seemingly enjoy it um because I do not um there are so
097many laws that are in place there are so many things that are in place that are Antiquated that are designed to make schools hurt and are designed to make schools have to essentially beg the community to continue to support us um and it's frustrating especially as we see Across the Nation people are like pay the teachers pay the teachers which obviously I mean as a former teacher yes it's one of the reasons why I left because it's hard to stomach that um I say this as a teacher um administrators obviously there are times in which we get frustrated with them or you feel as if as a teacher they're not there when you need them uh admin are literally always always on campus always so when we talk about their salary and yes it is
098definitely greater than ours and as frustrating as that is the frustration is that teachers aren't paid enough not that admin are paid too much and that is important because again admin are the ones who have to deal with so many things that I pass on because I am not paid to deal with that I also don't have the time or the capacity or the space to do so they are at every event they are at every game they are there before I show up a good portion of the time and they are definitely there after I leave and that matters as far as salary and time and everything else they are also 12-month employees teachers are paid for 10 that's also part of the discrepancy and again as a teacher we work well above the
09910 months but that is what we are salaried for And So It Matters as an individual who has spent time in classrooms and understand what that is like and have students in all of the things that are in place my par educators are vital to ensure that my students complete the work that they understand it because I may not know I may not know until I get that information and they are in a position to better educate me on what it is their student is struggling with or they need because they often have better relationships because they work with them way more than I do they sit next to them or they routinely go through that stuff that I do not bus drivers we have all had situations and if it's not in our district
100you at least know somebody who has when a bus driver doesn't show up it is chaos what do we do for our kids what do parents do who are already at work and your expectation is that the bus is going to be there so I can get on to my thing we need to understand that every single aspect of our staff from top to bottom help make sure that we can do what we need to do as a starting salary at Target is $21 an hour that is hard to compete with because being a Pera is tough it is tough you are dealing with emotionally stressed individuals to the nth degree because it is uncomfortable not understanding what's in front of you it is and so we need these individuals to help teachers be better
101teachers I have the utmost respect for all the individuals on meet and confer who sat in those meetings and say yes I would like that extra half a percent but I understand that that half a percent going to somebody else equates to a full percent for them which it bills that matter and at the end of the day makes my ability to be a teacher easier makes me a better teacher by having these individuals here I understand outwardly there are so many members of our community who only see when you drop your kid off when you show up at events and then when you pick your kid up later and that's it you don't see how the sausage gets made for lack of a better explanation and it is important and there is so much
102that go into it so sitting on the outside I understand I understand that you feel as if you think you know because when you went to school this is what you saw and this is what you experienced school is not the same in the 10 years that I taught it is not the same things are infinitely harder we are infinitely more stressed from students to parents and staff and everybody because the world is tough and so I understand that at the end of the day miss van hook that you care about finance and you wish to be financially responsible because that matters it does and it is important I don't believe or feel that the information that is presented in front of us is reckless or irresponsible at the end of the day if we're
103looking at inflation at 2% we're barely above that so the actual feel of what our staff is taking home is minimal and again some of our staff are making salaries that they could get better working at Target but they're here and we would like to continue for them to be here and as far as the keeping our budget inflated with the carry forward and everything else if we did not do that we would be Mesa who was letting off 400 staff and that's not us these things matter and the reason it matters is because teaching is a small field and you talk the second you meet somebody else from a different thing on my son's football team right now is a teacher from Chandler and they got 2% we talk about these things and the
104reason we do is because that 2% that 1% that half a percent could be a bill for me I understand and I think it is important and I recognize that we are looking at a situation in which our community may not vote for the ml they may not vote for the year after the year after that and everything else what routinely happens is that then they feel the pressure of that and they turn around and fix it because they get mad at 50 to a classroom they get mad that things were cut or they get mad that they have to send paper as part of their stuff the list of things the supplies have to start the year the complaints everyone feels it Our Hope and our effort is to get the community to understand
105preemptively when these things don't happen this is what we hurt with I respect the information that is brought forward but I think it is misguided to suggest that the information that Tyler is presenting us today Mr Mo sorry that was too informal is reckless it is both paying respect to the individuals who are here educating our kids making higgle the rating that it is making our schools show up on the rankings that they do which is remarkable because we have to compete with Charters and that is hard so I appreciate that effort and my hope as we move forward is that we understand that we have something here to continue to show staff that they matter and by extension our students that you matter because in point of order um I think we're getting off
106I think we're getting off topic if we're going to be disc discussing numbers that's great but I think that at this point it's off topic I understand that it hurts and I understand that you have a situation in which you wish to point of order it's not about hurting I just want to stay on topic and if a sentence could be completed then maybe you would understand where I'm going with ma'am my point is as we present information and we are on the outside with numbers a lot of the numbers you've presented today are inaccurate that's hard so you sit here and you make it seem as if these things just get to be said and that it's nothing when we have numbers that are put forth to us with the knowledge of the laws
107that are there that matter and so I am giving credit to what is in front of us because it matters before we go and make a vote on something that we clearly don't understand that's hard and that's dangerous and there are lives that depend on this salary and if they don't they leave and we see that happen point of order I'm going to interject thank you U both of you for your opinions um and I understand that you both have strong opinions as such on on these numbers what I want to refrain from are accusations of how people feel sure how they feel um I I do see your point Miss Wade um regarding you know respecting the people in place but I also want to I want to give us all the ability to
108have this time together the only time together to sit together and listen to each other and ask questions so I want to make sure that we're not misunderstanding question asking and verification of information and just try to understand versus hopefully not accusing U Mr Moore or any of our staff of misrepresenting information president Anderson and that's definitely not the case um and as far as my numbers I forgot to include taxes that was the only reason why my numbers are off otherwise they are very accurate um and I did figure out how I had calculated the $ 8699 and that was just based on the CSF number of 1.4 million um and divided it by the 1,700 that you mentioned um per employee estimated average per employee which brought me to $ 869 99 um
109but the but the forecasted amount is 6.97 um can I even that's a little you know that's quite off from the 780 can I address that though president member V hook in the email I presented I I I spelled the math out for it was 780 times the 1750 that we're increasing plus 8% in benefits um so that's the variance in which I now can I now we know where you own it that's the variance in which you're calculating you're not including benefits into that amount um even uh the the supplemental base pay we have to pay benefits on that it doesn't take uh the main medical benefits or the uh State retirement but we do have to pay federal and state taxes on that so that's in the email I presented that and I
110represent that as 8.4% I believe off top my head okay so the the 14 the 1.4 does not include benefits no it does include benefit it does include benefits I'm okay perfect um all right I think I'm good okay thank you oh sorry I'm sorry one more question um so last year our um CSF salaries were 6.6 million and benefits were 1.4 so the 1.4 that you're proposing so that 6 6 million would would go would increase by the 1.4 I believe it's 13 something and then um as I included in that email 88.4% of the 1.4 is benefits so okay so you see majority into this to salaries but there is a proportion of benefits that we are obligated to pay from that okay so we're already so we're paying so last year we
111paid out of that 6.6 Mill million and then so this would be on top of that so CSF in 20242 we'd expect to see that somewhere close to 8 million you're correct yeah okay thank you so much thank you everyone for taking the time to work through this I appreciate it next we're going to move on to action items um be 7.1 be school board meetings the second read are there any questions regarding the policy comments okay I motion to approve policy be school board meetings second right all those in favor I I I motion carries four to zero 7.2 B DB agenda or the agenda second read are there any questions or comments regarding this I I just wanted to add for the U regulation just a matter of typing can we capitalize governing
112board members it's I've looked through other policies it's capitalized so just be consistent thank you other than that any all right I move to approve policy BB the agenda second all those in favor I I motion carries four to zero 7.3 policy IH basic instructional program second read any questions comments I motion to approve policy Iha basic instructional program second okay all those in favor I I motion carries four to zero 7.4 policy ikf graduation requirements second read questions or comments I motion to approve policy ik KF graduation requirements second yeah all all those in favor I I motion carries four to zero 7.5 approval of the fiscal year 2000 or 2023 audit reports are there any questions or comments regarding this President Anderson do do you mind if I make a quick statement um
113so yeah this is a annual um obligation for the district to bring forth um our annual reports our reports are done by an independent auditor um we do have uh an expense to that auditor but we can reclaim that expense on our budget um uh so essentially it's a no cost to the district but um the auditor general um then receives these reports um and either takes action on them or basically files them in the basement um I do want to highlight I did bring a copy if any board member would like one um they're good reads I I do want to highlight on the single audit though we did have um two findings uh complete transparency um both were related to co relief funds um the influx of Co relief funds was a was
114a gift but also um required a lot more um requirements with procurement um and regulations um and so the two findings were um related to cover relief funds we have um and and in the single audit you will see our corrective action plan um where we've updated some procurement policies and some of our practices um to now um correct uh any future findings so um those and that that concludes my comments so thank you uh I did try reading I didn't try I started reading one of them um I recommend anybody out there watching her in the crowd to open up the first attachment which is the Higley USD acfr um and just the letter written by Sherry and Tyler that you put together it's really good information about our district um it's nice background
115in history um I just just want to put that out there um and that was it tried the rest of it okay um I motion to approve the fiscal year 2023 audit reports second all those in favor I I motion carries four to zero moving on to 7.6 the tenative approval of fiscal year 2025 maintenance and operations budget and with the recommendation for um the uh God what's the word I'm looking for the salary increases I'm trying to see it compensation options thank you and the the uh staff Administration recommend compensation option two are there any questions comments regarding this yeah Miss Anderson members of the board that that is option two is what is presented in the recommendation okay I motion to tentatively approve the fiscal year 2025 maintenance and operations budget including the
116fiscal year salary compensation option number two second all those in favor I I I all those that oppose nay and I'd like to explain my vote um as I said I think that um long-term to ensure that this is going to be sustainable and not having to make cuts at a later time and salary um I would prefer if we're picking between the two options I would prefer option one um because option two puts us far more deeper um in financial need um if long-term we don't get M overrides um and we can't be making decisions based on the hopes that an M override passes um we need to make decisions based on what we currently have um and so with that um my votes nay thank you and motion carries three to one just
117for a point of clarification president Anderson we have the budget for the option that we just approved so I just want to make sure that's clear that we have that currently thank you okay moving on to 7.7 salary schedule and rate adjustments are there open for discussion regarding this item I motion to approve the salary schedules and rate adjustments second all those in favor I I all those oppos I would assume that if I this would include option two correct the salary schedule and rate adjustments would be option two president Anderson member Vice President Van Hook yes okay um nay motion carries three to one okay 7.8 Consulting agreement between husd and Dr Carmen open for discussion I don't have any discussion it's important that he comes here for the you know so that we
118can he can get familiar and be ready to go for next year I will state that there were there was information discussed in executive session that we can't bring up here but um that is contradictory to what was discussed in executive SE executive session um which concerns me for um this agreement we did agree and then he's asking for more at this point so it it is different because he's asking for more time so that's that's what we're approving tonight is that because he wants additional correct Mr Johnson president Anderson and member Schultz yes um Dr Carmen is asking not only to be paid his daily rate but he's also included just hotel and airfare no mileage no food no prium of that he's asking for hotel and airfare to be paid for the three
119trips that he has planned to the valley um to support the district and so that is different than what what was talked about but it is part of normally if you're Consulting with somebody you are paying for travel president Anderson I'm sorry go ahead no no no go ahead I think I would cross the lines between executive session and what I was going to say so I'm G to not say it yeah so um there are some things that were discussed um that are included here um and so that was not agreed upon um and I have a big concern with that as well because it was clearly discussed um and so I would like to see a portion of this removed um and if that's not an option then um we'd have to go
120from there um I mean I I think that there was trying to find pick my words carefully um there was a dollar agreed dollar amount agreed too um and I feel like we are being put in a position to go over the agreed amount um and I don't like that um I think that um there's there's things on here that could be done over the phone um meetings with governing board members can be done over the phone um the review analysis of Staff contracts are going out contracts are going to be signed before he's here uh before he even comes to meet with anybody there's there's no changes he can make with staff um so I'm not sure you know purpose of that um determines says meet with District staff as he determines in his
121um discretion and shall review and provide guidance to the board regarding District's current Staffing levels and utilization of Staff um contracts are going to be signed there's no changes he can make even if he decides he wanted to make changes um Johnson did you have something uh president Anderson and member Ben hook um Dr KRON does need to make some decisions actually I spoke to him today in regards to Mrs Richard's position that is new to us um he we already have a plan for uh moving forward with the hiring process for that position if we are not um going to have him come here I feel that we would be at a disadvantage uh to hire somebody prior to July 1st as you said contracts are already out for for other districts too people
122are making decisions in the next 30 to 45 days as to where they're going to land if we don't move forward as a district I feel like we would not be fulfilling our obligation to the position that's going to be vacated through Mrs Richard's retirement maybe that's something you want to consider as you look at this contract and him coming here for basically 8 days which if you total that up it's around $6,000 I don't have my calculator but um I think there was an amount agreed to but it was not it was above that amount originally so what I propose is that we look at what this is and what we need in the next few months and getting here and getting these footing and getting ready for July 1 is very important to
123our students and to our facult our our teachers our staff here president Anderson Miss Johnson um I think that's also a conversation that the Board needs to have um to determine going forward um as far as the position and what options we have um for the district what are you referencing which position Dr car's position I'm sorry Dr Carmen's position no not Dr carman's um just in regards to Sherry Sherry's retirement um I would just I think that that's something that we should be able to um also discuss I know um but um I I don't know how how else to say it but I mean ultimately it's it's a you know it's a position that the board would approve right Miss Richard's position correct yeah um true if they brought it Forward it'd be
124one that would come on our Personnel action items I don't know what I don't know if we can discuss that right now um no you're just discussing I'm just I'm just saying for she brought it up because that's one reason why he wants to come um right so if that's something that could be done um after he's here remember Van Hook that will not we will be waiting another year for that position you have to understand the people who would be applying for that would could be external people who have signed a contract themselves and will not be an unprofessional and violate their contract and break that contract to come to our district it's by doing it now that is the best timing and best interest of the district and Dr Carmen as I spoke
125with him today agreed with that he understands the process and he would like to move forward with that process president Anderson uh I also that timeline it is appreciative for us as a district um as a board that Miss Richards notified us when she did to help give us the best foot forward when moving forward because she didn't have to um and in doing so she she essentially tried to you know help us going forward with that um I understand the the uncomfortability in that what was previously discussed in executive session and the differences I also understand the difficulty that we can't talk about some of the details in certain ways um we don't have a meeting for 3 weeks from today um and I think that's also part of the reason why doing it
126on the timeline that we have so these things can get going um I I recognize that frustration in my opinion I I think we want to do what is best for us overall in moving forward rather than pulling out the rug from underneath Dr Carmen before he even has a chance to start um so I appreciate you know that you put this forward in in that process I understand that it's not what was a previously discussed we don't really have the luxury of time given the nature of essentially what schools are and how those contracts work so I appreciate that I do not oppose him coming down for the eight days I think it's it's absolutely necessary and I would actually hope wish that he would come down more because it's a it's a big
127change for him it's not just coming from another school in Arizona it's coming from out of state um I I'm just struggling with one paragraph or one subparagraph I guess and and again it was what was discussed in an executive session so I would approve everything with the exception of that one part I have no problem C to C oh sorry to C only because and it just kills me that we're having this out in the open is that we can't have I feel like it's uncomfortable able or difficult to have discussion over this matter based on conversations that we had an executive session um if we can know we don't like meetings to have additional meetings but if it would behoove the the board to have a special executive session to discuss this this
128agreement I'm absolutely willing to do that and I would I would be open to us actually but my point of the matter is that when we close that executive session we had a final answer and and it's hard to to change that without having an open discussion and I just worry about treading over the confidential confidentiality part of executive session uh president Anderson I appreciate that I guess the way I view it in my head um is that I look at it as like staff travel for training right like I this is important I also understand and respect that he has to travel out here and that is clearly expensive if we're arguing about our desire to compensate that um I I I just view it as as training essentially right like that sometimes these
129things come up and how that that works I I guess where I stand or from my standpoint is in any other circumstance in any other business in any other world you're paying these people to come out to do these things and give perum for food and we're not even doing some of these things so like I I hear you because we are in education and everything is so vital with respect to money but this is necessary I think and I do think that some things are better to understand better to feel better to grasp in person rather than just Vias you know teams I think there's there's a lot to be desired when you only do it virtually and so I hear you and I think it is frustrating in the nature of how we
130can't talk about it and how we can't meet we can't ask some of these things really frustrating because it makes you feel as if you're in a box you don't necessarily want to be in sometimes um but at least for me I I view this as as training I mean in the same vein as what we do for other staff M Johnson do you think since this is a common practice it's Universal you know I I would never trans uh travel anywhere for a consultation or speaking without being paid um that he assumed this was already included or president Anderson member Schultz yes um he's he's only asking for the airfare and the hotel um given the proximity of where he's at that's not an unreasonable request um as we look at other Consultants that
131we have worked with this is totally allowable according to purchasing according to procurement rules travel is allowable I am sure as a consultant I'm sure he has consulted with other companies as well as a consultant he has been paid for his travel so sorry president Anderson so I just you know we keep talking about executive session and how this has changed so I'm just asking do you think it was his assumption or you know why didn't we discuss this I guess at the beginning I think it's any any Consultants assumption that they will be paid for travel okay thank you if that is your question yes it is it is his subsumption that he would be paid for travel absolutely I mean I would assume I guess too we left under the impression otherwise of
132the executive session so um and with being four members I would move to to either table this um and have a special meeting with all five members um or if we can amend this in some way um it's hard not having Christina here to have her input on it as well unless she gave you any input herself it is up to the board I it is up to the board what happened president Anderson I hear you I I think that is going to put us in a very difficult spot and I don't see how to get around it and because we don't have another board meeting for two weeks and to get one done considering how difficult it was for us to accomplish some of these meetings in the first place for some of these
133things um and I I I was chastised for not calling a special meeting whenever under's different circumstance so I'm I'm I would love to the ability for us to speak and have it you know open discussion I I don't want to turn this down I just want us to have a discussion about it where we can openly discuss it I mean I I guess that's fair in terms of feeling you can't say certain things I think ultimately it comes down to whether or not you're willing to pay for the the travel and that's really what it's going to be so I I'm I'm resistant to yet another meeting to have the same conversation in detail and I get that there are certain aspects of that detail like you we are either going to cover travel
134or we're not going to cover travel and I think that's really ultimately what it comes down to agreed president Anderson um I think that there was decisions made um that we didn't like initially and and H you know and then had to make decisions and and similar in this situation and I feel like it just the in you know asking for funding um I I don't know how to not cross that line um it's it's again very difficult but I think this is this is what we have today and this is the decision that needs to be made today um and I don't think that it needs to be postponed um and so we can make a motion to have that portion removed um and go from there um or we can take take a
135vote as is and go from there thank you m uh Miss Johnson whenever you discuss with him so if we were to vote to remove expenses let's say move forward without expenses would he still come down oh can you not hear me yes if if let's say the vote went forward removing the expenses would he still come down president Anderson I can't answer that I didn't know if you had that discussion with him I I did not I this I'm just bringing forward the contract that he has submitted for his travel and for his um time working here and Consulting with us prior to his contract starting I went ahead and went on Southwest Airlines and I I looked up hotels like moving like just yesterday to see what the cost would be you know
136the flights from El Paso depending on when you hit it could be $49 $59 it could be upwards of $12 $200 and the only in like the Double Tree down here by the mall depends on the days and how early out you get it and it came out to like a little over $2,000 for for all these days yes and president Anderson you'll remember that there was a number that was discussed yep so think about that number as well as board members and what you're telling me and what he's asking for please correct so with the the six like 64 I think with the the amount for him to be here and then the 2,000 we were you know coming up on an amount and only left like a wiggle room if he needed to
137come down more that's kind of where I'm worried if he needs to come down more days um president Anderson that is not what the contract is for it has specific days specific travel times he's coming three times that's it eight eight mulle days the there are multiple days at the time right president Anderson the only time he would come outside of this is if the board wanted him to be here for something specific and that would have to be an amended contract to this agreement this agreement is very specific as to the days and times when he will be here it it does not say anything p last those eight days and those three travel events this this is putting a heavy so not all's going to understand but we we we brought this up
138and we all left an agreement um from that meeting and so it's puts a lot of I I saying watch my words it's we're sitting here as if we didn't all have this discussion and all agree before and now all of a sudden it's like oh how dare you think that you know we're not going to do it I we ask uh president Anderson I hear you I it's important to know Dr Carmen was not in that discussion though so I think that also matters as to why it's in front of us I I think I hear what why our perspective is what it is but his perspective is different in that he went on an assumption because of the way things normally are done and so when this gets presented to us he was
139not part of it's not as if he himself has changed where he was at we had a discussion of what we were offering and now he is replying to that offer that's basically so I I do think that distinction matters though at least outwardly I appreciate it I I think I wish we would have had this in a an executive session so we could have had open discussion for sure make a motion um I'd like to make a motion to cross out section c out of the agreement to vote on the one that's on the table disc yeah so we have to vote on the new motion I'm sorry say it again I'm GNA write it I'd like to make a motion to remove section c or 2 C out of the agreement I second
140but what I'm he can bring this can be brought back to us correct president Anderson of course it can but we do not have a board meeting till April 3rd that will eliminate the three dates in March that he is to be here and to be um starting the search for the associate superintendent this will eliminate March days yes three March days yeah so if if it's those are the meetings with us is that his main that into go over the associate superintendent hiring president Anderson as of today um um yes the Monday and part of the Wednesday will be used for the superintendent H the associate superintendent hiring I I have um I have a concern being put in in this situation to begin with um this should have definitely been a conversation um
141for the motion on the table um motion to REM to approve everything with removing um 2 C all those in favor I based on the information I I I'm not going to lose I can't I can't lose these three days you know what I mean like I feel like we're being strong armed but I I is the problem I have a problem with being strong armed to make this decision that should have been brought to us and and this is an agreement this isn't any agreement would include negotiation and we should have G been given that opportunity to make to make those decisions and it's not fair to us that we were not given that opportunity and we can't fully discuss things from executive session and So based on that we have to make a
142decision based on what our previous discussion was as well and now we're being forced to increase expenses um and that I have a problem with President Anderson board member Van Hook again I I understand the frustration because I too feel it it is frustrating to be put in this position that is literally the nature of this position though because we cannot meet unless we notify the public and then have 24 hours afterwards before these things like the nature of our circumstance is frustrating it absolutely is fortunately for us this this specific circumstance is not a frequent thing again in our agreement was amongst the five of us without Dr Carmen present so for him to agree as the signing on that contract as well this is that negotiation this is that discussion and it comes
143down to whether or you agree that you're going to pay for him to come out here so he can do the best he can to get the best foot forward or not like that's that's what it is frustrating it is what it is this is the nature of the position that we're in right now yep yep it's not great okay and it's I mean it's three days I mean how much can he do in three days in reality we'll be discussion for the hiring of the next position um all right so we have a motion on the table it's been second and um let's vote on this motion all those in favor yours was the motion to remove section 2 C I thought we voted oh she voted I oh we did that's right so
144and um I voted sorry sorry to do this but I'm a nay I just I'm sorry I can't we've been put in a position for these three days and it's unfortunate that this was not given to us with more time and had a better I just want to make one point that as Miss Johnson said we are still in within our budget and the numbers we discussed so it's not like we're approving an additional money no nobody's arguing that right but we also discussed that we didn't have to go all the way to the to the Limit and I and I believe we're not correct he can take the red eye and sleep in a hostel is that what I don't know um keep in mind um also there's a what portion is it um
1452B says that the agreement can be changed at any time meaning we can increase it but we can't decrease it so if the travel ends up costing the limit is it going to be brought back to us to incre to consider an increase or are we just going to say this is the limit and there's based on discussion this is the limit it's not going beyond that President Anderson uh member Van Hook you are approving a eight days at the rate that's stated in the document you're approving expenses for airfare and for hotel that's what you are approving tonight right but we don't know what that that's going to cost is the problem but again our previous agreement we had set a cap so this would be within that cap anything to go over that
146cap we would have to then meet again correct Miss Johnson That's So based on president Anderson's calculations of three round trips and a hotel of about 2,000 my estimate is that we are saying we are under the limit we need a motion to I'd like to make a motion that we approve 7.8 Consulting agreement between husd and Dr Carman s all those in favor I I uh all those oppose nay motion carries three to one okay future AG future agenda items anything we have a request or anything we need to put on the agenda for um yes I uh last time I asked for policy kdda and my understanding was it's on hold for Dr Carmen we can't keep holding stuff until July um I think that um bringing forward that policy um and having
147a discussion um is possible without Dr Carmen um I'd also like to find out if we could potentially have a presentation of the auditor General's spending analysis um and I don't know if we want to do that during a board meeting or if we can maybe have a um like a work session to be able to go over that what would you re recommend Mr Moore would that be would that require a special session some good amount of time I think a work study would be appropriate um I know we do have a second meeting in April I don't know how much we'll have on that agenda but that may be the perfect opportunity um as we already have that slated for a work study so thank you president Anderson I just wanted to clarify
148why we were recommending holding that policy because it came up during the communication protocols review so it felt like it was linked for us it was linked so we didn't want to change of policy and then you guys work with Dr Carmen and then the policy potentially needing to be revised again so that was the justification not to stall it but to potentially connect it I know I had sent a message about this but we had talked or about um the upstander program that we were going to get a presentation on that and I know um and I don't know where that is Mr Len Hauser or Mr Walker would you like to comment uh yes um members of the board um we did have a conversation about um the upstander uh information that's been
149discussed in in the community uh we met with some individuals and discuss some conversations over the phone um I guess there maybe was a misunderstanding of of where we're at with that we don't have a presentation per se because that's it's not quite a a Higgly Centric specific but it was more of a philosophy and how to approach um some sensitive areas and some ways to support our students um we can bring that back holistically to the board um it'd be hard to make a presentation based on somebody else's um foundational thoughts but we definitely have had some good conversations and how we can utilize some of that philosophy to support our students and Empower our students so I guess we could discuss this more and kind of shape this up specifically of what the
150board would like to see yeah I think sorry I just want to say thank you I just wanted to know because we know we voted to talk about it and then I didn't hear back on it so that's I just wanted to follow up on where we were at that if it's if it's nothing at this time then we can hold off on yeah I wouldn't say it's not quite nothing at this time there was a status report update uh I believe two weeks ago that kind of updated uh where we were at in our discussions and how we we pulled some good information and some suggestions on how we can overlay that to some of the things that we're already doing um if we want to expand that further we're we're happy to do
151that as well thank you okay I motion to adjourn this meeting all those in favor I I I motion carries for zero thank you have a great evening