001e all right I'm going to go ahead good evening everyone good evening Welcome to our board meeting thank you I would like to call this meeting to order roll call Mrs Richards may I have the roll call please yes president Michelle Anderson let the record show that all five board members are present this evening thank you please join me in a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance I motion to approve tonight's agenda all those in favor I I I motion carries 5 to zero next action item approval of the superintendent contract and authorization um an and authorization the governing board to ex authorizing the governing board to execute the superintendent contract as approved by the governing board any board member wishing to make a comment I motion to approve the superintendent contract
002and authorize the governing board to execute the contract second all those in favor I I I motion carries 5 to zero and U we're going to come down um yes I'm going to come down and introduce Dr Carmen is here with with us tonight he's standing right [Applause] here go ahead introduce himself thank you and make a comment and make a comment well thank you um I want to thank the Higley Unified School District governing board for giving me this great opportunity to serve as your next superintendent I am humbled at being named at for this role with such a high performing and well-respected District at the same time I'm excited to join the Higley team and work with a the governing board faculty and staff and Community to continue to prepare all students for
003Limitless opportunities public education continues to provide the knowledge so that we maintain an educated populace our country's Founders knew the importance of education for democracy to be successful Thomas Jefferson stated the governments derive their just powers from the consent of the government but that it is education that makes that consent possible as such I am proud to be a part of public education serving as a lifelong public educator for 30 years beginning as a teacher and Coach I am still a teacher at heart and as my role has expanded in administration to include 11 years as a superintendent in prek districts I have and will continue to support teachers so they have what is needed to empower all students to be successful in their future endeavors again thank you for this opportunity I look forward
004to meeting our students employees and parents and working with the entire higgle USD Community thank you thank you okay next on the agenda is recognitions and awards Mrs Richards what do you have for us tonight president Anderson here comes another exciting Higgly Adventures we have a lot to celebrate this evening so we'll get started this is the year of the wooden Dragon husd held its annual Chinese New Year celebration on the evening of Tuesday February 13th at R hcpa students particip ating in our Mandarin dual language immersion programs at kulie early childhood development center Coronado Elementary and williamsfield high school performed songs and traditional dance in addition we had middle school students MC the event and they took the show away they provided explanations in Mandarin and then help us out in English because we
005didn't know what they were saying um before the performances we had booths with crafts games and of course food trucks we are so proud of our students staff and event planners for the preparations that went into making this a success it was beautiful and if you weren't able to attend we encourage you to participate next year we may shake it up a little bit but those fan dancers for example out there were impressive next meet your kindergarten principal day kolie and saaman preschool students and their families had the opportunity to meet our amazing husd Elementary principles on this day that was either January 23rd or 25th School leaders and mascots greeted our students provided information of course gave them some school swag and got students and families excited about coming to husd we also just
006completed the first round of Kindergarten Roundup husd elementary schools hosted this on Tuesday January 30th School administrators and kindergarten teachers provide an exciting overview not only of the district but of the kindergarten experience specific schools highlighted programs for parents and students families will have another opportunity to attend a Roundup event hosted by our schools in either late February or early March that information is posted on our website we are excited to welcome the class of 2037 next school year so I went to Santan today and they had balloons and they had that sign and all like I'm not going to do the math on how old I'm going to be when we hit that all right in addition we had our little preschoolers get ready for kindergarten by going on field trips to our feeder
007elementary schools during these field trips Kinder Prep students are getting tours of the school and learning about all the fun that we have at all of our campuses they had I've heard amazing things from not only the teachers but the principals so they're ready to go this year we had student council groups from San Middle School chapparel elementary and Cortina Elementary attend the first ever Public School parent par day at the capital this was held on February 5th a special shout out to Jessica Batista who set this up for us and actually went with the students they toured the house and the Senate and were introduced to the floor and had an opportunity to meet with Senator Hoffman so it was a great learning experience is Carrie Matthew here I don't know that she was
008going to be able to come tonight but I don't want to skip over her Carrie Matthew and the higgle High School Academic Decathlon team competed at the regional competition on February 2nd and 3rd where Tori Tesh won first place in speech and first place in interview Chase good earned second place in art the team qualified for state competition for the 10th year in the row which will be held on March 8th and 9th and we want to wish them the best of luck so we don't have Chase or Tori in the audience do we so when you see them congratulate them great job I went backwards so I believe these people are here this evening so I want to highlight them and then ask them to come up and have the board come down do
009I have Miss pan leatherby here this evening yes come here [Applause] five students from Higley High and one student from San Middle School have been awarded a federal scholarship to study environmental sustainability sorry I'm losing my voice course in Mandarin this summer at the University of Arizona the will be able to earn two college credits this is a big deal not only for our high school kids but our Middle School student as well this program received an overwhelming number of applicants across the United States however these students from our district stood out with their impressive proficiencies at a young age so I'm going to call call your name please come join Miss leatherby n Nicholas [Music] [Applause] Dewey Nathan [Applause] Sue Dylan Phillips Carston weart we also need for Savio Tac to come forward and
010Maxwell Moser come on down piggley is truly an Innovative District that is preparing our students for Limitless opportunities and we are so very proud of all of [Applause] you than conratulations than next do we have Miss April French in the [Applause] audience all right we want to congratulate The Fabulous Higgly High thesbian troop led by Miss April French for their outstanding success at the Arizona lesbian Regional competition in January where they received several Superior ratings and I hate to say it but way to go nights so I need all the students that received this amazing honor to come join your teacher right wow impressive group right they work hard all year and now we need to fit the board in there somehow I [Applause] congratulations you know when I said I hate to say it
011way to go nights there's a bunch of Williamsville people in here too so we're going to get to them next but what amazing kids we have in this District next We Have Allison May on are you in the audience here Alison [Applause] yes all right we're incredibly proud to announce that williamsfield high school senior Allison main on has been named a Flynn scholarship finalist this prestigious scholarship has thousands of applicants from across the state and only 36 of them become finalists Allison is also the valedictorian of her graduating class a member of Hosta Health occupation students of America America and a Star tennis player the next thing I want to get a sample next time because I heard you also own a business for decorating cakes is that true okay now we're going to invite
012you to bring us a sample next [Applause] up so the Flynn Scholars class of 2024 will be announced in April and we wish you the best of luck [Applause] impressive [Applause] all right next we want to congratulate Mr Joe abber scudo and Mr Devin Adams and the nine students from williamfield high school okay he just told me three out of the nine come on these students participated at the future Business Leaders of America regionals a fantastic achievement with seven out of the new nine students earned earning Regional medals we're excited to inform you that they qualified for the spring state competition in Tucson and when is that it is April 8th okay we'll be cheering for you over here all right [Applause] congratulations [Applause] okay you have to love the name of this robotics team
013they are called the technical Terrors it scares me to think about it uh williamsfield Varsity robotics team is Kelly Kelly Mahoney here this evening all [Applause] right all right this team competed a First Tech Challenge qualifier with 35 other teams on February 3D not only were they competitive Champs but they also received the Inspire award this is the most prestigious award given to the team in this competition they have to strongly embody the ideas of the First Tech Challenge they must perform well on the field and off of the field it must be an inspiration to those around them this is a great honor you don't really look like technical Terrors but I'm sure you are once you get on the field all right same kids same kids same kids you want to go to
014the next one sure The Story Goes On and On Right Kelly in addition on Saturday February 7th 19th Williams Field's Varsity robotics team technical Terrors competed in the Arizona Championship consisting of 48 teams divided into the Soro Division and the Grand Canyon division after qualifying matches the team was chosen to be part of the number three seated Alliance and went on to win the division semifinals and finals becoming the champions from there they went on to beat Grand Canyon and um they achieved a state record score of 272 Arizona's champions so congratulations to technical Terrors and thank you to Horn Kia family and friends for supporting their amazing season good job ex when you get your congratulations thank you thank you glad yall are here you notice they all have their medals with them we
015have a nice that all right Mr lson Heiser we have state champs in the house again yes and continuing on our state championships from williamsfield high school I'd like to introduce Mr Daryl stangle the athletic director at williamsfield to introduce our state champion [Applause] cheer Madam president members of the board I want to thank you guys for inviting us here um to honor this uh this incredible group of young ladies um they put in countless hours and sacrificed so much to be able to do what they love in competing along with cheering on the rest of our programs so they truly embody the selflessness that we uh that we ask of our Blackhawks um they went there are three major championships in Arizona State cheer um game day cheer all girl stunt and show cheer
016um and our girls took two of the three um championships in the 56 team second division in Arizona so first on Thursday um our all girls stunt team uh won the uh won the the the division 2 Championship um if we can uh have them come up just go right up there this this routine is is a minute long it's made up of a whole bunch of crazy stunts they throw up each other up in the air they tumble they flip they it's it's amazing to see and uh and these girls did this separately even though they're part of our show cheer team too they stayed after and and also practiced to become to become the all girl stunt team so these uh these five girls kicked it off by winning on Thursday um and
017also qualifying for the uh for the show chair Championship along with their teammates um and then on Saturday all together they competed and won the show cheer um championship in division two come on up [Applause] ladies [Applause] I also want to introduce Danielle degreef and Jen selder the soon Tobe mother um who coached this team to the Championships once again big round of applause for the cheer squad right we have everyone come on [Applause] out e We Ready president Anderson for points of Pride and now I want to invite principal Katie Harris and assistant principal Angie Walker up to the front I don't know if I have that on me thank you so much just yell I probably can do that thank you guys so much for having us tonight I'm Katie Harris the principal
018at Gateway and this is Miss Angie Walker thank you guys so much for this opportunity we look forward to this every year the first person we are going to recognize is Miss Janine Liu Casey if you can come on up [Applause] here so as the title coordinator at Gateway Janine has exhibited exceptional dedication Innovative thinking and a profound commitment to the success of our students in the enhancement of our literacy intervention programs in her role as title coordinator Janine has been instrumental in developing and overseeing our literacy Cafe Intervention Program her Visionary leadership and tireless efforts have significantly contributed to the program's success and positively impacted the academic achievements of our students Janine has demonstrated an unwavering passion for promoting literacy and ensuring that every student and I mean every student has the opportunity to
019thrive academically one of Janine's notable strengths is her ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues parents and students alike and her interpersonal skills and genuine concern for the well-being of those around her create an inclusive and supportive environment Janine consistently goes above and beyond to tailor it's her grandchild it's okay interventions to me meet the unique needs of each student fostering a love for reading and learning in the process sorry I love you so much I have so much to say Beyond her exceptional work in program development Janine's dedication to professional growth is evident through her continuous pursuit of learning and staying AB breast of current educational Trends she actively seeks out opportunities for professional development bringing fresh ideas and practices to Gateway in addition to our professional contributions Janine is a team player who read
020supports her colleagues her positive attitude and willingness to assist others make her an invaluable asset to our community so thank you for all that you [Applause] do and before we take a picture who is here with you would you like to recognize them the crying baby that just went out um my I have three of my four children here and um three of my five grandchildren here yeah so thanks for coming [Applause] guys I think you can just stay off to all right next Mr Lee will you come on [Applause] down so Harley or Lee we call him Lee just so you guys know in his role as our dedicated plant Foreman Lee has not only excelled in his professional responsibilities but has also become a cherished and respected figure among students teachers and parents
021alike Lee's impact on our organization extends far beyond his duties as plantform his commitment to maintaining a safe efficient and welcoming environment has earned him admiration for from all corners of our community Lee consistently goes above and beyond ensuring that our facilities are not just functional but also conducive to a positive learning environment what sets Lee apart is his ability to connect with people students appreciate his friendly demeanor always willing to answer their Curious questions and share his knowledge teachers value his proactive approach to facility management which allows them to focus on their core mission of educating students parents admire Lee's dedication to creating this as well Lee's popularity among our community members is a testament to his exceptional interpersonal skills genuine care and approach nature his positive influence is felt through our organization contributing
022to a collaborative atmosphere that enhances Gateway we appreciate you and who do you have here with you I have my H wife Lucia my son in the back um Ben I was gonna say Benjamin but you know um and then uh my daughter winter so thank you guys for coming all right next can we have Miss Suzanne Brown come on [Applause] down Suzanne's contributions as a parent volunteer has been truly exceptional her involvement in various school activities events and initiatives have significantly enriched the educational experience for our students furthermore Suzanne has been a source of inspiration and encouragement for both students and staff her positive and collaborative approach has created an inclusive atmosphere that resonates throughout our campus Suzanne's ability to connect with students teachers and fellow parents are further strengthened in the sense of
023community at Gateway point Thank You From the Bottom of our hearts for everything you do and you continue to do you're a breath of fresh air every time you step on our campus oh and you get to recognize who do you have here um I have with me U my three kids Gary Tim and Bella Tim and Bella are gators too back there thank you all right next we have Miss Ka KY who was one of our second grade students that is coming up with Mrs Walker let's give her a big round of applause [Applause] good girl and then you're gonna turn this way and Miss Harris is okay Kaa is a second grade student that has attended Gateway since kindergarten her ability to overcome obstacles is nothing short of remarkable sorry I'm going to
024cry she is an exceptional student who brings joy laughter and unique vibrancy to our school Community Ka is not just a student she is a beacon of positivity intelligence and warmth that brightens the lives of everyone fortunate enough to know her in addition to her delightful personality Ka is exceptionally bright her intelligence shines through in her academic achievements and her interactions with peers and teachers alike what stands out even more is ka's remarkable memory she does not forget anything I am telling you she contains information with an impressive level of detail showcasing her commitment to learning and her Natural Curiosity her parents are without a doubt a bonus to our school Community their involvement and support have played a significant role in fostering a positive and collaborative atmosphere the apple does not fall from the
025tree and Ka is a testament to the values instilled by her family and I also want to say that she just won second place at the regional braal challenge in Arizona this past weekend so let's give her hats off to [Applause] that Ka do you want to tell everybody who's here with you um my mom's here and my dad and my two little brothers kayen and cash and my teachers and my tvi oh we love it all right you're going to stand right here and we have a gift for you ka it's a balloon with some Smarties in it because you're so smart so you'll get to eat those when you get home okay are we ready for a picture now guys you come thank you Gateway Elementary next points of pride is Mr John
026Dolan with Higley Virtual [Applause] Academy I got to follow Katie Harris boy yeah uh president Anderson cabinet members welcome Dr Carmen uh thank you for this opportunity to share about uh not just a Higley Virtual Academy but the Limitless opportunities our students have when it comes to Alternative programming here so um I'm certainly going to talk about some students that are online but we're going to talk about a staff member that helps us in some other things and we have kids you know when you look at them uh we have all this opportunity in the traditional setting but outside of it as well we have kids who are going to take some classes online we have some kids that might fall behind and we have some summer opportunities for them and then of course we
027have those kids that get to a point where in person is not really working for them and they need some way to graduate and uh Mrs Tommy bird in her Higley Learning Center um works with that so I would like to First bring up the first person Talon gaspie [Applause] but what why don't you tell us who's here with you I got my mom my dad my brother and my grandma and my grandfather okay I told him I was going to embarrass him a little bit so hopefully I do so uh first for Talon when we talk about uh online classes I think his sophomore year when he probably started taking some classes with us I remember him coming in and uh Mrs marklin and I will deal with all kids when it comes to
028testing and it comes in very uh stoic and the goal was to try to make him laugh uh the only reason we trying to make him laugh because we're going to try to get to know him better and it's so nice to have this opportunity because I don't see them you know he's in a classroom but I get to interact with kids when it comes to testing When I Call Etc and for Talon starting his sophomore year um as he's continued online he was a concurrent student for a bit now he's full-time online and something I just shared with him you know we make our choices and some places are better for him he's doing wonderful online he's a 3.0 student in uh a full year of online classes um and I know that uh
029when I watch and see the successes he has I hope that that continues for him in the future so congratulations buddy stay here Presley Liga come on up here hun [Applause] so Presley you started in fifth grade online right sixth grade fourth grade so when we were in covid she was online so when we started she started so fourth fifth sixth and now in seventh grade um so uh I got to know her because we had we went from just looking at a picture uh on a camera to our fun fridays at uh Power Ranch and to now we have our meetings every Thursday where we get to have conversations now Presley why I chose Presley is when you think of an online student you just think about a student who you know they're at
030home and they don't do very much every single event we've had whether it be helping at Power Ranch going to a cancer Network thing she's been at uh she engages with her classmates uh did Riley come over your house today okay um I know they do other things outside of it I think that online for her has just been wonderful and it's great to see her grow and I'm very glad that um I can be part of that so congratulations [Applause] thank before you leave who's here with you my dad who my dad Mr pugnetti why don't you come on up [Applause] here I'm gonna let uh Mrs bird talk about you but before I do that I know that you like uh trivia nights and I tried and I didn't get something I was
031supposed to get for you but I think what is in here you'll like my name is Tommy bird I'm the director of the Higgly learning Learning Center Program um kind of a little bubble where we live um not a huge program but I think we make a huge difference um and Angelo pagetti is one of the major reasons for that um almost every kid who comes to us comes in with a frown they're not happy about being there because we're there to make sure that they work to make sure they graduate when they're credit deficient but every single time kids leave with a huge smile on their face and some of them even Tears in their eyes and for some reason they want hugs from us when they leave um but Angelo is a big
032part of that um and the reason that I nominated him for this award is because of his professional growth and his outstanding work in hlc over the past few years um he he's first and foremost one of the most self-reflective people I've ever worked with um he's receptive to feedback he's tuned into what's working what's not he's quick to make adjustments as needed over the past three years I've seen him work very purposefully on his commun Communications skills his classroom management style which is a huge part of what we do uh his academic content knowledge and his understanding of teenage psychology his efforts and commitment to professional Improvement are truly commendable The increased efficiency of hlc operations and the academic achievements of our students is due in large part to Angelo's commitment to Excellence he
033truly cares about his Student Success not only in hlc but in their lives after high school and he is a tenacious advocate for the hlc program additionally his willingness to collaborate and gracefully accept change as well as his ability to successfully affect change has helped transform the hlc learning program our team benefits from Angelo's gifts and skills on a daily basis and husd is lucky to have someone like him in our corner so thank you very much for everything you do for us who's here with you I got my wife McKenna back there and I know my parents are watching online hi Mom and Dad than for you bud thanks a lot man okay last but definitely not least uh Mrs Melody Griffin would you come on up [Applause] here so I go back a
034little ways with this uh person because we used to work together at San uh when we began our online program uh I guess I get blessed that there's some people that I know that will want to continue to work with me she did and the best part about Melody and why I chose Melody here is one of the things that we really need is flexibility with our teachers we talk about the importance of feedback and communication and when you look at what Melody writes to kids remember they don't get to see her so they're doing work and they have to trust that whatever she's going to share with them is going to make them better um so the next time that uh when they turn something in it's it's uh you know just looks better
035better and I get a better grade on it and her feedback to those kids is amazing her communication is amazing and also her flexibility hey John um I I'll teach that hey John I'll teach that she's now teaching uh 10th grade and art 10th grade hon a regular 10th grade honors art last year was nth grade did you do seventh and eighth too as well Visual Arts so just so willing and flexible to do so many things um I just so appreciate you so thank you who's here with you um I brought my husband ship with [Applause] me guys want to get a picture thank you everyone and congratulations to those that recognize tonight thank you for the administrators and teachers and all staff that showed up to support the students and staff and and
036um volunteers and the teams that were phenomenal and really making Higley proud um next on the agenda uh is our I'm so sorry is our upcoming events I do I always skip it um Miss Richards what do we have all right our next events include tomorrow night our parent night social media awareness here in the boardroom at 6: pm. you're all invited to attend we also have our business partner breakfast next Tuesday here in the boardroom at 7:30 in the morning very exciting event that we love so very much best buddies Carnival at Higley High School at 9:30 on March 1st and I know Miss Miller and her team have been working hard to prepare for this and it's always like you leave and you feel better always all right March 5th Tuesday we have
037another citizens committee meeting here in the boardroom at 5: and our last one was last night and we appreciate our our committee members so much for their time and dedication and last our next board meeting will be Wednesday March 6th here in the boardroom at 5:00 p.m and that concludes upcoming events thank you Miss Richards and Miss ree all right next is our request to speak our public comments we value input from our constituents this time on our agenda has been settis aside for anyone from the audience who wishes to address the board those that wish to speak should have filled out a speak uh filled out speaker cards which are due prior to the start of our meeting members of the board may not discuss comment or take action on matters raised that are
038not specifically identified on the agenda therefore pursuant to AR ARS 38-43 01i action taken as a result of 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 Outburst 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 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
039set a time limit for individual speakers thank you for your cooperation first uh we're going to hear from Heather Balch I wish to speak to you about two items on the agenda the the first is to increase compensation for staff as you are all aware I sit on the executive board for the Higley Education Association and as a member of me and confer higgle Education Association is considered to be a wall-to-wall union which means we represent both certified and classified employees it is very important that as a district we recognize how valuable our classified staff are the schools in our districts would not function without without them and our special education department would be devastated that is why we support the second compensation proposal that would decrease the certified M percentage and increase the classified
040percentage I thank you for taking this into consideration during your future vote the second topic I would like to discuss is about special education programs in husd I have been a speech language pathologist with Higley since 2002 over time technology that has become available for our students has really Advanced when starting with alternative methods of communication we focus on low Tech such as objects photographs of objects and pictures then we move to simple s output devices which are recordable and use printed picture overlays at the start of this year one of my students was using a 16 button simple recordable device this means the device offered 16 vocabulary words per printed page this is a limited vocabulary and I could tell he was ready for something more advanced the Ada loan library has a high-tech
041digital device that I could borrow we put that in place and saw our student Blossom he went from a restricted vocabulary of 16 words to an expansive vocabulary of 60 buttons per page that linked to multiple Pages he now participates during large group greets his peers in teachers by name makes requests and comments on lessons during his class this has opened the world of spoken communication for our students his classmates are curious about his device but patient and kind as he navigates the pages to say what he wants to say through a collaborative effort we have been able to work with my students parents and insurance and the student now has his own personal device his voice can go everywhere with him I feel confident that this will help him as he transitions into kindergarten
042next year in education it is imperative that we teach kindness we teach inclusion and we teach empathy thank you next we will be hearing from Mindy brocker hi thank you recently I had an interaction online and it summed up what I believe is our failure as a community see the rumor has it that Our Town Council was having difficulty communicating and working together so they hired an expert to come in and work with the team to build new skills so work could get done the person who was bothered by this demanded that they should know their adults just figure it out the fact is knowing what must be done is easy the knowing how to do it is difficult when our district was interviewing the new superintendents one of them said something to the equivalent
043of children don't know how to learn because Co well I think it's time that we admit that this isn't covid this isn't the 90 days that this community locked down or the 180 days that our children wore a mess to school the problem is US Co has shown us the truth the deep down of it we adults struggle to get along it's not new we are who we are and we are deeply fractured here's the thing though we don't have to be not when we're talking about caring for our kids one thing I truly believe is that we can make an effort to get along because underneath all of these disagreements we love our children we want them to succeed to be happy to go into this world being great Citizens Great community members and
044great leaders in the same way that I cannot win a football game because I watch the Super Bowl we cannot expect our children to be the best students leaders and community members because they've watched the community around them our husd students we celebr celebrated this evening didn't become Champions only because they knew the mechanics of their Sporter subject it was a whole support team that makes it possible great coaches dedicated Educators boosters volunteers community support and lots and lots and lots of practice in the same way we invest our time and resources into these amazing Sports and science teams we should be investing in our schools overall to build better community members this requires resources and compromise and yes the dreaded social emotional learning because my fellow community members We are failing our children are
045suffering because of it children are being bullied and beaten in our streets and didn't feel safe enough to tell us why would they when they told us we did nothing our teachers are suffering they're losing hope we are losing them unmanageable classrooms scandalously low pay scant resources and an openly hostile Community who will call them the bad guys instead of looking inward fellow parents shame on on us we allow this political Showmanship and this division to continue blaming everyone else but ourselves and we must be better we must demand that this political Showmanship of conspiracy sharing cease we must demand that classroom support increase we must demand that our Educators and children train for social emotional Concepts we must give up our time and help where we can we must become involved with our children's
046District we must open our pockets and give this District the resources to educate our children our kids need us to be a better community and I think to I think together we could do that thank you next we have Maryanne good evening higgle board I'm going to start sounding like a broken record you're going to start seeing me on a weekly basis especially when I can pull it off it's really hard for me to get to these meetings you can see by the empty seats here that most parents especially the working parents making a 500 PM meeting to have our voices heard is nearly impossible the only reason I'm able to get here tonight is my husband is between gigs allowing him to watch our children and pick them up so I could get through
047meetings at work I'm an elementary teacher at I won't say where but between being a parent and a teacher and a Community member who wants to be more involved in the programs that create the culture of our City I really think we need to move the meetings to 6: pm. I beg you I implore you most people in this community would like to see a 6 PM meeting that is how they're able to get to City Council meetings that's how they're able to navigate work and being more active in their community so I'm sitting here and I'm imploring you all to vote to have this meeting moved to a 6:00 p.m. on a regular basis thank you thank you next we have Timothy or Tim Shaw good evening I'd like to talk about the 6.4
048Pro of first let move this move the meetings to 6:00 p.m. as a professional my day goes until 5: well into that there's no way in the world I make it here on time except I'm going back to work for the government you hear the the s in my voice there six uh 6 and 14 approval of Soul Source procurement determination what this is more for Taylor uh what came up in the last meeting was we had a contract delivered to our our community this contract ordered millions and that's the the stands out there in the wrong direction something that the maintenance guy talked to me about which is fine it happens the problem with problem with that though is if we do not have a means of of correcting it it goes on to
049people like myself home owners said I don't want to have to pay for something three times I already work for the government The Who there is at least one engineer who had to sign off on it and or an engineering company that engineering company needs to have have uh errors and omissions insurance on it where we should be going after is errors and omissions not my home the the other thing is what we need to have is real easy wins these are two easy wins for you is some form of technology I hear all the time the complaints about the technology incorporating technology into the the classroom it is because of technology in the classroom that I became an engineer I'm not really great at academics my language skills are not nearly as robust as
050everybody else's here however I could build a machine and I've put machines in I've I've worked for NASA several times I could be considered a rocket scientist wrote papers on it the technology and skill set required to be effective in that is not going to come onto a blinking LED your average without getting too technical the average life in LED is only about 3 years Thomas Edis lights well over a 100 years so if we're going to have Energy Efficiency and we're going for that in order to benefit our people and our community we have to go where the problems actually are which is which is another point on that's priorities of the of the um where the funds are going is it's one of the things that was brought up to the to Taylor
051yesterday we didn't have time chat about it yesterday but if we know where to where to concentrate our activities and our efforts we could deliver results if it's because of a motion because you know somebody wants something else because they uncle or cousin and it's fine whatever we we're always going to have a little bit of corruption but if we know where to focus it we could solve the problems then that's all thank you thank you moving on to the consent agenda I'm motion to approve the consent agen items 6.1 through 6.18 uh and I got it sorry no just okay um let you know um all those in favor I I I I motion carries 5 to zero and with that passing Heidi would like to come up and introduce and speak on our
052new assistant principal at the bridges Elizabeth melter yes thank you president Anderson and members of the board we're super excited that you just passed approval for the hiring of Miss melter our new assistant principal at Bridges Elementary I just want to um share a few highlights about Miss melter for you and for everyone here um Miss melter brings 17 years of experience to the bridges admin team prior to joining brid bridges in 2017 she already was an elementary school principal so she brings admin experience with her she's spent the last seven years at Bridges teaching both third and fifth grade and she was named as the teacher of the year in 2017 at Bridges she's been an active participant in the Higley Leadership Academy for three years and she served as our one of our
053summer school administrators just this past year so we're really EXA ecstatic I know the staff is at Bridges Elementary Mr Bickle is also here with her tonight and we just want to wish her uh well and [Applause] congratulations thank you Heidi congratulations okay next on the agenda is the special education private Day School report with M Miller president Anderson members of the board this is the second quarter special education private Day School report we bring these to you quarterly um and as you can see we based on the expenditures that we have allocated at the end of second quarter we feel that we're going to be able to stay within the budget um we're cutting it a little closer this year than we have and I I hope I don't have to come back and
054we're watching those funds closely and making sure that while doing so we're meeting the needs of our our kids so any questions wonderful thank you Miss Miller all right next is an update from the um sorry my eyes next is an update from the special education department again on the program update from the special education department Mrs Miller all right president Anderson members of the board Bo I am really excited today to be able to come to you and just give you a little bit of an overview of our special education department and some of the neat things that our programs are doing um I look forward to this every year because it's not very often that I get to brag about my team and my my campuses and we're doing some really really neat
055things so I wanted to begin by giving you a quick rundown of our structure um of course there's me but I could not do my job without my team they they really do carry most of the weight for me and are incredible people I have assistant um director Kristen Nash she's um has been in the district for quite some time and services all of our campus and she is definitely a staple to my program in addition this year Mr Stefan Reed um filled a new position that we added as we went through last year we started to see an increasing need for Behavior Support on our campuses our teachers were screaming for help they needed professional development in that area and we really were struggling to be able to support our teachers our students and
056our families so we decided to allocate some of our resources to add a behavior and program coordinator uh Stefan is able to work directly with Debbie Welch and Dina Morgan in their department and we're able to support campuses not only with special education students but also with some of our general education students that are struggling we have found that this has been a huge help he is an amazing individual and and has an extensive knowledge in the area of behavior and is one um been able to fill one of the greatest needs that we have identified last year so he's been a great addition to our program in addition to Stefan we also have two special education instructional Specialists um both of these ladies were previous teachers in our district in our special education program
057Miss Harrison came from kie middle school and Rachel CET came from Bridges Elementary and we know that both of those schools were really disappointed to lose them because both of them served as leaders in their programs but they have been a huge um addition to our team team some of the things that our special education instructional Specialists do is they provide site compliance and monitoring training unfortunately while our special education teachers primary focus is students they also have to be concerned about State compliance in their IEPs and that takes a lot of training and so they're able to provide that training they also provide General sight support they've done a phenomenal job this year in developing PD for our pair professionals which was an area that we were really struggling with to provide them meaningful
058PD so that they were able to be more effective in our classrooms and they've done a great job at that um IEP Pro is our platform where we write IEPs in and it takes a little training and practice to get used to that so they support all of our new teachers in the IEP Pro program as well as just in being new to teaching and in special education and then they also help support our first year um first year teacher training at the beginning of the school year as of this week our um instructional Specialists have completed over 30 group trainings this year so that's pretty significant and have which has affected more than 200 staff members so it's been really impressive um this does not include the individual support that theyve offer parents students
059administrators teachers and staff so this is above and beyond um and these positions play an intrical role in our PD development and the support of our staff so we're really excited that they're part of our team as well moving on to give you a little bit of an overview in special education we service students in all areas of these disabilities these disabilities are um can vary from state to state these categories so in Arizona these are what the state recognizes as eligibility categories that a student can res receive services for and I can say that we have students in our district that fall into every single one of those categories in order to service these kids we need to offer a Continuum of service and we do that in Higley um we are really proud
060of the offerings and the support opportunities that we have for students and it's taken us a while to fine-tune these things because of the amount of time and effort that goes in to supporting all of these programs um general education inclusion is the first these are students that are able to remain in their general education classroom with their peers but need that additional support in that classroom that support is typ Ty Al provided through a co- teer which means you have a gened teacher and a special education teacher in that classroom or through a pair of professional to offer support in that classroom based on what the IEP team decided the next level of support would be resource support and that is a pullout support but it's important to note that in the resource classroom
061we use grade level curriculum and we cover the same thing that they do in that gened classroom we just make sure to individualize it to the individual student needs the next level of support is your cross categ orical classroom this classroom is designed for students with significant cognitive disabilities that are typically functioning below grade level and they oftentimes require additional resources and supports to help them learn in their unique Manner and to address their unique IP goals because of the specialty nature of this program we do not offer this program on every campus so at the elementary level we have two um campuses on the south side and two on the North side Centennial and courtine serve on our south side with and chapparel and Coronado serve on our North Side once they feed into
062the middle school and high school we're able to do the cross catle program on all those campuses so both of our middle schools and both of our high schools are able to keep those students with their home schools and and um service those kids on their home campuses the next level of support is our emotionally disabled program and we call that best that's our in-house private Day program so our DP programs these programs utilized when students require an increased level support that we can't offer in the public school setting we try our hardest to try all of our other levels before we reach that point but we do have a group of students that do require that additional support um the next group is our related services so we have OT speech Physical Therapy occupational
063therapy is the OT visually impaired support and our hearing impaired support and I want to give a really um kind of a shout out to that group of people we are those that group of people has to travel so we don't have an OT and a PT and a VI teacher and an hi teacher on every campus and while we have speech support on every campus they're carrying case holds in the 70s sometimes so while they service one campus many of our speech and language therapists and assistants actually do travel between campuses from day to day and that can be a little bit overwhelming and they're amazing so we are really grateful that they um are so dedicated to kids and they don't mind that and that they're willing to put in the dedication to
064service all 13 schools and and do that um our visually impaired teacher and our hearing impaired teacher and you saw one of them here tonight um very few districts in the East Valley actually have hired in-house hearing impaired teachers and Visually Impaired teachers and we do and so that's a huge blessing we have people reach out all the time and say how did you find them and we were lucky enough to get them and they're very happy happy here and we're very grateful for them all right next I wanted to give you a quick synopsis of our student count as you can see we followed the same Trend that the state did when covid hit so in um 201920 we were at 1926 special education students in the district and we saw that dip occur
065and then we are now on the upward motion we're right now at 1787 um these are October 1st counts so that way we're comparing the same date every every year but this morning I did a quick poll just to see where we're at and as of this morning we're actually at 1804 so that shows you from October 1st to now just it continues to rise and we will anticipate that it will continue to do so um Elementary numbers are affecting this which we know we've seen a dip in those numbers that's usually our you know when we identify kids is an elementary school so that's also affecting those numbers but 1787 and 18 that's a quite few students that were servicing um our staffing just to kind of give you an overview we have 14
066School psychologists and two psychologist interns 17 speech and language professionals four occupational therapists two physical therapists uh we have a teacher of the visually impaired and a braist um which is another in-house position we were able to hire which is very hard to find in the state of Arizona and we were able to do so we have a teacher of the hearing impaired 116 special education teachers and 170 special education PA professionals and behavior health technicians so lots of people here to support students now to kind of go on to some of our specialty programs the first one I want to talk about is our post-secondary transition program otherwise known as htap this um was started in in 2018 and was an Endeavor between husd and voke rehab and we kind of took a leap
067of faith hoping that we had the right person for this position with Britney Wittenberg now Mrs yanov um and she has been the main driver in the development of this program and if you haven't attended the htap graduation ceremony it is absolutely amazing and what a really great opportunity it's a feel-good moment kind of like the best buddies Carnival um students in this program are instructed in classroom setting as well as they perform job duties and skills out in the environment the they currently this year are working with Amy's Farm priest School the rain cat rescue Sunshine Acres Children's Home hm USD Unified sports program Midwest Food Bank United Food Bank Legacy Park the Perry library and HTA and Gateway Point Elementary so they they have a schedule they go to these jobs and perform
068duties so it's been really neat um this program has gained in popularity and we're having a huge demand for it and so right now my department is looking at ways to expand this program in a cost effective manner to make sure that we're meeting the needs of the kids so super proud of that program and the work that the staff have put into making it successful the next program that we like to talk about is our best buddies clubs throughout the district um this is a club that focuses on integration and inclusion on our campuses and really changes the climate and culture of our campuses we have won numerous Awards and so our most recent awards are our excellence and employment award and 2013 Was Won by Jacob um by Boeing Aerospace and he actually
069works for Boeing now and went through their wiring program and so it was a huge accomplishment for him the other award that they've won is they won the best buddies International outstanding chapter for the 2022 23 school year and this is out of over 300 chapters worldwide so a really neat opport um accomplishment by by our best buddies program in addition I I wanted to go further so these are all the awards that we've won over the years in our best buddies program so just wanted H the amount of dedication and support that staff have to put into running this club is amazing um right now we have over 300 kids participating in best buddies clubs across the district so that's a huge a huge impact on our campuses that have these programs the next
070program is our Unified sports program so the Unified sports program is an opportunity for some of our special education students to be able to participate in football basketball cheerleading soccer and track with surrounding districts um and they also earn the opportunity to go to State and this program was developed and it has been an amaz developed to provide opportunities for our athletes to be or for our students to be athletes and then also for the peer buddies to be able to develop those relationships we have seen so much good come out of this program not just for the students but for the families so if you ever have the opportunity to go to one of these games and watch you will not be disappointed absolutely amazing um again I just wanted to share that the
071staff in higgle are dedicated to their students it's absolutely amazing to see um I get the opportunity to sit with the East Valley directors once a month and kind of talk about some of the things that we need to do in the East Valley for special ed and we're at the top we're constantly ahead of the game and doing things we're constantly being asked how we're able to accomplish some of the things we accomplish and the answer to that is the staff and the families and the students that support us so thank you any questions thank you for the presentation um I love that we have so many different opportunities for special ed um students it's great um I just have one question um how many um visually impaired students do we have oh I
072would not have that answer off the top of my head um our visually impaired students we have students that have full visual impairment and then we have other students that are just hard of are partially visually impaired but I can get those numbers for you thank you I don't have a question or anything just thank you for everything that you do it's such a great program and um even you know the IEP programs than I personally know how much they help and how amazing there so thank you and your team and I'm looking forward to the best buddies uh Carnival as well thank you Miss Miller and staff remarkable it's one thing to have the opportunities and programs and speak about it but it's another to show the growth that your program has done and
073really made changes and I know people that do attend the game even students that attend the the best buddies uh games and they're excited and I I thank you thank you for uh including not just the students and the families that are in the program but those outside the program okay uh action item excuse me information item 7.3 Human Resources quarterly ESI report Mrs Johnson what do you have for us today I don't think so thank you uh president Anderson members of the board before you you have the second quarter report on ESI which stands for Educational Services Inc this service provides our substitutes both C certified and classified as well as our retired to rehire employees that have retired and now are working for E through ESI do you have any questions this evening
074for me short and sweet thank you thank you okay 7.4 um we are going to now hear about the maintenance and operations budget with Mr Moore yes good evening president andon members of the board tonight I'm presenting the second review of the fiscal year 2025 maintenance and operations budget so again um just to recap the Arizona Budget timeline um this budget is working towards the June um legal timeline in which we um legally adopt the proposed and adop legally proposed adopt the 25 budget but as you know in Arizona it's been a practice um it seems like every year it gets earlier and earlier to get contracts out sooner and so um we bring forth the budget uh projections early so we have the opportunity to issue contracts um with our neighboring school districts and
075uh secure our staffing for next fiscal year as you know Staffing is 80% of our budget and so the earlier we can secure those positions the better we can prepare for next school year um we'll look at also uh this year's revised budget our fy2 24 current year budget it requires revision to the 100th day number um before May um and so we're also going to be looking at that number as well and how it plays into the FY 25 budget conversation so the FY 25 projected budget highlights not a lot changed from the first presentation um again legislative conversations are ongoing right now um the the bills that have been proposed have now been um first reviewed so if it hasn't been read on the senate or house floor it is now off the
076table um however there has been a lot of bills that have been reviewed at both floors and so those are proceeding forward in the process um we'll continue to monitor those conversations um one of the big ones that are impacting public schools that we're we're keeping our eye on is the aggregate expenditure limit uh or a um as you know that has been Exempted the last two years um I've stated in the first review of the budget that we feel confident that that will also be Exempted going into this next year's budget cycle um but again that legislation has not officially been adopted or passed and so we'll continue to monitor that um but I do feel confident um that some legislation exempting that into 25 um probably be a another one-year exemption um although
077there's several bills that kind of propose a long-term solution for that which would be ideal but I feel at least a onee exemption to that aggregate expension limit will will be um in the Arizona state budget when it is approved so the second bullet point there um we have heard in in my circles um some Rumblings about how the state is going to make up the you know $800 million State deficit and so um there's some conversation regarding where do you take that money from right um there's no new money coming to the table so how are you going to make up that deficit going into next year um one um uh Avenue um potential that we've heard is the school facilities division that is an entity of the state um the school facilities division
078provides Capital funding for school districts via an application process um to submit up for for Capital repairs such as um weatherization we've been successful in receiving some of that funding um but the state uh is minimally adquate or minimally a portion to provide $16 million to the school facilities division over the last several years they've provided an excess of uh1 160 $170 million so all that additional money has been appropriated through the budget process so one area again we Fe we have heard conversations of is not appropriating that extra dollars to the state school facilities board only appropriating the 16 million that is outlined in statute um that would be unfortunate uh because that limits now the district um as another Capital funding source where we can go and submit for application for funding some
079of our Capital needs so not in writing yet but we've heard some of those conversations take place so moving to the kind of known implications uh we're estimating the 2% inflation adjustment to the K12 base support level um I've explained this in the past but essentially districts are on a essentially a fixed income uh that is a state formula um based on on the state legislature um in that formula there is some language um that basically appropriates the legislature the flexibility to provide an inflation increase um that language states that the state has a to minimally fund at least 2% if the grow uh GDP price is above that so we're seeing the um GDP about 3.5% so we anticipate the state funding that minimum 2% requirement uh to the base level support so that's
080the people amount so that is taken into consideration into this budget conversation the second bullet point there uh we know this is the last year of our fully funded M override speaking of 25 um unless it's renewed in the November 2024 election and so um as you know the board authorized uh the district to um run a Citizens committee process to bring forth a recommendation we have now successfully had three meetings uh we have two more scheduled uh before a recommendation is going to be brought to the board and so um again we'll continue with those meetings and uh look forward to the recommendation at the April 3rd board meeting the last item there is the budget transfer um the district has historically looked and utilized um the ability to transfer emo dollars to Capital
081um this year um we're proposing and what is being projected in the budget is transferring um 3.55 million uh to fund the Middle School lease payment that needs to be annually paid for from the capital fund um I've highlighted there second bullet point considering additional mot transfers um if there is contingency into the budget we would not look at increasing the carryover that we've currently have in the m&o budget so we are currently as I get into that we're currently carrying over 22 million um we would look at appropriating anything above that to the capital budget so we're not increasing that M carry forward amount more to come on that diving into the fy2 24 projected revision number one so this is our current year budget um that first line there um the 124 million
082um is what we adopted in June 2023 um projecting into our required revision um as I've mentioned we've lost seen some decline enrollment but mostly in the elementary level um so we do have that 100 day actual number that's 1831 744 um that's average daily membership that's the number that we have hit as of the 100th day and so that is what the projected um revision is is showing in um the second line there the 125 million um with all else held steady with the exception of um realizing putting in the actual budget balance carry forward that we um brought forth into this current year budget um you'll see a a projected budget revision amount of 280,000 so we take that amount into next year's budget projections again at the top we are this is
083our projected budget revision for the current year um we look at the now the f25 projected proposed budget um as I stated to the board we have now seen a couple years years of enrollment decline um we have historically budgeted flat um we have now proactively um slotted in a 70 student um ADM decrease into the budget projections to be proactive in the in the sense that we continue the trend of declining enrollment so the 25 budget also includes the estimated 2% to inflation um to the base level support um one of the areas where you'll see you know how is the budget saying where it's at is because we're decreasing the amount of money that we're transferring from M to Capital so when you don't bring as much money over to Capital you're going
084to leave that money into the ml budget um that makes up for a lot of the deficits that we've seen um and able to support that M Budget on an ongoing basis with that um you take the numbers and we kind of look at a projected proposed budget increase of $918,000 so looking at um our budget process we start we have started to fill in some of the numbers that were previously unknown um looking into next year and estimating some of our budget needs in terms of the fixed costs um property Casualty Insurance that's something we have to pay annually um it's we're not we're not immune to um what is going on in the insurance World um we have seen our fair share of claims with our property um and so we're seeing a
085a slight increase of about 5% um to a property insurance um in addition I've mentioned before our prepaid legals paid through property casualty um we have seen an increase usage in prepaid legal usage so that is also factored into that $80,000 in projected increases utility increases um I've mentioned before like the town of Gilbert has we're going on year two f25 will be year two of two of their um increases so we're going to see $400,000 in increases in water um this is part of their aggressive schedule um to correct uh some of the projected deficiencies that they're seeing on their side the other 100,000 is increases in SRP and uh Southwest Gas so other our other utilities are also seeing similar not as high as water but similar increases and so that's what represents
086the 500,000 in projected utility increases next um annually we review um cabinet as well as HR um and both um Heidi and David we review our staffing um when we looked at um both Elementary and high school as I've stated we've seen um decline in elementary and so to balance some of the um Elementary class sizes and sections um we have reduced five sections I will note that all of those have been um satisfied with either um attrition employees either choosing to um leave the district or retire um there has been no conversations of of riffing or um putting people on leave and so um that is good news um it just natural attrition has satisfied already that the five um the reduction of five elementary sections on the flip side we're seeing an increase
087in secondary and so um while it's not uh it's a different Staffing model we do have a formula that we use um to justify High School FTE um we're seeing an increase um based on that formula we'll be increasing one FTE at Higley High and three at williamsfield uh williamsfield saw some significant growth this year um higgle also saw some growth but is now leveling off and So based on that formula we'll be increasing for FTE total to the secondary level the third bullet point there um this is a conversation going around the state and how districts are addressing um positions they may have obligated to the Esser funds um we have been open and transparent about um the the four positions that we have budgeted in there we have um stated that we'll bring
088these back into the ml budget when that time comes uh and that that time is is coming uh next year we will bring in uh the assistant director of counseling and the three Elementary counselors that we obligated to the sr3 um Grant uh that now expires at the end of the school year and so that is included into that amount in addition we we have worked with um with Shauna Miller um and looked at as well as miss Karen Johnson um regarding some of our um annual needs in terms of um where we see attrition where we see challenging issues within our staffing um and one of those has been in with the PA prayer professionals um both our one and two um PA professionals uh We've having difficulty Staffing those positions we have been
089contracting out uh those positions at two sometimes three times the cost of what it would cost the district to hire them internally um so one of the recommendations is to reclass the para 1 and the par 2 grades uh currently they sit at par one sits at grade 105 and a pair of two sits at grade 105a um the recommendation would be to bring up the pair 1 to 107 which would be starting at 1662 an hour and then pair it two to grade 110 which would be 1829 an hour hour uh we feel like this this this reclassification would make us more competitive with our neighboring districts it help us retain the current employees that are in those positions um and you help hopefully move some of those contracted positions back in house and
090save us some money the last item there is is kind of supporting also the par professionals but also all our other 12-month 11 month and 10-month classified hourly and administrators um some of the conversations around being being conferred over the last two years how how do we support uh these individuals um when when we can't do it monetarily right what other avenues do we have um to provide um an attractive workfor or like an attractive District an attractive um basically job U where we can keep these individuals employed um and satisfied and so one of those areas is adding additional uh days uh specifically three days over the winter break so currently certified staff have off um admin classified hourly those are working days with the exception of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and New
091Year's Eve and New Year's Day and so the recommendation would be to add three days between um the day after Christmas so the 26th 27th 28th and then you already have the 29th or excuse me three days between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve um the way it falls typically schedule there's either a weekend in there and so it would provide almost seven days of of leave over winter break um several our surrounding districts have all two weeks off for their classified staff um some and and some of that is competition that we're we're facing but in addition we do have other other holidays that we pay that are different and so um we settled on on three days being a um basically a recommendation that we felt would be competitive with neighboring districts and
092provide that um additional benefit to those those employees so all that um in addition to some other smaller changes including adding uh a teacher at the Higley Virtual Academy we just heard from Mr Dolan tonight um he's seeing increasing class sizes and demand on his programs they're a department of two um and so uh adding an additional teacher there to help support the load of the number of classes that are being added um that program um kind of sums up and rounds out that um addition reduction reclassification budget line as we look at compensation um we have two options that we have discussed and I apologize uh the meet and confer meeting was Thursday that was prior to me getting uh the board the first draft of this budget presentation so um if you didn't
093get a chance to review the updated version that's what I'm reviewing now um so the fy2 salary compensation option number one um includes an M um percentage increase of 2% um as I stated earlier in the presentation the the legislature we anticipate um increasing the making an inflation adjustment of 2% and we would look at offsetting that directly to our employees um this is a p this is a practice we did last year um with the exception of classified where we made a larger um recommended increase um and so that was uh considered into option number one um you can see the totals down there for each um employee category on the M um column something that's different this year is looking at the second column the classroom site fund um we have historically approved
094this or talked about this later in the year um when we brought forth the classroom siphon plan but we felt it was important to include that in this conversation because it plays an important role in the option number two but um every year the classroom site fund bucket um is was considered prop 301 um this was a separate bucket approved by the legislature that's based on a 610 sales tax um and so that bucket can only be used as noted in the bottom for Teacher compensation includes performance Pay Teacher development and other classroom supported services so you're pts uh your instructional coaches are all eligible to receive this fund and they are included in higley's classroom site fund plan um annually we review this this bucket and make recommendations to either increase or decrease as
095this is now this bucket is subjective to sales tax not our formula so so we have this whole another bucket where we Monitor and make adjustments according to how sales taxes um uh trending year after year and so um over the last couple years this has ballooned um we have seen an increase um in in the per people amount that we're receiving uh in this bucket and so uh we're proposing making a a recommendation a recommendation of a one-time basically increase to um to to to put some of this money back into the teachers pocket uh it's not the goal of this fund to to to roll over um and but we know that in in in meet and confer we talk about this we know this is subjective to sales tax right and that
096can fluctuate given any any s any um any bad year during a recession or during times that we're experiencing right now and so um we look at sustainability with that I I run out a fiveyear um plan to make sure that is sustainable and so um that that has been included in that um dollar amount so what what that $1.4 million represents um the reason why it says 2 to 3% it's a flat dollar amount increase to the plan of $1,750 so when you take that on a base a new teacher base salary that's going to be closer to a 3% a more experienced teacher that's going to be closer to a a 2% um and so that's why you see a range on that um but that 1.4 million represents a flat dollar increase
097to that bucket that teachers get paid and so um I hope that explains that because it leads into the second option um which meet and confer um is the ultimate this is the recommendation of meet and confer and based on the conversations of of how Higley has um uh operated over the last several years have we have honored all employees and so um I actually brought forth the first recommendation me and confer came up with this recommendation um which um if you see kind of reduces the obligation to M um just because the teachers are already getting that 2 or 3% from the classroom that their own bucket this averages out um their total increase to 3.5 to 4.5% so they'll be still getting the the bulk of uh the highest percentage increase out of
098the district but what it does is allows for another percentage increase on our other staff that are not eligible for that bucket of funds um and so that it basically allows for another percentage increase into the other groups classified Administration classified exempt and our supplemental schedule which includes all our coaches our leadership Department leads Etc and so those are our two compensation options I'm happy to take questions on those um just looking forward uh to the budget calendar conversation uh we'll be bringing forth a recommendation and asking for tentative approval so we can issue contracts um at that time you know we would like you know the board to take action on one of the two recommended compensation increases at March 6 so we can include that in the compensation language um being ahead of
099that early again helps us uh post those salary schedules it helps us attract and fill those positions that may now be vacant um and I hate to say but is it's just now the the norm in Arizona is how early can you post those positions post your salary schedule so you can be that District that is uh either leading that charge um or or having that most attractive salary schedule um to attract those highly qualified teachers so um moving forward April 3D as I as I mentioned the citizens committee recommendation and then we'll look at tended approval of the capital budget but I know I'm on the next agenda item Capital so I'm I'm G skip that to allow for any questions on M&L there any questions or comments I just just real quick I
100I don't have a question per se but I do glance over at Dr Carman to see coming from Texas and hearing how Arizona how the numbers work and just kind of reading his face to see if he's like doing this or or if he's smiling um but I just if you wouldn't mind to clarify um for our viewers and our board members um to remind them that teachers going to the slides for compensation options that um under the employee categories verus teachers and other certified staff can you remind us who the other certified staff is please I kind of alluded to that Mr President Anderson members of the board um I kind of alluded that briefly but it's our instructional coaches it's our OT our pts our speech um it's really those individuals that also
101may not provide direct instruction but support the instruction um and there's about um take me off top of my head but there's about 60 to 70 individuals in that group um that provide that direct support to the instruction uh that's going on in the classroom president Anderson yes um Mr Moore thank you for presenting this and I want to kind of put a shout out to our meet and confer for them to um look at a proposal and say you know thank you but we know we're getting um funding from this Source we we would like to make sure that the whole district is um fairly compensated and so I think that's I think that's very different um I don't think that happens in most districts that they they are looking out for all areas
102and um of employees and that goes with our strategic plan um unfortunately I will not be here at our next meeting for the vote on this um and I just I you know I really support that option too and and I appreciate that our own employees came back and and gave us a different option that they felt was more Equitable across the board so um that definitely makes me feel very proud to to be serving in our district because I don't think that happens everywhere president Anderson Mr Moore who was involved in the Mee Ander yeah so president Anderson M meeting confer consists of uh six uh District administration personnel as well as six teacher uh represent Representatives um that includes the haa president um as well as vice president and secretary and then um
103three at large uh teachers that represent um either different grades different subjects um we've had teachers in special we've had teachers at Middle High School um we typically have representation at each um school so elementary middle and high um and that that kind of makes up the total Mee and confer there 12 total members so six District administrations and six um certified teachers and do you happen to know uh the percentage of our teachers that are uh members of the haa I do not know that off the top of my head and do we have teachers that are not part of the haa that are uh part of the meet and confer in order to make sure their voices are heard I believe so I believe there is an individual or two that are not
104what I I don't want to speak to that I can I can follow up on that um okay thank you I have more questions if you don't mind go ahead while she's looking um to confirm that the meet and confer participants do they they have a term limit or do they do they change every so often who's on this in this team God bless you yeah it it does it does cycle pretty frequently um obviously the president and ha President and Vice President are are kind of standing members as well as the secretary but um over the last three years since I've been here um there's been a few changes um to those individuals so as well as to the to the district team as well um we try to get new voices different opinions
105um because we want that robust conversation as well as representation um in different opinions right that's the whole point of those conversations so pres president oh sorry I'm sorry go ahead go ahead president Anderson um and members of the board I did want to say that the teachers that are on meet and confer work to support all employees and it's not just members um of haa so hats off to them that that's important to understand and I appreciate that I just um I'm sorry um I just want to make sure that um those that are not that choose not to be a part of the ha8 that their voices are heard to um question about the the m and um the the funds that we have so I know that at some point there used
106to be a um a cap of 4% um as far as our carry forward and and the legislature got rid of that cap um and our carry forward uh were about 25% of our total budget um and I want to make sure that um and and I attended the the committee meeting last night um so I I just want to make sure that people understand the you know our total budget and the fact that um this is when we look at the the December financial report you know we've got 25 million sitting in our m&o um classro classroom site fund almost at 14 million and our um Capital at 4.3 um and our adjacent ways at 2.7 um now does that 2.7 include uh the tax levy that we approved last year yeah so that
107that includes that Levy that's a budgeted fund so that would include the 1.5 million that we levied in this year's budget um another um thing is um are the amount of cash that we have on hand um $31 million and I understand that um some of that money um is restricted some of it semi-restricted and some of it um we do have the opportunity to to be able to transfer to m&o if needed um so when we when we talk about I I know the reduction of Staff here is is not for the purposes of like we're having to reduce staff because we have to and it's because of enrollment purposes um but I want to make sure that the community understands um when they look at our financial reports that um although last night
108you said you'd never want to T touch that cash that's that's there um but that is money that is ours to use um so I want to ensure that we consider that when making um decisions as far as any type of you know pay increase or whatever that and and any type of Maintenance or um anything that the district needs that we're tapping into these funds our uh four years ago our M override I believe was about six six million uh in four years we have grown to 25 million in our m&o and that's great that's wonderful and and I love that um that we've been able to do that and grow the M um but I want to ensure that uh if we need it we're using those dollars because that's there to use
109um because it's quite a bit of money um also the cash that we have uh do you know if that sits in any brokerage accounts are we earning interest on that no so president and member van H um school districts are obligated to hold their money at the county treasure um we we cannot abortion that money into our own bank account um the county treasure does apply interest um at their rates um to some of those funds um but so that does help a little bit but we are we're not a preview to keeping that money in any sort of District owned account uh we have to run that money through the mar County Treasury interesting I just know of a different District that was investing in Charles Schwab so um anyway um let's see
110sorry I'm just looking at my notes um and are we prepaying for any expenses for 20 for 2425 budget the biggest prepays that we do are uh with property Casualty insur Insurance and workers comp uh we prepay for those uh since with the district has that's been a practice um it's now kind of built into our budget so that prepaid expense is happening every year um but we know that it's going to hit we're budgeting for that this year that we're paying for next year so next year we'll pay we'll budget for FY 25 that we're paying for 26 so um we those are the biggest prepays that we do and there's there's limitations I'm sorry that on the allowability of prepay um and in property C insurance and workers comp is one of the
111few that are allowed and for the three additional um paid holidays do you know what the financial impact of that would be yeah it's approximately 350,000 anybody else can jump in while I look at my notes if you have questions thanks uh thank you president Anderson uh Mr Moore I just correct me if I'm wrong because it's been a minute um originally the the carryover that we had last year was a preparation because the AAL might not pass the aggregate expenditure limit and we we knew that there was going to be a potential loss so we were kind of you know padding our Landing if we needed to so we wouldn't have to lose staff or make cuts that are difficult um and I don't remember if this was like in passing conversation or a
112past meeting I want to say it was a past meeting and and that we talked about this year the carry forward and part of the reason we were looking at that is because our m is running out and we don't know what the the outcome will be should we put it to a vote or do those types of things and what that money is going to look like over the course of the the next few years and from my understanding the what we had in that carry forward was kind of in preparation for what could be coming in the years as some of the current M starts to you know taper off is that correct so president Anderson member Wade uh yeah twofold um over the last few years yes we U utiliz COV relief
113funds right to supplement our M budget um we received you know in excess about $25 million in cover funds over the last three years that's an influx of a lot of onetime money which is why the carry forward budget was inflated right um it worked it worked um in preparation because of that a um uh the a cliff essentially or the um because we were at risk of having to reduce our budget by 19% um so we in averly put ourselves in a position to be able to to cover that it wasn't intentional um but once we were there we felt um we should probably stay here um because this AAL limit is hanging over our our head and it continues to hang over our head um it has now inadvertently worked to look um
114kind of future proof us because now if this m override fails um we now have um some contingency to offset um probably the two harshest years or year one and year two of the phase down um if that were to not pass on the election so um wasn't planned that way there was no intentional um to carry forward that much um it just was how it worked out um and now we continue to budget for that um in our budget as a bigger contingency amount so and I'm sorry one more time can you remind me for year one and two if the M doesn't pass what that will be yeah so again we're fully funded into next year's budget fiscal 25 fiscal 26 would be a phase down of year one which would be a
11533% reduction in the $13 million m&o override that we currently receive so that's about $3.5 million FY 27 would be the second year the phase down that's a um 66% decrease that's about $9 million and then going into FY 28 that' be the complete um phase down that would that would complete the phas down so that' be a reduction of $13 million from our budget um again we we have several opportunities to kind of take that to the voters and try to renew it but um yeah thank you president Anderson Mr Moore typical uh carryover just looking at surrounding districts is 3 to 5% um and as I mentioned we're at 25% and it's great that we can do that but again um when we talk about um going out for bonds and overrides um
116we have quite a bit money in our bank um and the funding you know has increased over the years um this is the most amount of money that um we're getting from from legislation um and I my concern is we need to ensure that we are using these funds and yeah it's nice to be able to have that but you can't keep this money in the bank and then go go back go to the bank and ask ask them for money um when we have quite a bit of money um to utilize uh we wouldn't do that in our personal finances and um I'm concerned that we would do that to our taxpayers um the funding just just the cash on hand at $31 million I mean that comes from our preschools and any any
117of those funds that you know programs that we have within the district um and it's actual cash Cold Cold Hard Cash that we have on hand um so aside from our M and our Capital funding um we need to be able to consider that um before we would consider any cuts um or any type of um and that should definitely be a a conversation within our uh committee meetings that you that you have for the bond um I think it's important to um to keep that in mind um also we had um the on here it says 24.5 um balance carry forward but on the December financial report it says 25.3 do you know what that difference is yes so we're looking at projected ending balances and and the December financials are current year ending
118B current balances as of today we still have uh we're in February uh we still have three more months of school as well as five more months in the fiscal year um so there's a lot of expenditure still to take place um so why wouldn't that be listed as part of the incumbrances why wouldn't that it could be one-time obligations um encumbrances are encumbered are purchase ORD that in place so salaries and benefits those are all encumbered um a lot of the M obligations that we have remaining for the year are Department um expenditures that are done either for licensers um these are POS that are put in at any given point in the year when that renewal comes up to date okay and and so we don't we don't plan that within our forecast
119that and and be able to add it to the encumbrances in order to know that difference a lot of times we're waiting for those quotes to be received there may be price changes or um differences in contract language um or different purchasing mechanisms that are being utilized to procure that item um and until all those items are known we don't input a purchase order because then we would be either under undervaluing or overvaluing that item um so we wouldn't go through the process of putting a purchase order in place until we know exactly what that expense would be thank you so much president Anderson m v hook I just I hear you with our cash accounts I just want to clarify though that there is a lot of those accounts that we can't just touch
120so kind of it's kind of misleading saying we just have 30 31 million sitting in cash at our disposal um while there is $31 million there it's not just at our disposal that we can use for anything um a large a large amount we have is in our self insurance that that's we can't just use that for anything we can't just pull that so um I hear what you're saying that we do need to be looking and and going through um what what is available for our use what are we using um but it's not that we just have $31 million sitting out there going okay well we can just pull $ 31 million dollar into our m&o so I I just want to clarify that and like Mr Mo said part of the reason
121that we had a large M and carryover is that we did receive our Sr funds and I just want to say I'm thankful for how we used our Sr funds because as of right now today you are hearing of several districts who are falling into some serious Financial issues and doing reductions in workforces because they were not not um as thoughtful with their eser money and that it's been a conversation with Mr Moore when we got our eser money and that's what's in our our budget here where it talks about these um counselors that part of the requirements there were requirements and stuff around the Sesser money and we hired counselors but when we chose to do that with the user money we had the conversations of this is onetime money and it's going to
122run out and then what are we going to do because we didn't want what I'm going to call a oneand done although it would have been a two-year thing and then go I'm sorry we can't provide counselors anymore because that us our money is gone so that was something that even then when we were hiring them we knew was going to have to roll into our m and so we were we were able to pay a lot of things out of that erer money that will now roll into our M and we're going to see a very different picture because I agree I don't know very many people who can sit with a 25 or 25% overage in their bank account and if they can then they're probably not working as hard as Mr Moore
123so um um and that that's not going to be considered typical and I just find that we've been able to to plan ahead and be smart about it but we are going to see that go away we are going to see that dwindle down we're not going to have as much carryover um and we've been in some different Financial situations than uh some of our larger districts around us that I know my conversations with Mr more has been a lot on contingency that we didn't know what was going to happen that we anticipated some things coming up and some things did and some things didn't or it wasn't as bad as we anticipated so um so part of that and just being in the know who gets a $400,000 increase in water I'm just saying
124who who gets a $400,000 increase in water T of Gilbert but that that's huge and if we don't plan for some contingencies and again I hear you the 25% I hear you um but those are some things that we've been able to to be fortunate to cover without going how are we going to pay this so um I hear what you're saying and I think that just asking that okay let's look and see what is what is is there is um good and again we're we've been able to do some of this because of our override so um I do think we need to look at that know what we're asking for if if we're asking for an override we need to know what and why um but a lot of the funds that we
125have out there uh we can't just spend in any fashion president Anderson board member Reese um yes and I mentioned that that some funds are restricted some are not restricted and some are semi-restricted for instance Medica Medicaid reimbursement um it's the usfr description specifically says can be used for anything and can be transferred to M and we have uh a bud budget balance of almost 2 million in there uh we also have Community Schools um which says any unused monies must be transferred to M funds um and we have almost 2.5 million in there so there are funds in there that could absolutely be transferred to M if needed um and that I I hope that if it ever comes down to it that we would consider that for sure and I know just from
126time to time while it may be restricted or unrestricted that there's purposes for them so there there's certain things that do get paid out of those even if they're restrict restricted or unrestricted so leftover balances is what I'm talking about that's as of December correct we still have five months of school so um some of the things we'll we'll see dwindle down a lot more to too that you start out a little bit higher and I'm not I'm not discounting that I'm just we need to be aware that we still have more school and and some of we've received payments and and some the payments come from this year into like at the end of for this school year we may not get that payment we might have just gotten a payment in October that
127made it look higher that we have stuff we need to pay out of right and I know that like for the for the first six months um I think it was 40 yeah 46 million and then for the the second half of the um school year we've got incumbrances of 53 million so there's about a 6 and A5 million um additional funds that we'll be spending um you know that we didn't spend the first half of the year um so I I don't I don't know what those are right now that we're expecting to spend that 6.7 million um and then also the when we voted on the tax levy that was one of my concerns is you know when we have funds to use um again going out and and taxing the community um
128is a concern of mine I want to make sure we're staying on on budget it is the tax levy well it's part of all the finances okay um but anyway so I just wanted to point out um so that those in the community that don't understand because it's taken me a while even though I have a finance background it's taken me a while to understand all the coding myself um so that's all president oh sorry Mr Mo I know we've had a slide on the cash on hand before but is there something that you can create for the community so that we aren't you know just saying they know that the 31 million isn't just for us to touch and where this goes and what would happen if we depleted those funds so we have
129a clear picture certainly I can look to uh add that into the next budget conversation thank you very much president Anderson uh first off I wanted to Express gratitude to you Mr Moore um obviously I've only been on this board for a short period of time uh and my experience with uh our CFOs in the past have been very very different something that I tremendously respect you for and I think uh a lot of people throughout District can say the same is that while you are extremely fiscally responsible um I think you value staff um you value the importance of the people that we have in this district and at the end of the day that's for students and what we can do to serve our students best is to keep the best teachers that
130we have around and you know considering how hard it is to be in this profession and the very apparent problems that we're walking into in terms of Staffing and keeping people and everything else because at the end of the day none of this works if we don't have staff to keep this working um so I wish to express GR itude to that because I think that is something that I've at least felt from you is always at the center in terms of how we talk about you know staying competitive with our districts that are neighboring us because it's very hard us being a smaller District surrounded by such large districts that are capable of doing certain things and so as we go forward for that I am very much grateful and I'm also grateful to
131meet and confer and how that process does go down because at the end of the day as a teacher we cannot do anything without our you know supportive staff helping us accomplish our tasks and so I think that's just a great Testament to Higley to Shadow what board member ree expressed in that we try to do the best we can to take care of our own and make it an environment in which it's difficult to leave because you want to be here so thank you any more questions or comments for Mr Mar all right uh 7.5 bringing Mr Moore back to the mic on the capital budget review what I say 7.4 I'm sorry 7.5 if I didn't say that President Reese member of the board uh appears I monopolizing this meeting but um budget
132is a hot conversation tonight U as it always is right that is the nature of Arizona so um tonight we're presenting our first review of our capital budget um just a little recap of what is capital right it is separate from ml um but capitals uh also known as District additional assistance in the if you're looking at our budget forms um but most commonly referred as capital um is is items that typically have use whole life of at least one year they're typically repaired rather than replaced um an independent unit that retains its original shape appearance character Etc and those examples include constructing renovating remodeling buildings um some other examples also include athletic equipment Furniture technology uh software um um whereas on the flip side what we just finished discussing was M which is what
133we pay our salaries and benefits our supplies Services repairs and fees from so this presentation addresses our capital budget um some of the highlights include um daa as I said that's the I guess appropriated term by the state um but we refer to as capital um it's going into this third year of a scheduled inflation adjustment this is year three of three um three years years ago Governor Jud guy implemented uh an inflation increase to this fund which has not seen an inflation adjustment again this bucket is separate from the M bucket is not subject to an annual increase in inflation and so um the appropriation three years ago had um a small adjustment to this fund to um apply some inflation um increases over the course of the last three years so we're going
134into our third year what that means is we're going to see about 4.6% increase um in this fund um and so it does help does not solve the complete issue because we're still seeing um drastic underfunding with with our capital budget uh and how much it can it can support the district um one of the major highlights you'll see in this presentation include fewer major maintenance projects um as we just presented the m&o budget you're seeing a lot more expenses come back into the M budget so we don't uh utilizing that capacity within the M budget we don't have that flexibility to bring those over into the capital budget um you'll uh you'll see this proposal has no additional transfers to support major maintenance um on the third bullet there um one of our major
135emphasis was um addressing our our security cameras and so um we are in the process of bringing forth phase two of uh that security the plan security camera infrastructure upgrade um this plan focuses again on next year and that would be a potential phase three um we have seen great success with with some of these implementations of these new security cameras uh they're night and day from what we've utilized in the past um the technolog is um uh Leaps and Bounds above what we had and so it's already helped um in in several um instances where we had property damage or people um coming onto our property we've been able to easily identify them get them to our SRO and um uh you know further you know either prosecute or or proceed with um addressing
136that that uh trespassing so uh the description to the left um kind of looks at some of the upgrades that we've we've done this year so the top picture is the San field lights so um again some of the just unforeseen things that I think go like implied right uh it's implied that these lights are going to continue to work so and and the reality is these are these are common maintenance items that we replace in our maintenance budget and so the top one shows our field lights and saucan being repaired uh the bottom description shows a main circuit breaker that was repaired this year um looking at our our capital budget um we go line by line um I'll go into greater detail on this so I'll kind of um peruse through this rather
137quickly but um how we've presented this over the last couple years we have our categories uh these sometimes represent departments or areas of focus in our capital budget um column number two the daa so that's our Capital um dollar amount that we're allocating towards those Capital categories and then you have adjacent ways which is our um our other Capital fund um so you'll see at starting at the top category we have districtwide um again I'm going to go into more detail on these um and I I think I'll reserve the right to do that so we can I don't monopolize the whole entire conversation but um going on the with two pages of the capital budget um I really want to emphasize again the First Column is our categories um second column is our capital
138budget and the third column is our adjacent ways total so um moving to the bottom of the page I kind of want to explain how the capital budget uh amount comes to fruition um we have a state allocated a portion capital budget and so that represents um that middle line there on the bottom category the daa budget capacity for fiscal 25 so we're anticipating a $7.8 million budget that's our annual appropriation of capital funds for the district in addition I've mentioned previously in M conversation that we transfer um 3.55 million to cover the Middle School lease payment um so that's really a dollar Ford dooll transfer because we have to pay that lease obligation from the capital fund that's the reason we transfer those funds over we're anticipating carrying forward about $4 million from this
139year's budget into next year um and so that is included when you calculate that total budget capacity and so you'll see a total capital budget capacity of 15.3 million um if you have been on the board for a while you'll see that number is about half of what we've previously approved in the last couple years um a lot of that is because we are spending those Capital dollars um and putting them to use so diving into the the details of the capital budget um I mentioned the categories and so each of these categories again is represented on that previous slide but I'll I'll share a little bit of um information on each one of those um budgets so the districtwide uh Capital allocation includes that 66,000 includes our various Department budgets that have Capital funds
140so we have sped um our superintendent budget our public information's budget so that's the accumulation of that of those budgets that it represents the 66,000 adjacent ways fund um as Miss man hook mentioned before we that's a levied fund um that currently sits at a budget about $2 million we're anticipating bringing forth in a budget of about $2 million into next year um we are still working on uh receiving bids for the San bus Landing expansion and then researching as I mentioned previously that williamsfield high school student parking lot um just a current status update on that we're still working with the town or Gilbert to make uh with the feasibility study on whether we can add a light uh uh North into that parking lot where the pool is um if that is allowed
141then that will greatly allow us to then move forward with um some future planning and that and start to assess um what we can do with a light at the north end of that parking lot so still in the works the town of govern has not um communicated that yes or no but um that is something again we're researching because we know williamsfield High School is an issue when pickup and drop Mr Mor didn't the town previously say no to that when we asked him they have previously said no but in recent conversations they've been more open to um entertaining that idea so previously right our enrollment was not as high as it was now so we're seeing increased traffic that was not previously no I know it's Miserable as wait just mention me I
142just wondered if that I I don't know if somewhere that I missed that they had a change of heart so I was just they they have recently had a change of heart and and been more entertain entertaining the idea idea more so and so uh awesome we are proceeding with pursuing that because I think that is maybe we could add the left hand turn to be longer too the what yeah remove it yeah for sure we're looking at all options um with that um but yeah still in progress um again with the town There's no there's no quick solution right there needs to studies and assessments done to make sure that we're not making other unintended impacts um to traffic so um but that's in the works and that's again why we levied for those
143funds thank you for clarifying um the Middle School lease I've mentioned this multiple times now that that payment is 3.55 million we transfer that exact amount to Capital to make that payment so it's a dollar for dollar um looking at the ed Service budget um we have a category assessment student information so um that is our assessment team so we pay we've allocated 350,000 that covers our canvas our Synergy which is our um attendance platform flexx point which is used previously called Florida virtual that's our hva c um software and then other assessment solar assessment software um instructional materials um this provides the curriculum supplementals that we need for several of our programs that have special curriculum uh those include dual language emergence um HDA Etc and so um that's what the 275,000 covers the
144textbook adoption um we have a annual curriculum cycle and um next year we have social studies scheduled and so in talking with M Richards um we are taking our time um moving into that adoption subject um probably be towards the later of the fiscal year um but there's been several changes in in curriculum and and that's a subject um it's been highly Poli just say that so we're working um but that is is our as in our cycle and so um we're budgeting for that um we'll again inform the board that it's a very public involvement process with parents and Community uh and when that does take place again we'll make sure that those are communicated out um looking at technology um we have categories that in four kind of main uh categories so we
145look at classroom technology and those are student devices so for fiscal 25 we're looking at replacing all the High School freshman devices and so um by replacing those freshman devices those devices now stay with that student for the the entirety of their fouryear tenure at the high school you know pending they continue to finish with Higley and graduate um that cost is 500,000 the districtwide refresh um um we have ongoing teacher laptop replacement and network upgrades and so for school 25 the replacement schedule includes hgle high school saucan and kolie middle school um in addition we have several Telecom upgrades um several of our systems in terms of Telecom are outdated and need to be uh refreshed districtwide software this is our annual software renewals um this has relatively stayed flat over the last couple
146years um but this includes our Microsoft we're Microsoft Office office District Visions is our financial software and human resource software Frontline is our hiring software and so uh this includes all those annual software obligations that the district has Safety and Security um I kind of touch on this in the Highlight but this would uh we have tentatively budgeted phase three for our video camera Replacements um as well as the khawk intercom system so um we're scheduling and phasing these approaches in rather than taking one false swoop we've done um several things budgetarily to kind of minimize the cost by utilizing in-house District Maintenance people to help with the install we're doing a lot of the cabling ourselves as well um but still utilizing the vendor to make sure that we're not breaking any warranty and
147maintaining that warranty so uh the phase approach has work really well um again we just finished phase one and we'll be bringing a recommendation for phase two in this fiscal year maintenance and construction um we have reduced this budget going into next year um slightly uh this covers this 800,000 covers our our HVAC Replacements that are scheduled water heaters uh custodial equipment electrical lighting and other various Capital Replacements um both planned and unplanned that come throughout the year um we always have a plan um but there's always unforeseen Capital needs that come come about during the year uh we have a small capital budget for our grounds Department uh this helps replace and refurbish some of the grounds equipment that either is broken or needs to be replaced on a annualized schedule and then uh
148thirdly we do a capital project request this uh 250,000 that is budgeted allows our schools the opportunity to submit for capital projects that they could not afford within their their allocated budget um these are bigger projects um that typically um have a larger impact on their campus some of the projects that we've we've improved recently are like Mass large scale furniture um replacement um as well as um other like um shade structures Etc so some of the things that they could not typically afford um they get opportunity to request up and District cabinet gets it um kind of prioritizes those into that $250,000 budget major maintenance as I mentioned uh we would not be transferring over any additional funds um but we have still some major maintenance needs that were not addressed in last year's
149budget so a lot of these items um you'll see that we're carry forward from last year we did not get to um a chance to to support these within our current year budget uh mostly due sometimes due to we had some inflation increases across some of the originally budgeted items that we intended to do um those prices came back higher than what we anticipated um so we had to postpone some projects um and again we're continuing to utilize uh the capital lease funds that were returned to the district when we refinanced that lease um for the kie and sasma middle school so those lease funds again were returned to the district they were meant for those two schools and so we're we're maintaining and honoring that and utilizing those funds to um offset the district
150obligation um transportation um currently right now we have the board approved earlier this year two bus Replacements um and talking with the director of Transportation um we are proposing not you know allocating any dollars here um and utilizing uh some of the the cash funds uh the Enterprise service fund that Transportation has available to it uh to support their Capital needs next year so um as miss van H mentioned we we are um utilizing those funds in our budget projections in next year um School Capital budgets um I kind of briefly touch on these These are formula based on student count um so each School gets a allocated budget for furniture fixtures and equipment we also call that FF uh it's 45 per student $45 per student based on 1003 day ADM so this budget
151allows that site ad Administration to um um fund some of their priorities within their school right every school has kind of some different needs especially based on program um and so this fund um gives those site admin the some atomy to make some Capital Improvements to their site athletic equipment at the high schools and middle schools we have sports programs that the district supports um that 100,000 is split between the high schools and middle schools um to help support and maintain those athletic um requirements and needs so we do the same thing for on the flip side for um non-sports um individuals with instruments and individuals that uh participate in band and some of our other um uh not curriculum but like uh extracurricular activities and so we provide 100,000 for uh the those Fine
152Arts um kind of groups and categories and then last slide here we have a warehouse print shop again utilizing some of the cash funds that we have our print shop has um uh been been successful and in um Garing revenue from not only um are utilizing our district um to to make print jobs but um we have um a number of external users that utilize our print shop for print jobs and so um again we'll look to support their Capital needs um with that external Revenue that we're receiving um for the printop and warehouse and then the capital budget contingency going project you uh this can be set aside for fiscal 25 is $2 million and so it's approximately 133% of the total um FY 25 capital budget um that is down um year after
153year from what we've previously carried over two years ago it was 8 million this year is 4 million and now we're carrying 42 million and I would be remiss if you know I would not probably recommend going below that uh Capital has can see sometimes a lot more higher dollar figure um in or unforeseen circumstances um and and being able to support those in the fiscal year is why we carry forward contingency and so with that uh we have a couple meeting schedule to review the capital budget again the second review um Coming March 6 um I'll do a much more SC scale down version of this if there's no further questions or no um items that you want me to look into or provide more detail on and then we'll ask for tenative approval
154April 3rd to allow our maintenance team and other departments to get ahead of the procurement cycle and purchase items for the upcoming year um and that's been our practice and it's worked effectively and in allowing us to have those items as of July 1 and for the start of school year any question president Anderson Mr Moore how many phases do we have for the cameras I see three but is there right now we we have uh planned out to three um we and yeah that that is the extent of of what we planed so far um we had a strategic plan to address the exterior campuses the exterior entrances in the first phase um at elementary schools phase two would address the exterior entrances at our secondary campuses and then phase three would look at
155addressing um some of our high usage interior areas where um we typically see areas of um disciplinary areas where we need to constantly review um instances or occurrences that that may occur okay and then I I I saw that so in August we we approved two campuses for um HVAC uh the next whatever the next phase is as far as HVAC I'm guessing that's what's included in here major project is that part of major projects is all exterior weatherization okay do we have any more I know we recently approved more hvacs do we have any more of those to replace or repair yeah we constantly have hbac units and that would come from the general maiden's capital budget um and then again uh we we try to utilize the school facilities board to submit up
156for units that have either expired or are not working um to to support you know the replacement of those items so we we try to utilize Grant funds but um are you looking for particular schedule on HVAC replace I don't um no I I just saw I I knew I saw it somewhere in this presentation and I couldn't figure out where it was I found it thank you um and then just one more question I'm sorry um on the financial report where it says Civic Center what is that exactly uh yeah Civic Center is are rental uh Revenue rental yes okay thank you anyone else questions or comments okay thank you Mr Moore all right next uh item 7.6 um we're looking at the proposed changes to policy be school board meetings and this one
157is Dr Lindsay good evening president Anderson members of the board this is one of four policies that we're bringing forward as a first read um based on legislative changes or updates that were provided to us from aspa in their most recent policy update so the first one is on policy be school board meetings this is an update to policy per recent legislation um that adds language specific to seating at board meetings so schools school boards and exe executive boards and municipalities are required to provide for an additional or to provide an amount of seaing sufficient to accommodate the reasonably anticipated attendance of all persons Desiring to attend uh the meetings when feasible um it does not require the public body to relocate the meeting outside of the largest regular meeting room and except for a
158meeting through technological devices the agenda for a public meeting is required to include the notice of the time that the public will have access to the meeting place presid uh Anderson Lindsay Dr Lindsay sorry um I uh wanted to um see if you can explain this sentence um where it says a a meeting includes a one-way electronic communication by one board member of a public body and then um I don't know why I don't move my mic to me instead of my chair to my mic um a um and then the second sentence a meeting also includes an exchange of electronic communication among a quorum um of members I'm just like wouldn't that be an open meeting law violation since it wouldn't be posted that's my understanding okay so that's a practice that should never
159occur right I believe that they're defining what a meeting is within the policy okay all right thank [Music] you any other comments or questions okay thank you Miss Lindsay um moving on to 7.7 we're going to look at the proposed changes to policy BB and Dr Lindsay it's back president Anderson board members this is an update to policy per recent legislation again that relates to the previous policy we just looked at um specifically the agenda for the public meeting is required to include the notice of the time that the public will have physical access to the meeting place the exception would be for a meeting through technological device Additionally the updated policy provides individuals with a disability to request the reasonable accommodation and procedures how to do so and finally upon review of this policy
160District leadership would also like to propose um that the board remove this section of the policy that outlines the order of business and instead put it into the policy regulation when we reviewed the policy and our current the outline in our current policy does not reflect the current governing board agenda structure and we think that moving this language to the regulation would be more appropriate to provide flexibility so the board isn't constantly having to update the policy president Anderson Dr Lindsay I'm just curious why we wouldn't just leave that in the policy and um so whatever language that's in the regulation why wouldn't we just leave it a part of the policy um board member or I'm sorry Vice President Van Hook uh it's more for flexibility so we can make updates or the board
161can make updates to the structure or the agenda um so we're not constantly having to bring forward the policy to have it approved again we can make those regulations administratively based on the um agenda of the board meetings thank you and um I did notice on here um it says uh on the regulations it says vote of members um and I was just curious if we can change that to say governing board members on the regulation yes yes yes so majority vote of board governing board members yep we can include that thank you so do we have to uh right okay so they just correct it correct anyone else thank you for that ad I think that sounds more professional it meets for the purpose of the regulation okay now we are going to on
162to 7.8 the proposed changes to policy Iha basic instructional program and this time we're going to hear from Dr Lindsay again this is an update to policy per recent legislation again per HB 2060 ars1 15-21 uh this adds language um and adds a literacy coach or literacy specialist to each school to the list of employees that m that may satisfy the dyslexia training requirement at each K3 School in the district um previously these positions were not included however that's been our practice and all of our literacy coaches are already trained so it just adds language to our policy additionally Administrative Code rz-2 d301 provides basic instructional program requirements for common schools grades K through 8 ARS 15-7 10 requires common school grades K through 8 and high schools grades 9 through 12 to provide a
163total of one-year instruction in state and federal constitutions American institutions and ideals and the history and in the history of Arizona including the history of Native Americans in Arizona please note that husd is already in compliance with these requirements also policy language has been updated to align with current basic instructional program requirements president Anderson um Dr Lindsay I don't necessarily have a question I just want to point out that um our uh ARS 1- 602 of the parental Bill of Rights just backtrack a little bit so section F of the policy states that um health and physical education including mental health mental health instruction may be included as part of other subject areas and shall comply with the statute um I just want to make a note um to just to mention that part of
164the parental Bill of Rights section e uh states that um and paraphrasing um that uh par parents have the right to um op you know opt their children out um if they choose um not to participate in any type of mental health instruction um and one question actually I do have is so if they let's say if there was mental health instruction in um health and PE um what options do parents have in that case vice president um Van Hook from an elementary perspective it's PE and so it's more about healthy habits if anything else um with with respect to secondary I'll defer to my colleague here thank you I would say it's the same and at the secondary level when we look at PE classes as well thank you thank you mine is just
165language um in here if we if we could go back to the front first page and scroll all the way down to where it's Redline the instructional program will include plan sequences in um I don't know if we could keep a sentence there it doesn't necessarily have to be this one but it opens up for what introducing a b c all the way down down to what those are um I I don't have a proposed language and I'm not sure if maybe we could start with why was that sentence removed president uh Anderson I'm not sure why they removed it it was we did a comparison between the two policies and the updated policy from asba had that line not a part of the policy so we struck it from ours but I don't really
166see any reason why we couldn't have it there I don't know if anyone else has any comment to that I wasn't sure if it had to do with sequences if that was anything to do with it I'm even if we look let that out it just seems odd we stop at one part and then we just open up with an AB if we could just introduce those sections that's all I have to contribute president Anderson I would guess that it potentially has to do with the word sequences which implies an order a required order so I mean we could look at the instru instructional program will include and then list thank you thank you okay we're good on 7.8 right um next uh we're going to go to 7.9 the proposed changes to policy ik
167KF graduation requirements ah we have a new Mr Lon what do you have for us thank you president Anderson uh as Dr Lindsay had said these are um updates for asba for our previous legislative update and we're updating ikf we're not changing any language we're just adding the language it's actually the exact same language that is in uh policy Iha uh which was then referenced and so if you'll see on the second page it says per pursuant to ARS 15-17 or 710 a total of one year instruction in state and federal constitutions American institutions and ideals and the history of Arizona including the history of Native Americans in Arizona is required during grades 9- 12 we are already compliant in this we are just adding the language uh from legislation for the update and and
168this ikf is referenced in Iha so we wanted to make sure that we were consistent when it was referenced then you would turn around and see it in in uh in the graduation policy as well okay thank you no questions or comments okay thank you now we're going to jump into action items um item 8.1 BDA board organizational meeting this will be the second read do we have any questions or comments regarding this policy second read nothing okay well I motion to did you have anything okay I motion to approve policy BDA board organizational meeting in a second all those in favor I I motion carries 5 to zero okay action items again 8.2 communication protocols um any questions or comments input regarding our communication protocols president Anderson I got quite a bit um so
169when we talked about moving the board meeting to um one day prior we were told that we can we should consider putting that in the communication protocols and that just it didn't we didn't do that so I I don't the fur the further conversation did not occur um related to that um so and ultimately again um we didn't take a final vote as to we were practicing the change um but there was no vote for that change that occurred um and one of the concerns then was that um you know if we move it to one day earlier then then we're going to have problems with being able to add things to the board to the agenda um she's asking where we're at uh the communication protocols no that's what I'm saying like we we
170didn't we were told that we could add it to the communication protocols and we didn't um and so I'm just wondering I and the concern was the fact that um if we change that then you know we we'd Miss putting things on the agenda um but this agenda we were adding things to the last minute um so I don't know if that's a conversation that we can have as far as updating including that in the communication protocols or um when Miss mlen was here we talked about us getting our board packets on Thursdays and she recommended It Go in the communication protocols and that it's not there so no there we go um what I thought we had talked about and part of the reason that it wasn't so correct me if I'm wrong because
171then I clearly misunderstood the last one is that we were also talking about the potential of doing um like the work study sessions and the work study sessions would heavily impact what we decided in that other area and so the way I interpreted that last meeting that we had where we discussed it was a plethora of us were interested in that work study session which is what we said as the directive going forward because that would greatly impact the need for an extra day or different time ex that's the whole point of it right was for that so I think that's at least the way I understood it I didn't expect it to be in here because I thought we were going to talk about the work study session no so president Anderson uh you're
172going to have a new superintendent and I think that it'll be important for him to be able to work with you to determine what that looks like um we are sharing the proposed dates with him but we obviously would like to have his feedback and your feedback on how those work studies and meetings are structured so we're kind of in a weird spot I don't know how else to say that uh I want to be respectful of you guys and what you want and I also want to be respectful of him so but that's the way I understood it too so but if you guys want to wait on this we can wait or we can accept it and it can be it's not a policy per se so it could be adjusted it was
173important that everybody um agreed to it and understand it and have input on it so I also maybe before I mean we can always revisit should things have to be revisit but I also and it could be just I'm confusing the things with um with the lawyer that we talked about previously one of the things that she talked about was that we could put it in here but one of the difficulties of that is that it's policy and then it doesn't allow us the opportunity was that something else oh then we're good she recommended we not put that in policy and put it here I I would I mean it either way I think that come July this needs to be Revisited again anyway um Dr Carmen may bring some different perspectives and preferences and
174and things like that too um I don't I don't know anything in it for me is urgently needing to be changed um as an expectation but I'm also okay with what's there so if someone feels that we need to to vote on this to have this in place at the moment then I'm okay that way too but I think either way we have to revisit this in in July with Dr Carmen is re I agree uh I think it doesn't all of these things in place I mean it's a reminder of communication protocols and it doesn't bother me to keep it in since we're going to revisit it in July that I'm fine with a boat today so any of the recommendations that I had that good that I had would it be best you
175recommend to save it until July like like Miss re said it's not going to change how we do things either way it's just updating verbiage like for example can I just mention one of my recommendations was on the page where it says governing board superintendent roles and responsibilities with the orange table um it has the board in one column another column and I I I just recommended under either create its own row or add to possibly ures accountability make sure we add evaluate superintendent in there because it's just one of our roles and duties that that we work very diligently on and and um that's not that's not added or listed in um our roles and responsibilities so again it's policy we already have it in there um is it a communication protocol I don't
176know like some of I feel like this document is really long I went to the Queen Creek School Districts and it was one page one page um not saying we have to be like them but I just thought man they got in one page um and you know another thing but I do find this one important as far as communication is that the very last thing after board meeting protocols I thought about adding policy following and making sure we follow policy uh bgd and that's um administrative administration's communication to the board on any regulation or exhibit changes um because I don't I don't think we've received any and you may not have made many but there was one when I was going through um grievances where the exhibits had been changed believe was the exhibits
177we had no clue um so I just make want to add that that would be a great communication call and that's actually a policy that needs to be followed and of course it was an old policy I think is another one dating back to 2001 um but I think it'd be fair again does it have to be added today no because it's policy but it would be good to add so you know I mean I I think keeping your notes make sense I also think if it's covered in policy then I I I do think that's important going for like because then we have it right and I do think those things are important to include for that um I mean I don't I don't think this really changes currently how we function either way
178so I mean I I don't have strong FS in any direction kind of deal so if people are uncomfortable by it then I think that gets to matter and then we can go on I mean because this is basically what we already had you eliminated stuff from my understanding if I recall so we had even longer previously remember weigh it was 13 pages so yeah so I mean if if somebody's currently uncomfortable then I say okay fine we can table it and we don't have to worry about it if if ultimately it is a a thinner version of what we currently do while still making sure that those policies of concern are already in place then I mean I personally don't have any strong feels either way so I don't have a problem voting for
179it because we will be revisiting it as we should but um yeah board member Anderson I do have uh concerns with a couple um senten in here and I think that so I'll mention the sentences um the part that says that um all communication with news media for the purpose of seeking or arranging uh page it's a second page sorry I highlighted my page so I assumed yours was highlighted too okay um so it says uh arranging news coverage providing official statement from the district or responding to requests um from media have to be channeled through the office of superintendent um as I stated last time uh we are elected officials um I took a oath to defend the Constitution and I surely will not allow myself to be silenced um I have a First
180Amendment right to be able to have those conversations and as Christina mentioned last time just because you can doesn't mean you you should but just because I can doesn't mean I shouldn't either um and so and then the second um sentence is on page six um where it says board members and staff will support or stay silent and not undermine the decision of the board um we are individual board members and we all have a voice um and so again um telling us to stay silent is a uh violation of our First Amendment right and I will not um allow that for myself or for any anyone else up here um because that is our constitutional right to be able to have um the ability to speak um about whether we like something or dislike
181something um so I would I would like to see that verbiage removed um and I mean I I don't know how you know if everybody else would support silencing themselves I'm I'm not sure why when we all took that oath um but that's my recommendation is to uh you know remove that you know this could be a recommendation board members and staff um you know should support but to say will support or stay silent is a bit ridiculous for me um let's see sorry do you have go ahead and then I'll go on about are do you want to continue okay president Anderson Vice President Van Hook I mean if you guys are I'm making notes of your comments and we can take them back and add this and like I said your new superintendent
182will probably want to review this and provide input as well so you know we can we can continue to revise and like you said you're probably going to go through this in July and excuse me Dr Carmen if I'm speaking out a turn that um Our intention was to simplify the communication protocols we had in place because 13 Pages was 13 pages and it was a lot so I always think works and progress are good so I mean we can we can take it back add the comments you said and let this individual work to think through it too because I'm going to guess if I hand this to Dr Carmen he's going to have some input president Anderson Just a and a reminder that these protocols were created between the board members at the
183time and the superintendent at the time and this is how um some of it was brought by the superintendent some of it was brought up by board members that they would like this is how we want to hold each other accountable some of it references policy um board member Van Hook on the media release there is a policy regarding that so it's not just in our protocols there is an actual policy um of and it references it kdda regarding media um so then that's something we need to look at because it's actually in policy it's not just a a protocol there um as far as the the last part you referenced is that again it was created with the board board members at the time this is how they felt um was necessary to hold
184each other accountable our role and responsibility is once the vote is done that we support the district doesn't mean you have to support the vote per se if you will but the vote is the vote if if you're on a losing end and it passes with at least three people then it passes and it is what it is and and we're the expectation of a board member is to support that um how you choose to do that is up to you um and again this was one of those things that with the board members at the time said the way we hold ourselves accountable to supporting a vote is either stay silent you just don't talk about it you don't have to be out there and cheer for it we're not ask anyone go yay
185I something passed that I didn't support you know and and that's why the words are there um and it's not necessarily to silence you it is our responsibility is to support the district and the vote whatever it is however it goes one way or another it doesn't help our district any if we're on a losing end of a vote that we're out there bashing the district bashing the board members bashing the administration because we were on a losing end of a vote um that we need to support it it passed or it failed one or the other um and our role as board members is to support whatever that boat is um so I I understand you you don't like the language I really think that there's probably more here than um than we probably
186really were prepared for tonight and with a new superintendent I do think we should probably hold our um our comments and and our suggestions till we can meet with Dr Carmen whether that be individually whether that be a board we'll have to come together as a board and talk about these but it we'll also have opportunities to meet with Dr Carmen individually um and unless there's an actual policy we just remember that this is these were the expectations of the board at the time with the superintendent at the time of how we hold each other accountable and what our expectation of each other should be we should be planning on holding each other accountable to professionalism um and and everything that that's outlined in there so it's not policy it's our expectation of what we
187should expect from our Administration what they should expect from us and what we should expect from each other so um I think then it's more important that we include Dr Carmen in before we go changing stuff just my two cents president Anderson uh board member ree I appreciate the perspective especially considering you were you know part of those types of things um I I I mean as a former government teacher I I agree with you that language um matters um the way that I interpret it so I I think it's important for clarification and those types of things is we we aren't silent I mean we get to use these board me meetings to express how we feel about the policies right so the way I took it is as you explained and that this
188is once the decision is made this is how we have to go forward this is what we have to do I mean we expect the same thing of our staff when clubs get cut or other things happen we expect that you aren't going to badmouth the decision and that this is what we have made and this is how we progress so I appreciate that um I also think then I agree with you that maybe we just don't vote and we we put that to the Future so I'd like to make a motion that we table 8 point two my only question is we've so the additions that's already been the one that you've uploaded has something you added the meeting Norms to it so that's a change so we what we're tbling is the original
189original or this version with the Norms added to it like do we need a vote to have the Norms because we never voted on the initial change corre so essentially by tabling it it is our sorry 133-page document um that not the condensed our 133-page document again is just what is expect you know is the expectations right I was just verifying is it's not this document now it's correct it's back to the original and we can use this one as a reference of what we would like to see okay the thing that would is the policy that we have in place that Miss ree referenced those are the only things that we have to hold to so I second we table it I I 8.3 approval of fiscal year 2024 2025 employee contracts any questions
190regarding employee contracts board member Anderson I wanted to we got an explanation about the fringe benefits um but I and I don't remember if I saw on the new certified teacher the language for fringe benefits said pathologist was it correct okay um and can you expl explain to me what it is in there that and I I you explained it in the email but I if I want to understand it better what is it that's preventing the board from changing great question uh president Anderson Vice President Van Hook so the way it is explained um in the email to you which was written today is that I'll just read the sentence out so we can go from there so direct economic fringe benefits means only leave and insurance benefits correct so leave is governed by
191federal state and local our policy rules so you would not as a board you would have to change policy for leave but you could never change Fair labor standards act you could never change FMLA you can not change Ada when it comes to leaves so that that is why that sentence is in there the board wouldn't have that Authority for federal um legislation and acts that are privy to employees rights so you would have you would not be able to change that does that make sense on the on the leave part president Anderson Miss Johnson yes it does it just um I'm just curious if I think the way that's it's written is isn't that great so well that was recommended by our legal department and they wrote that's that is new verbage in here
192when it comes to those two benefits the insurance benefit and the leave benefit and that's because those are governed by things outside of our control right now I understand it now I just wish that it was better written to make that clear cuz the way that it's written isn't clear because it which is why I'm questioning it what is it that we aren't allowed to change so um I don't know if that's something that could be better written or not um we could take a look at that next year with our legal council for this year I would recommend that we leave that verbage in there so we can stay on track to have our contracts out by a um by March 8th uh that's our goal uh obviously Mr uh Tyler Moore has expressed
193that we'll be bringing more fi you know the the compensation everything March 6th we'll have one day to get everything within the document and get it out to our employees by March 88th so thank you you're welcome my next question is about the 5day PDM um can you explain why that was added the 5day prum when a reduction in force is that what you're referencing okay that was not added as far as I know that was there last year uh it was it was blacklined amongst all all the contracts um and then I was just curious why cuz it it was on all of them wasn't it yeah it was it was the one I think the only one that it wasn't on was the atw yeah an at will is truly at will right
194um the five days is I didn't believe that was new this year and Tyler I know you're looking um um let me look real quick like it's it's number it was number 24 for the new certified teacher well it does look like it's blue lined but I didn't think that was new to us that must be some form of legislation that I could look into and give back to you I will check with our legal council as to why that was added I didn't believe that was new yeah I was just curious like what we've done previously without it as well I I will check and get back with you absolutely um the there's a sentence that says any subse quent Amendment and addendum to this contract must be in writing and signed by both
195parties yes um because we as a board have to approve these contracts why wouldn't that also say um and approved by governing uh anytime we do an addendum to a contract U much like we did with u Miss Richards this year it came back to the board it's under um section the section where you approve any Personnel actions you would be approving that we cannot approve a change to salary without the board approving that so can we add that verbiage to the contract because it's not on the contract it just says signed by both parties but it's part of with I believe it's part of policy that it must come to the board for any change in salary you you see supplements all the time you see all of the increase in pay anything we've
196done this year um or years past those go to the board every board meeting you see the supplements or the additional pay uh whether it's for a athletic or for additional duties anything of that nature is already coming back to the board we are mandated to do that anytime pay is increased okay it's it's mainly just in denim it's just an agreement between the two parties the the employee and the employer is the addendum and then it comes to the board to approve the the pay at the end so I think that's if I understand that correctly yep just like the addendum we did for Mrs Richards this year it's exactly like that yes you are understanding correctly um for the new certified teacher it looks like they changed it to say certified employee or
197teacher um why is that considering the teachers have their own contract so that would be because we have people that come on that are certified as like a um instructional coach or someone of that nature like when we were talking about the classroom site based fund there's other employees that fit in that group so we make it for either or so because they're new they're new and they're under a probationary period they have to have a different contract so we we might have a um instructional coach that would be new to the district we would utilize that new teacher certified contract for them okay um and be and does this language have anything to do with um potential changes to prop 123 does that impact this contract at all yeah president Anderson vice president B
198Hook um in the contract don't recall which line it is but it does allow if there's any change in state funding um that does allow the district come back and add an additional um increase to the contract um it also it goes both ways so both add and decrease and so um it would again fall under a supplement we would bring it back to the board for approval um but yeah the contract languages have that I don't see that number off the top of my head but I know it's in there okay my my concern I guess is um and I'm sure you're aware the you know they want to give under prop 123 they want to give raises to teachers and then there's an argument that it shouldn't just be teachers it should be
199cover be able to cover all staff so by by being saying certificated teacher or certificated employee if they did decide that it would be all staff it would be able to cover them under this contract right or any of the other contracts as well also have that language at a yeah so it's it's it's line 12 of the certified new certified teacher contract but but it's that same language it basically States if additional Revenue becomes available to the district throughout the legislative appropriation state sales tax revenue payment of back Revenue Etc um the district has um authorization to go back and provide a supplemental income pending g board approval so perfect okay and then I'm sorry I do have a lot of questions last year I was new so I I didn't know as much
200as I do today so um pardon me for my questions um many of the contracts had um 186 and 190 days removed can you explain that uh a new teacher will be here for 190 days they're new so they have four additional days for professional development and on boarding the certified teacher who is is returning would have 186 days okay so that language is also in the pathologist contract um I'm sorry again they're certified staff so they do have days um allocated to their contract every contract also has a calendar that goes with it that HR creates and that we provide the employee when we provide their contract so the REM by removing the number of days then so their contract has no number of days listed so how do they know what they have
201a calendar and they're accountable to that calendar and those are work days that they have to adhere to okay so the calendar becomes part of their contract correct sorry anybody else have questions while I go through my notes um as far as the benefits um and and signing the contract early well I guess I should say when is open enrollment for benefits uh that doesn't start towards the end of April I think we just posted that calendar I think it was about April 27th and that'll be about a two week span and my benefits team will head out to all the sites and meet with employees oneon-one as needed that'll be open enrollment okay and when when are you hoping to get contract out prior to open enrollment absolutely contracts will go out on August
2028th or why do I want to say August I want summer um March 8th is the projected date for contracts to go out sorry have you ever had any um anyone concerned about rates so if they sign their contract early and benefits aren't until you know open enrollments a month later and when they find you know find out what the rates are during open enrollment um anybody have any concerns about that knowing that they signed early um they don't have they have concerns about the rates of our health insurance but it doesn't affect their signing the cont contract usually um Tyler and I are able to negotiate to keep our employee rate low um as low as possible and covered by the district um and then are you know your family or your uh spouse
203rates um he can elaborate a little bit on that but we've never had somebody come back and say I wish I hadn't signed my contract because the rates are too high got it okay President and Vice President V hook yeah so um we offer benefits to employees who are eligible for benefits at no cost right that it's just the spous will right if they're bringing um on um dependence at that point in time we have um in our insurance program right now uh uh basically a cost to that employee to bring on additional insurance so um the employees already whether they sign the contract or not they're already guaranteed benefits um it's just to the extent of what our benefits package can be and we've had conversations as a board about enhancing our benefits platform
204and and we work we're working on that um but the employees guaranteed benefits once they sign the contract because they're as long as they're eligible um so it typically doesn't come into conversation because they know they're going to get benefits it's you know it just depends on what the district can do to increase their coverage and some of those areas ancillary areas and the whole medical plan as a whole so okay yeah I just for me like I think like if I sign a contract with my employer and then I get my you know enrollment and and realize like my um deductible is going to be outrageous and now I'm stuck in my contract I'm just curious if that's ever happened not that I'm aware board member of Van Hook uh so I say this
205as a former teacher and in with as much tact as possible um I feel like teachers in the state of Arizona very much are understanding of the fact that our benefits are not good for being in this state as far as healthc care is concerned a good portion of our teachers uh rely on their Partners um or get healthc care elsewhere which is part of the reason why we've had conversations in the past of trying to do more to help there because it is widely understood widely discussed and it is add it to the ample frustrations that teachers in general have um as somebody with a disability uh that is directly related to My overall health and well-being I feel you deeply with respect to that and I think that is important and I think
206it's beneficial when we do start talking about some of these Healthcare things uh to keep in mind so we you know do the best we can so that way we're honoring uh the people who agreed to work before they kind of knew so I appreciate it I promise one last question um the pathologist and therapist contracts I'm just curious why we have two contracts when they're CU I I looked up each title just to see what the difference is um and the only thing I could tell is is that a a pathologist has to be licensed and a therapist does not is that the reason for the two separate contracts everybody's looking at sha Vice President Van Hook are you referring to the speech and language pathologist and the speech and language therapist yes the
207speech and language therapist certificate was a therapist uh was a certificate in the past that is no longer available so a individual going to school to be a speech and language pathologist can no longer get that certificate we do have some staff that we grandfathered in um and so that's the reason for the the two different contracts got it okay thank you I just want to ask a question regarding Dena students um I'm just curious why and and they work in the in the office with the principal and the assistant principal correct and they have an administrative position but it's just it's sad to see that the principal and the assistant principal get 15 days of General leave and the Dena students only gets 11 um I didn't know if that there're only 11 month
208employees oh they don't work the same no okay then that's the others are 12month employees and I think that's the difference of General leave okay well I tried Dina students are there any other questions or comments okay this is an action item I move to approve the fiscal year 2024 2025 employee contracts and a second all those in favor I I motion carries five to zero moving on to the Future agenda items um you can see on the screen we have a list for Community Education update AP dual enrollment update CTE update Higley leadership academy information item and a handbook update um I had asked um maybe a couple a board meetings ago for an AI update of how AI was being used in the classroom is that is that still something that we can
209get um at a board meeting as the information item president and Anderson yes we are still in the elementary phases of that um like I'm going to conference on Friday with the two instructional coaches our technology instructional coaches and we're working as an ed services team to draft our our vision for that within the district so I respectfully ask for a little more time you know yeah because we know it's important we just want to wrap our head head around it and you know move forward thoughtfully so Jal should get to go to that that conference the conference should probably mind-blowing in some ways yeah it's kind of scary right yeah anybody else on um future gen items okay this is our favorite not our favorite yes I'd like to add policy kdda policy KB
210is that the one um media yes kbba k d DDA da okay okay thank you for review yes please okay all right I motion to adjourn this meeting second all those in favor I I wish carries 5 Z have a wonderful evening everyone in here we your microphone's on my microphone's on