Meeting Minutes – Monday, December 2, 2019

Yavapai County Education Service Agency
2970 Centerpointe East Drive, Prescott, Arizona 86301

Monday December 2, 2019 9:00 A.M.

Also present were: Stan Goligoski – YCESA, Ryan Gastonguay – Yavapai College, Rosemary Agneessens – RASC, Jenn Nelson – YCESA, Frank Vander Horst – YCESA

Yavapai County Forest Fee Management Association
Board of Directors
Meeting Minutes

Welcome and Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m.by President Brown

Establishment of Quorum and Pledge of Allegiance (President Brown)

A quorum was established

The board said the Pledge of Allegiance

Limited Call to the Public (President Brown)

• The public is invited to speak about any agenda item.
• There is a limit of three (3) minutes per speaker and 20 minutes total.
• Request to speak must be in writing and provided to the Clerk at the beginning of the meeting or prior to any agenda item.
• The President has absolute discretion over procedural matters
• The Board may waive their “Public Participation Policy” as it applies to all speakers.
• Members of the public may indicate their support or opposition to a topic, in writing, that will be noted and entered into the record.
• The Board may not respond to comments from the public, but may ask the facilitator to respond or place the item on a future agenda.

No call to the public.

Discussion Item: Association Purpose and Vision (Superintendent Carter)

Tim Carter read the Purpose and Vision of the Association.

Discussion and Action Items of the Consent Agenda (President Brown):

All items on the Consent agenda may be adopted as a whole with one motion, unless a member of the Board wishes to consider it separately.

1. Approval of Minutes from the Regular Meeting on September 3, 2019
2. Approval of the Regular Meeting Agenda for Monday December 2, 2019

Kellie Burns made a motion to approve the consent agenda; Dennis Dearden seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 5/0 by Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown and Dennis Dearden

Information, Discussion Item: Fiscal Agent Report, Political/Legislative Update (Superintendent Carter and Mr. Goligoski)

Mr. Carter presented the board with the General Ledger and Distribution Sheet. Mr. Carter advised the board there is a balance of $1,058,125.29 in the bank with $918,409.16 encumbered so there is $139,716.13 available. Mardi questioned the general ledger “mileage” for Kendra Hobson that was a total of $13,172.87, Jenn advised the board that was an error on her part, the monetary amount was not for mileage but was to off the salary of Ms. Hobson. There being no questions regarding the fiscal report and no action to be taken, Mr. Carter moved on to advise the board of the treasurer’s accounts for FFMA. Mr. Carter advise the board that unbeknown to himself or his office, the Treasurer’s department had 2 accounts for FFMA. The first account (7) had been created in 2012 and was a “holding” account, the treasurer’s office does not allow warrants or vouchers to be processed out of a “holding” account, so the treasurer created a sub account (4) so the FFMA would be able to access the funds for payments. All accounts are reconciled, and all monies have been accounted for. Mr. Carter advised the board that the treasurer’s office will be closing the “holding” account (7) and the only and sole account will be the (4) account in which FFMA will continue to accrue interest and be able to access funds via vouchers and warrants. The board agreed to only have the single account and move forward with the closing of the holding account. Mr. Carter advised the board that legal counsel and the treasurer’s office will be resolving all the issues soon.  

Mr. Carter then shared with the board the legislative update that 187 signatures have been received following the email that he sent out regarding secure rural schools funding. The bill has been created, but members of congress do not know when the bill will be reviewed, both the House and the Senate are preoccupied. Danny asked once the bill is passed how long it takes for the monies to get to the counties, Mr. Carter advised it could take 60-90 days

Information, Discussion and Action Item: All Current and Possible Future Programs

1. Substitute Consolidation – Stan shared with the board a summary of the Sub Teacher Consolidation showing that there are 402 active subs, 35 recently applied and 24 of those are in the hiring process. The board discussed the fill rate for schools with late cancels and same day call ins. The board requested if there was any way to inform subs that if they work a SPED class there are usually Para Pros in the class. Stan advised the board the next time he meets with ESI he will inform them.
2. Lobbying and Community Organizing – Rosemary shared with the board her annual review to date, showing the progress made within the community meeting locally and at the Capitol with legislators. She is working with LD1 to leverage candidates for LD6 for the 2020 election. Rosemary attended an Organizer Training in Las Vegas to keep up to date on new ideas and skills.
3. Recruiting and Retention – Stan advised the board that the recruiting fund is still good through June 2020 for the South Dakota trip. There are 2 locations for the trip this year, last year cost around $20,000 so there is plenty encumbered for the 2020 trip. The board discussed the retention grant and Mr. Carter advised the board that in the Superintendents meetings the question was raised why FFMA is assisting teachers for college courses when the state has a program. The board agreed that the state program is not yet as organized as it should be and it does not cover endorsements. Stan advised the board the current balance should last until the next meeting in March and if it runs out he will begin a waiting list. The board discussed that some additional parameters should be set around the retention grant, currently the grant is available for district employees who are not only displaced but are pursuing higher education, the grant is for current courses only. The board agreed to speak with their member districts regarding what parameters should be set and to further discuss at the March 2020 meeting. Mr. Carter advised the board that in addition to this, the YCESA is partnering with NAU for all county district employees to receive a 10% discount for reduction in tuition. Also that 3 colleges will be at the January Countywide to formally discuss the state initiative for teachers.
4. Update from Administrative Fund – Carter advised the board that the admin fund does not need any additional funds and that the only large expense coming up will be for the DC legislature trip.
5. College and Career Specialist – Stan advised the board that Kendra has been to all high schools, provided 80 FAFSA workshops and is continuing to meet with individuals and families for college applications.
6. Professional Development for New Science Standards– Mardi and Stan advised the board that attendance for training is great and that there is still a lot of funds encumbered because member districts need to request the reimbursement from the board.
7. Yavapai County Education Technology Consortium (YCETC) – Stan advised the board that the tech fund is available, and he is waiting on invoices from schools. The funds will sunset June 2020 unless the board extends it. Districts will purchase additional products and they will reimburse FFMA the extra costs. The board discussed the E-Rate consultation fee and Mr. Carter wanted to make it clear that the E-Rate consultation fee that FFMA pays is for is only for YCETC consulting. The districts that are members with YCESA E-Rate receives a different fee. FFMA only pays E-Rate to YCETC not for individual districts. The board discussed the possibility of covering the E-Rate consulting for all districts through FFMA. The board requested Frank to propose a cost estimate to umbrella the 25 districts for consulting fees. The board discussed the consulting fee encumbrance is down to $68, Frank advised the board they have paid for this year and next payment is not due until June 2020, so the only increase would be for $15,800.
8. Additional Needs of Member Districts– Mardi shared with the board that a few member districts are requesting additional funding for Professional Development. There is around $49,000 available in the PD fund currently that some districts have not yet used and have until June 2020 to identify the need for the funds. The board will discuss in March additional encumbrance for PD.

Information, Discussion and Action Item: Review and Potentially Modify Encumbrance Items and Amounts 

1. Yavapai College Matinee Series – Ryan Gastonguay with Yavapai College presented the board that most shows have been sold out and the current amount for districts is $51,000 and only $45,000 has been encumbered, so they are requesting an additional $10,000. The board acknowledged and congratulated YC on the sold-out shows.

The board then discussed encumbering an additional $15, 800 for next year’s YCETC E-Rate consulting fees.

Mardi Read made a motion to encumber an additional $15,800 for E-Rate consulting fees for YCETC through June 2021; Kellie Burns seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 5/0 by Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown and Dennis Dearden

Information Discussion and Action Item: The FFMA Board of Directors Herby Authorizes County Superintendent Tim Carter to Call for Electronic Nominations and Conduct an Electronic Election for a Group 1 Representative (Mrs. Burns), prior to the end of the Calendar Year, for a Term Ending December 31, 2022

The board made a motion under item 10.

Information Discussion and Action Item: The FFMA Board of Directors Herby Authorizes County Superintendent Tim Carter to Call for Electronic Nominations and Conduct an Electronic Election for a Group 1 Representative (Mr. Brown), prior to the end of the Calendar Year, for a Term Ending December 31, 2022

Danny Brown made a motion to authorize Mr. Carter to call for Electronic Nominations for Group 1 and Group 3 Representatives; Dennis Dearden seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 5/0 by Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown and Dennis Dearden

Discussion and Action Item: Topics from the Board for Future Agenda Items (President Brown)

E-Rate services for all member districts under item 8 (encumbrances), Retention grant parameters, professional development,

Announce Future Meeting Dates

• March 2, 2020 – YASD Conference Room
• June 1, 2020
• September 8, 2020

Open Call to the Public for Future Agenda Items. Requires a written request to speak and is limited to one (1) minute. The board may not comment on these requests.

Action Item: Adjournment

Mardi Read made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:45; Stephanie Miller seconded the motion; it was approved unanimously 5/0 by Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown and Dennis Dearden

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