Forest Fee Management Association

Meeting Minutes – Monday June 1, 2020

Yavapai Education Service Agency – in person or zoom
2970 Centerpointe East Drive, Prescott, Arizona 86301

Monday, June 1, 2020 9:00 A.M.

Board Member Attendance – P=Present EX=Previous notice of absence ABS=No previous notice of absence
Board MembersRepresentingJune 1 2020July 8 2020Sept 15 2020Dec 17, 2020
Tim CarterEx Officio, Non- Voting FacilitatorP   
Kellie BurnsGroup 1P   
Dr. Stephanie MillerGroup 2P   
Danny BrownGroup 3P   
Dennis DeardenGroup 4P   
Mardi ReadGroup 5P   

Also present were: Stan Goligoski – YCESA, Frank Vander Horst – YCESA, Jenn Nelson – YCESA, Corey Christians – Yavapai Library District, Kathy Epperson – YCETC, Ryan Gastonguay – Yavapai College, Craig Ralston – Yavapai College

Yavapai County Forest Fee Management Association
Board of Directors
Special Meeting Minutes

Welcome and Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 9:01 a.m.by President Brown

Establishment of Quorum and Pledge of Allegiance (President Brown)

A quorum was established. Due to conference call meeting President Brown dismissed 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: Review Association Purpose and Vision (Superintendent Carter)

Tim Carter read the Purpose and Vision of the Association.

Discussion and Action Items of the Consent Agenda

  1. Approval of Minutes from the Meeting on March 2, 2020
  2. Approval of the Minutes from the Special Session Meeting on April 28, 2020
  3. Approval of the Regular Meeting Agenda for Monday June 1, 2020

Danny Brown requested that item A be pulled from the consent agenda for discussion.

Kellie Burns made a motion to approve items B & C from the consent agenda as presented; Danny Brown seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 5/0 by Kellie Burns, Danny Brown, Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read and Dennis Dearden.

Danny discussed that item A needed a correction to the minutes from March 2, 2020 in item 8 regarding the Beat the Odds encumbrance motion.

Danny Brown made a motion to approve the minutes with the correction to include the $300,000 amount in item 8e for the Beat the Odds motion, the motion will now read “ Stephanie Miller made a motion to approve $300,000 for Beat the Odds training countywide for all districts for the first cohort to begin July 2020 contingent upon funding; Kellie Burns seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 5/0 by Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown and Dennis Dearden”; Mardi Read seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 5/0 by Kellie Burns, Danny Brown, Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read and Dennis Dearden.

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

Mr. Carter shared with the board that Legislature completed sine die. The FY 2019 distribution has been completed, FY 2020 distribution should be coming in soon, it has been approved. The fiscal report will be discussed in item 11E.

Information, Discussion and Action: Final Approval and Distribution of the Renewal of the Forest Fee Management Association (FFMA) Inter Governmental Agreement for a Five (5) Year Period, Effective July 1, 2020. Member Districts were Provided a Draft to Review and Offer Suggestions or Concerns. Minimal Suggestions Were Received and Those Items Have all Been Incorporated in this Revised Document. Legal Counsel will be Available for a Phone Conference, if Needed. (Superintendent Carter)

The board agreed to the changes and final draft.

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

Information and Discussion. Current and Possible Future Programs:

      1. Substitute Consolidation- Stan Goligoski advised the board that ESI kept the funding available for the Substitute Coordinator position. Dani will begin to draft contracts for the next school year.
      2. Lobbying and Community Organizing – Rosemary was not able to attend via zoom due to technical difficulties. She wanted the board to be reminded of the LD1 Legislative Education Forum on June 18, 2020 at 5:30pm on a zoom platform. Stan advised the board that he will need to request additional funds for the annual licensing fee.
      3. Recruiting and Retention – Stan advised the board that the guidelines that have been created are effective and gives guidelines to those who are seeking a retention grant. Stan advised numbers are going down due to the new policy, and he will be requesting additional funds under item 11.
      4. Update from Administrative Fund – Carter advised that there have been no expenditures from the administrative fund since the last meeting.
      5. College and Career Specialist – Stan presented the board with Kendra’s overall work being completed for the 2019-2020 school year. Many schools have been praising Kendra’s work and have seen a rise in FAFSA for students. Stan advised he would be requesting additional funds for Kendra’s position next year.
      6. Professional Development for Leaders – Stan advised that the orientation was conducted for the first cohort was at the end of May. Due to current pandemic circumstances the Beat the Odds training will be a hybrid course, all materials for members will be sent directly to the districts, both cohorts have been filled.
      7. Yavapai County Education Technology Consortium – Stan advised the board that the YCETC board discussed the technology needs of districts. FFMA has funded half of the original request at the amount of $870,000 and will be requesting a second encumbrance of a quarter of the original amount in the amount of $435,000 now and the additional $435,000 when more secure rural school funds are received. The YCETC encumbrance requested would have flexibility and not necessary be solidified to the survey that was conducted last year. The board discussed that there is still money remaining from the last encumbrance for YCETC tech funds. Mr. Carter advised the board that some districts are holding off on using the funds to see how much technology is needed when opening schools. The board discussed extending the deadlines for the remaining funds in the YCETC Tech Fund encumbrance.
      8. Additional Needs of Member Districts – No additional needs of districts
      9. Approval of House-Chilson annual policy renewal – Carter advised the board that the annual policy renewal will be discussed under item 11, but he wanted to remind the board that the policy renewal is for both FFMA and YCETC boards.

Presentation, Discussion and Action Item: Request for Funding to Support a Countywide School Librarian. (Corey Christians)

Corey presented the board with his proposal to request $58,205 to fund a countywide school librarian. The board discussed that although the need is there, and the proposal was great, during the current pandemic, the board did not think this is a necessary avenue, when funds will be needed elsewhere.

Information, Discussion and Action: Review and Possibly Modify Funding for Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, Request for $50,000. Total, Minus Funds Currently Available.

Ryan with Yavapai College presented the board with the numbers from the last Matinee Series and the College is requesting $24,535 including the current remaining encumbrance in the amount of $25,465 for a total of $50,000. The board agreed to discuss the funding of the Matinee Series under item 11.

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

    • E-RATE Consultant for Yavapai County Educational Technology Consortium (YCETC) $15,800 annually, for 2 years $31,600
    • E-RATE Costs of all Member Districts for one year – $79,175
    • Professional Development for Teachers and Leaders
    • Officers and Directors Liability Policy – Carter advised the board that the annual policy renewal would cost $3,750
    • Other Items from the Floor

The board agreed to discuss all encumbrance items as a whole and to edit them as they go down the encumbrance list. To review the encumbrance list contact Jenn Nelson @  jenn.nelson@yavapai.us 

The board agreed to add $18,500 for the ERATE consultant, add $3,750 for the liability policy, extend the Yavapai College Matinee Series to Dec. 2020 and revisit for the additional request of $24,535 in December 2020, extend Teacher Recruitment to June 2021, add $18,000 to Teacher Retention Grant to expire Dec. 2020 and revisit for additional funds, add $67,325 for College & Career Specialist and extend through June 2021, extend PD through Dec. 2020 and revisit at a later date, add $331.34 for Sub. Consolidation for annual policy renewal and extend through June 2021, extend YCETC tech fund request Dec. 2020 to be revisited, and add $30,000 to the admin. fund and extend it through June, 2022.

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

Discussion and Action Item: Topics from the Board for Future Agenda Items

Open Discussion on Future Funding Items

Announce Future Meeting Dates

  • Tuesday September 8, 2020
  • Monday December 7, 2020

The board agreed to no longer hold meetings on Monday’s so there is more time to review the packet and information prior to a meeting, but to keep the meetings after the YCETC meeting. The board agreed to change the September 8th meeting to September 15th and change the December 7th meeting to December 17th. The board also decided to host  a special meeting on July 8th, 2020 at 9am to discuss the future funding requests.

Danny Brown made a motion to approve the new meeting dates of July 8th, September 15th and December 7th all with zoom availability; Kellie Burns seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 5/0 by Kellie Burns, Danny Brown, Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read and Dennis Dearden.

 

Action Item: Adjournment

Danny Brown adjourned the meeting at 12:02 p.m.