Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, June 13, 2023

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

Tuesday, June 13, 2023 10:00 am 

Also present were: Jenn Nelson – YCESA, Frank Vander Horst – YCESA, Craig Ralston – YC, Andre Sylvester – YC 

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

Welcome and Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 10:02

Establishment of Quorum and Pledge of Allegiance (President Brown)

A quorum was established

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 and Action Items of the Consent Agenda: 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 the Regular Meeting Minutes on March 21, 2023 and Special Meeting Minutes on May 8, 2023
2. Approval of the Agenda for Tuesday, June 13, 2023 

Danny Brown made a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented; Kellie Burns seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 3/0 by Danny Brown, Stephanie Miller, and Kellie Burns.
Danny requested the board move item 7E to be discussed after item 5, due to Yavapai College guests needing to present before 11am. The board agreed to move the item.

Information, Discussion and Action Item: Fiscal Agent Report, Political/Legislative Update, Secure Rural Schools Update 

Mr. Carter advised the board that there has been no movement for Secure Rural School funds. The current distribution from 2022 has been received. There is no current vehicle for SRS to attach to for future funding. There are senators that are actively engaged but they are in the minority and not in the house. There are other groups that are actively watching and discussing SRS who depend on funds and trying to create movement.

Information, Discussion and Action Item: Review Recommendations of the Yavapai County Educational Technology Consortium (YCETC) Board of Directors for a Part Time, Possibly Shared Technology Executive Director, for an Annual amount of $50,000 (Salary and Benefits), which Could be an Employee or an Independent Contractor

Mr. Carter advised the board that the YCETC board had discussed the need for a technology director for districts. The board discussed at length the specifics of the position and if it could be beneficial to both large and small districts. The board agreed the position sounded more like a technical advisor. Due to the turnover of 3 board members on the YCETC board and 2 on the FFMA board, the board agreed to direct Mr. Carter to discuss this topic with the new YCETC board members and request a job description before any decision is made

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

1. Technology Related Funding – The board requested that the information for technology funds be emailed out again to IT personnel and school administrators
2. Consolidated Substitute Teacher Potential Training Update – Mr. Carter advised the board that there will be 2 substitute teacher trainings this summer with himself and 2 other instructors
3. E-Rate Update – Frank advised the board a majority of the 23/24 funding requests have been approved, funding for YCETC internet has not yet been approved. There are some significant changes going through the FCC but there is no movement due to lack of seats filled and no tie-breaker vote.
4. Lobbying/Advocacy Update – The board reviewed the amount remaining that has been an ongoing amount for years and agreed that it should be an annual allocation instead. The board agreed to have Jenn or Mr. Carter send out information to the districts letting them know how much their district has left for lobbying funds, reimbursement for lobbyist payments for 22/23 school year will be allowed to be reimbursed through July 15th. The board reviewed the amounts spent and agreed that $3,000 per a district should be enough for the 23/24 fiscal year. The board discussed what should be done with the districts who overspent their allocated amount and agreed to send those districts an invoice.
   Stephanie Miller made a motion to allocate a total of $72,000 ($3,000 per district) for the 2024 fiscal year beginning July 1 through June 2024, and allow districts to submit reimbursements for the remaining 2023 fiscal year allocation though July 15th; Danny Brown seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 3/0 by Danny Brown, Stephanie Miller and Kellie Brown
5. Yavapai College Matinee Series – Craig and Andre with Yavapai College presented to the board the statistics from the 22/23 matinee series. The board was pleased with the attendance of 21 schools from 11 different districts. The 23/24 matinee series will be branched out to Verde Valley and Sedona as well. Craig requested the board encumber $50,000 for the 23/24 school year matinee series.
   Danny Brown made a motion to approve an encumbrance for $50,000 for the 23/24 fiscal year for Yavapai College Matinee Series; Stephanie Miller seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 3/0 by Danny Brown, Stephanie Miller and Kellie Burns
6. Administrative Fund – Mr. Carter and the board reviewed the expenses of the administrative fund, the board appreciated seeing how the FFMA is funding governing board trainings, countywide meetings, website maintenance, insurance and legal fees, along with Crisis teams’ intervention. The board agreed to allocate another $67,000 for the administrative fund through 2024
   Danny Brown made a motion to approve a new allocation of $67,000 to administrative fund through June 2024; Kellie Burns seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 3/0 by Danny Brown, Stephanie Miller and Kellie Burns
7. Elections Update – Jenn advised the board that the allocation should be enough through the 2024 election cycle. 
8. Other Budget, Encumbrance, , or Financial Items Raised from the Member Districts or Board Members
   Jenn advised the board that the consolidated substitute teacher program will need a new annual allocation for the 23/24 school year, Dani Tomerlin had advised Jenn to request an estimated amount of $30,000.
   Danny Brown made a motion to approve the 23/24 substitute teacher program allocation in the amount of $30,000; Kellie Burns seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 3/0 by Danny Brown, Kellie Burns and Stephanie Miller.

Information, Discussion and Action Item: President Brown (Group 3) and Board Member Dearden (Group 4) will be Retiring Prior to our Next Regular Meeting. They have been Valuable Members of the FFMA Board of Directors for Many Years, and Will be Missed. The Board will Direct Superintendent Carter to Call for Electronic Nominations and Hold an Electronic Election to have Those Groups Fill both Seats per the By-Laws

Mr. Carter advised the board that YCETC is also holding an electronic nomination and election for 3 board members, and it can get confusing to overlap both board’s nominations. Mr. Carter requested the board call for an election for Group 3 and Group 4 upon the conclusion of the YCETC board elections. The board agreed that the Vice President will precede until September when the board can hold an election of officers with the new board members. Mr. Carter advised the board that Dennis Dearden in Group 4 may stay through December, and if he does, whoever is nominated to take his place will begin on the board once Dearden has vacated his seat. The board discussed how to acknowledge the retiring members and Mr. Carter suggested that the board members could choose a charity that the board can donate to along with a certificate of service.
Stephanie Miller made a motion to direct Mr. Carter to call for electronic nominations and election for Group 3 and Group 4 upon conclusion of the YCETC board elections; Danny Brown seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 3/0 by Danny Brown, Stephanie Miller and Kellie Burns.

Discussion and Action Item – Topics from the Board for Future 

Follow up with YCETC, officer election, presentation of certificate to retiring board members

Announce Future Meeting Dates

• Tuesday September 12, 2023 (10 AM) 
• Tuesday December 12, 2023 (10 AM) 

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

Action Item: Adjournment

Danny Brown adjourned the meeting at 11:45 am

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