Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020

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

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 1:00 P.M.

Also present were: Stan Goligoski – YCESA, Frank Vander Horst – YCESA, Jenn Nelson – 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. 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 June 1, 2020
2. Approval of the Minutes from the regular meeting agenda for Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Kellie Burns made a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented; 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 September distribution has still not been received. Natural Resources committee advises they do not know when the payment will be released, but it could possibly be well after the election, into March 2021. March would be a reasonable time period for any new or additional funds as well as the September 2020 payment. If needed a special meeting can be called.

Information, Discussion: Status of Return FFMA and Yavapai County Educational Technology Consortium (YCETC) IGA Renewals. YCETC is also Seeking an Amendment for Non-Profit Status (Superintendent Carter)

Mr. Carter advised the board that all the IGAs have been received back signed by the districts. Mr. Carter explained that YCETC is seeking an amendment for non-profit status in Arizona, districts have been asked to return the signed amendment before the end of the calendar year so that the YCETC by-laws can be updated and paperwork can be filed with the state.

Information and Discussion: Yavapai County “School Librarian” Position Created and Functioning (Superintendent Carter)

This item is a follow up of the request from Corey Christians regarding the school librarian position. The board was very supportive but due to funding, was unable to approve an encumbrance for the school librarian position. The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors approved to cover the needed funding for the position for the year. The school librarian position is held as a county position by Suzi Roth, who will help organize libraries and train staff.

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

1. Technology Related Funding – Stan advised the board that 4 districts had requested their full funding upfront, all other districts are holding off on requesting reimbursements until later in the fiscal year. The board had agreed to add $851,611 more to the funding but only allow $400k to be available currently and the rest would be available once the September 2020 distribution was received. The board discussed since the distribution has not yet been received if the Tech Fund should be frozen until more funding is received or if other encumbrance items should be reduced to cover the Tech Funding costs. Since the districts are currently content with waiting for reimbursement until later in the fiscal year, the board agreed not to suspend or reduce other encumbrances. After discussing that the possibility of receiving funds could take up to 18 months, the board agreed to freeze the Tech Fund encumbrance until December and review again at the next meeting. Stan advised the board that prior to this meeting (Sept. 15) there had been requests that came through for funding, and requested that those be approved for reimbursement, the board agreed to pay any requests prior to the September 15 meeting and any requests going forward will be held until further notice. The board requested that Stan send out an email announcing that Tech Fund will be frozen until September 2020 payment is received or until further notice.

          Danny Brown made a motion to suspend the Tech Fund and review the status at the December meeting, with the exception of the                 districts whose reimbursement requests had come through prior to the September 15 meeting; Dennis Dearden seconded the motion;           it was unanimously approved 5/0 by, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown, Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read and Dennis Dearden.

2. Professional Development Funding – The board reviewed the remaining balance in the Professional Development funding and agreed to let those funds expire in December of 2020.

3. COVID-19 Item Funding – Carter advised the board that there have not been many requests for COVID-19 or PPE related items. The board agreed since there is no pressing need for COVID-19 or PPE funding, they will discuss this item again at the December meeting.

4. Administrative Fund (Superintendent Carter) – Carter advised the board that he will be taking the annual D.C. trip the second week of February which will be around $1,000 but no other spending to report.

5. Elections Update (Superintendent Carter & Mrs. Nelson) – Elections costs are unknown at this time but will most likely not expend the entire encumbrance. There are 4 districts with special elections (bonds, overrides, etc.) and 5 districts that will have board members on ballot. Within the next year or so before the 2022 election cycle, more funds will be requested.

6. Advocacy Update (Mrs. Agneessens) – Rosemary discussed with the board that there was no special session, but there may be one after the election. Several groups in Yavapai County held a special project making masks for students and produced 2,481 masks made for districts. Rosemary and Mr. Carter advised the board that going forward any paperwork shared with the public will include factual documents but FFMA and YCESA logos will not appear on documents, if Rosemary is presenting documents from a specific district then they can use their own logos.

7. E-Rate Update (Mr. Vander Horst) – Frank discussed with the board that there is a lot of E-Rate activity to change E-Rate regulations with the FCC and the definition of a campus versus a district, security funding is also an issue being discussed as well as wifi for schools. Frank will advise all districts when any changes are made.

8. Other Budget, Encumbrance or Financial Items Raised from the Member Districts or Board Members – No other budget items were discussed.

Topics from the Board for Future Agenda Items

Tech Funding, COVID-19 funding, Professional Development

Announce Future Meeting Dates

• Thursday December 17, 2020
• Tuesday March 9, 2021 (1 PM)
• Tuesday June 8, 2021 (1 PM)
• Tuesday September 14, 2021 (1 PM)
• Tuesday December 14, 2021 (1 PM)

The board agreed to the above meeting dates. 

Action Item: Adjournment

Danny Brown adjourned the meeting at 1:52 PM

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