Forest Fee Management Association

Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, September 3, 2019

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

Tuesday September 3, 2019 9:00 A.M.

Board Member Attendance – P=Present EX=Previous notice of absence ABS=No previous notice of absence
Board MembersRepresentingSept. 3 2019Dec. 2 2019Mar. 2 2020June 1 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, John Scholl – Chino Valley USD, 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 June 3, 2019
  2. Approval of the Regular Meeting Agenda for Tuesday September 3, 2019

President Brown Pulled item B for discussion. President Brown advised the board he was amending the agenda and deleting item 10, due to the fact that the presenters were unable to attend.

Kellie Burns made a motion to approve the regular meeting agenda for 9-3-2019 with the amendment; Dennis Dearden seconded the motion; it was unanimously approved 5/0 by Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown and Dennis Dearden

Kellie Burns made a motion to approve item A; 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 1,481,826.54 in the bank with $1,229,409.06 encumbered so there is $252,417.48 available for future encumbrances with an additional $49,267.21 coming in from sequestered distribution. There being no questions regarding the fiscal report and no action to be taken, Mr. Carter moved onto the legislative report.

Mr. Carter advised the board that Congress is on board for Secure Rural Schools, waiting for the right timing to move through the natural resource committee. There is no anticipated movement until Mid-October which would be funding that was to be distributed in Sept. 2019, so it is now 1 year behind where it should be.

Information, Discussion and Action Item: Approval of Total Fund Distribution Amount of $98,534.64. This is the Sequestration Amount Which Was Incorrectly Withheld from the Original Payment and Paid to Schools in June 2019. It is Being Considered as a “Continuation: of the Original Payment, so the Original ADM Amounts Remain in Effect. (Superintendent Carter)

Mr. Carter advised the board the $98,534.64 is the sequestration amount and this will complete the distribution for September of 2018 that was original done in June 2019.

Kellie Burns made a motion to approve the distribution amount of $98,534.64; 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 and Action Item: Approval of the Fund Distribution Formula;

  • The total 2018 amount to be distributed, including interest earned, is $98,534.64
  • The total ADM per school is listed, amounting to a county wide total of 20,060.60 ADM
  • Dividing 20,060.60 into $98,534.64 creates a “per pupil amount” of $4.9118
  • Multiplying the “per pupil amount” by the individual school district ADM provides a remaining amount
  • That difference is $0.98, leaving a rounding amount of $0.03 per school (25 school districts) which is then added to the school total
  • The $0.23 left over goes to our smallest school……Crown King

Mr. Carter advised the board that the continuation of 2018 ADM is being used because this will completed the 2018 September Distribution that was done in June 2019 minus the sequestered amount.

Kellie Burns made a motion to approval the formula as presented; 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 and Action Item: Approval of the Annual Allocation per District. See the Attached List of School Districts and Amounts (Superintendent Carter)

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

Information and Discussion Item: Request for Additional Funding, Yavapai College Matinee Series (Ryan Gastonguay)

Item has been pulled and deleted from agenda due to presenters not being able to attend. The item will be added to the December agenda.

Information and Discussion and Action Item: Request for Funding for Professional Development to Transition to the NEW Arizona Science Standards. (Mardi Read)

Mardi presented the board with her proposal to request funds for PD in regard to the new Arizona Science Standards. The board discussed the need for the PD for all districts. Mardi advised the board that Chino Valley is currently holding PD for teachers from Chino Valley USD, Ash Fork USD, Mayer USD and Seligman USD. John Scholl advised the board that the current training will be September 13, 2019 and there are 20 spots available for teachers to attend. The proposal included 2 different trainings. The board agreed that trainings would need to be held in Prescott area as well as the Verde Valley. The proposal also includes funding for teachers’ salary, subs, travel and trainers. The Introduction training is a 2-day training period and the Application training is a 1-day training. The training would be specifically for science teachers. Mardi advised the board that she has been working with Cindy Daniels with Chino Valley USD and they are working together to coordinate trainings. The board requested that Stan send out a survey to schools to see if there is any need for more than two 2-day trainings in Prescott area. Stan will coordinate the PD registration and booking the venue for the trainings.

Stephanie Miller made a motion to approve the proposal with the following conditions: Up to $100,000 for Science PD funding, there would be a committee to make decisions and book trainers (Mardi Read, Cindy Daniels and Stan Goligoski), the Science PD Fund would cover costs for trainers, travel and per diem or guest teacher with a cap of $181.50 reimbursed to the district per a teacher and a minimum of $150, there will be a minimum of three 2-day Introduction Trainings with 50 teachers max (2 in Prescott area 1 in Verde Valley), a minimum of three 1-day trainings with 30 teachers max (Prescott area and Verde Valley), and at a minimum 1 attendee per a district and the committee will decide further details for available spots.

The board discussed the funds would not cover materials or food costs

Stephanie Miller amended her motion to include no coverage for food costs or materials; Mardi Read seconded the amended motion; it was approved unanimously 5/0 by Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown and Dennis Dearden

Information, Discussion: All Current and Possible Future Programs may be Reviewed and Adjusted by the Board as Needed

Substitute Consolidation –

Stan advised the board that there are 40 new sub teachers that have been added to ESI and Minugs Union High School is now using the substitute consolidation services. Stan advised the board that Charters have expressed an interest in the sub consolidation and they will be meeting to discuss if they have enough need to create their own, but as long as the board funds the current consolidation the Charter are unable to join.

Lobbying and Community Organizing –

Rosemary was unable to attend but left a note for the board that June was slow, July had a large turnout for Rep. Fillmore’s Yavapai visit. August she will be working with Spanish speaking parents regarding expressed fear from the El Paso incident. The board reviewed the Lobbyist Funds spreadsheet. The board discussed if there was need for more Lobbyist funds or if there was enough to cover what was needed. The Board recognized that the $7,750 was allocated in 2018 and ends in June 2020. The board discussed adding additional funds for the districts who have exhausted their funds but ultimately agreed the $7,750 was a good amount to offset lobbying efforts for 2 years per a district.

Recruiting and Retention –

Stan advised the board that the recruiting fund is still good through June 2020 for the South Dakota trip. Stan advised the board that he would like to request $45,000 of additional funding through March 2020, due to the success of the grant and that there are pending requests. Mr. Carter advised the board that he had heard from different Superintendents requesting to know why the FFMA still funds the retention of teachers and reimburses school funding when the state runs the same type of grant. The board discussed and agreed they would like to know the parameters of the state grants and they will need to give member districts ample notice if this grant is no longer funded through FFMA. Stan agreed that he will do some research and bring information for the board to the December meeting. Mardi requested that Jenn include the date paid for the teacher retention grants. Jenn advised the board she will add a new column of date paid.

Stephanie Miller made a motion to approve the requested amount of $45,000 and further discuss the need at the next meeting; Kellie Burns seconded the motion; it was approved unanimously 5/0 by Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown and Dennis Dearden

Update from Administrative Fund –

Mr. Carter advised the board that the admin fund has funded 16 different occasions for the Crises Response Team for students and the only other large expense will be his DC trip January 2020.

College and Career Specialist –

Stan advised the board that Kendra is getting back into schools and setting up meetings with students. There is a new AmeriCorp member that will start Thursday September 5, 2019 and she will assisting Kendra.

Additional Needs of Member Districts –

No additional funds requested. Stan updated the board on the Tech Fund and that prices are locked in until December. President Brown asked FFMA should anticipate YCETC requests for more funds. Mr. Carter and Stan advised the board the YCETC will be discussing ransomware and possible funding.

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

The following items will be added to the December 2019 agenda; increase E-Rate Consultant Fee, Discuss further need for Teacher Retention Grant, Yavapai College Matinee Series.

Announce Future Meeting Dates

  • September 3, 2019
  • December 2, 2019
  • 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

Stephanie Miller made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:42; Dennis Dearden seconded the motion; it was approved unanimously 5/0 by Stephanie Miller, Mardi Read, Kellie Burns, Danny Brown and Dennis Dearden.