August 13, 2024 at 6:00 PM - Governing Board Meeting

A. Opening of Meeting

A.1. Call to Order

A.2. Pledge of Allegiance

B. Superintendent’s Report

B.1. Update on District Events and Activities

B.1.a. Superintendent Dr. Kevin Stoltzfus will provide an update on Flowing Wells School District Events and Activities.

C. Public Comments
Flowing Wells School District welcomes public comment. As outlined in A.R.S. §38-431.02, no action will be taken on issues raised in Public Comments unless items are found on agenda below. Other than this, the response to public comments will be limited to directing staff to study the matter or scheduling the matter as a future agenda item.

D. Consent Agenda
These items of Board business that are addressed routinely at every meeting are presented as a Consent Agenda. The Board may elect to take action on all items collectively in one motion or may individually consider any item(s) as separate agenda subjects for action.

D.1. Approval of Agenda for this Meeting

D.1.a. Request approval for the adoption of the agenda for this meeting, August 13, 2024.

D.2. Approval of Minutes of Governing Board Meetings

D.2.a. The following Governing Board meeting minutes are presented for Governing Board approval: July 23, 2024 (Open Session Minutes).

D.3. Approval of District Expense and Payroll Vouchers

D.3.a. Sign vouchers #7011-25 - 7020-15 for upcoming check batches (to be reviewed at the next Board Meeting). Expense and payroll vouchers are presented for Board approval: Expense vouchers #6895-6896 and 7001-25, 7002, 7003-25 - 7005-25 and Payroll voucher #2602.

D.4. Approval of Requests for Use of District Facilities

D.4.a. District facilities use requests are submitted for approval.

D.5. Approval of Requests for Student Trips

D.5.a. Student trip requests are submitted for approval.

D.6. Approval of Requests for Staff Travel

D.6.a. Staff travel requests are submitted for approval.

D.7. Approval of Personnel Actions

D.7.a. Personnel Actions are submitted for approval.

D.8. Acceptance of Gifts and Donations

D.8.a. Recommend acceptance of gifts and donations in the amount of $3,878.92 for the period of July 1-July 31, 2024.

D.9. Review of District Financial Statements

D.9.a. Review of Student Activity Balance Sheets and Auxiliary Operations Year-to-Date Budget Reports as of July 31, 2024.

D.10. Approval of Asset Retirement and Disposals

D.10.a. Approval is requested for the retirement and disposal of assets no longer used by the district as of August 9, 2024.

E. Business and Finance

E.1. Recommend Renewal of Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Altar Valley School District regarding Shared Transportation Responsibilities

E.1.a. District administration recommends renewal of the IGA with the Altar Valley School District (AVSD) to maintain shared transportation responsibilities and costs. In this agreement, FW provides multiple routes in the morning, after-school, and evening for students who live in Altar Valley. FW incurs salaries and benefits for bus drivers, monitors, and aides as needed, and AVSD reimburses FW for vehicle fuel and maintenance costs or provides vehicles for temporary use.

E.2. Recommend Approval to Contract with Pueblo Mechanical & Controls to Convert Richardson Elementary MPR Evaporative Cooling to Air Conditioning

E.2.a. District administration recommends approval to contract with Pueblo Mechanical & Controls to convert cooling in the Richardson Elementary MPR from evaporative to air conditioning. This project will provide improved temperature control in the MPR. The purchase would utilize pricing through Mohave Contract # 19F-PMAC2-0904. The total cost for the project is $749,136.69. The project would be funded through a building renewal grant approved by the School Facilities Division (SFD).

E.3. Recommend Approval to Contract with Soliant Health LLC for Special Education Provider Services for Fiscal Year 2024-2025

E.3.a. District administration recommends approval to contract with Soliant Health, LLC for special education provider services. The district has been unable to hire two certified occupational therapy assistants (COTA) due to the lack of qualified applicants. In addition, the district needs to contract for a registered behavior technician (RBT) to provide services for a student. Ms. Camacho reached out to several staffing companies and was able to find two COTAs and an RBT through Soliant Health LLC. The district would utilize pricing through the Tempe Elementary SAVE Contract #21-02-25. The estimated total cost for the three positions is $285,315. The funding source is Maintenance and Operations. The district will apply for an extraordinary high cost special education grant to offset approximately $85,000 of this cost.

E.4. Recommend Approval to Contract for a Certified Occupational Therapist through Aya Healthcare Inc. for Fiscal Year 2024-2025

E.4.a. Recommend approval to contract for an occupational therapist (OT) through Aya Healthcare Inc. The district has been unable to hire an OT due to the lack of qualified applicants.  Ms. Camacho has reached out to several staffing companies and was able to find a qualified OT through Aya Healthcare. The district would utilize pricing through the Deer Valley Unified School District SAVE RFP#25-5201-003-5.  The estimated total cost for the services is $150,000. The funding source is Maintenance and Operations.

E.5. Recommend Approval of FY2025 Amendment to IGA with Arizona Department of Economic Security for Transition from School to Work Program

E.5.a. District administration recommends approval of an amendment to the IGA with the Arizona Department of Economic Security (ADES) for the Transition from School to Work (TSW) Program at FWHS. In April 2023, the Board approved the current IGA, which is valid through June 30, 2027. This amendment keeps intact all aspects of the IGA and simply updates the grant budget from the initial amount of $171,183.18 to the new amount of $195,996.09. As a reminder, the TSW Program supports students with disabilities in accessing post-secondary opportunities including trade school, college, military, and/or careers. Students participate in elective courses focused on developing workplace skills through project-based learning, running a student business, and participating in volunteer activities around campus. This is a matching grant, with ADES providing 57.4% of the funding and FW providing 42.6%. The amendment is attached along with a spreadsheet identifying items to be charged to this grant.

E.6. Recommend Approval to Renew Service Agreement with Specialized Education of Arizona, Inc. (SESI)

E.6.a. District administration recommends approval to renew the agreement with SESI to provide tuition-out services for students through the Sierra Schools program for FY2024-2025. The agreement specifies services including staffing and programming for two behavioral needs classrooms of up to nine students per classroom at a fee of $30,070.67 per student, totaling $541,272.18 for FY2024-2025. This represents an estimated five percent increase over the prior year's fee structure.

E.7. Recommend Approval of Revision to Support Salary Schedule

E.7.a. District administration recommends approval of a revision to the FY2024-2025 Support Salary Schedule to increase the starting rate of the Medicaid in Public School (MIPS) Coordinator from $16.45/hour to $16.71/hour, an increase of $0.26. This increase raises the starting rate for the MIPS position to be commensurate with the starting rate for the Operations Specialist for Exceptional Student Services, a position requiring similar levels of skill, precision, and autonomy. The revision is highlighted on the attached document. 

F. Unfinished Business

F.1. Recommend Approval of Policy Revisions

F.1.a. District administration recommends approval of revisions to the policies listed below. Summaries are presented in the attached memo, and the full revisions are attached with strike-through text indicating deletions and underlined text indicating additions. These revisions were presented as information items for discussion during the Governing Board Meeting on July 23, 2024. No concerns have been raised regarding the draft policies, and no additional revisions have been made to the documents since the July 23 meeting.

• Policy ACA Sexual Harassment
• Policy ACAA Title IX Sex Discrimination
• Policy BBBA Board Member Qualifications
• Policy BGE Policy Communication and Feedback
• Policy CFD School-Based Management
• Policy EBAA Reporting of Hazards/Warning Systems (Pesticide Application Notice)
• Policy EBC Emergencies
• Policy ECB Building and Grounds Maintenance
• Policy EEAA Walkers and Riders

G. New Business

G.1. Information and Discussion regarding Elementary Gifted Curriculum

G.1.a. District administration provides information for review and discussion by the Governing Board regarding a pilot inter-disciplinary project-based learning curriculum project to be implemented in the elementary CATS program.

G.2. Recommend Approval of Qualified Evaluators for FY2024-2025

G.2.a. District administration recommends approval of Qualified Evaluators for Fiscal Year 2024-2025. Approval authorizes the identified administrators to complete teacher evaluations.

G.3. Information and Discussion regarding Proposed Policy Revisions

G.3.a. District administration presents for review proposed revisions to the policies listed below, with no action to be taken at this meeting. The attached memo summarizes the revisions, and the accompanying policy drafts include strike-through text to indicate deletions and underlined text to indicate additions.

• Policy GCF Professional Staff Hiring
• Policy GDC Support Staff Leaves and Absences
• Policy IHA Basic Instructional Program
• Policy IKF Graduation Requirements
• Policy JHD Exclusions and Exemptions from School Attendance

G.4. Recommend Approval to Remove Grades K-6 from Flowing Wells Digital Campus

G.4.a. District administration recommends approval to formally remove grades K-6 from our programming for Flowing Wells Digital Campus (FWDC). In 2012, the District received approval from the State Board of Education to establish FWDC as an Arizona Online Instruction (AOI) program, authorized to serve students in grades 7-12. In 2020, the District received provisional approval to expand FWDC to grades K-6 given the pandemic-caused demand among families for an asynchronous online program during the 2020-2021 school year. This provisional approval now is expiring. The District stopped offering K-6 programming in FWDC in 2021-2022 and does not intend to re-establish this programming, so the appropriate course of action is to submit a formal change request to the State Board of Education, reverting FWDC to its original structure servicing students in grades 7-12.

G.5. Discussion and Selection of a District Delegate for the Arizona School Boards Association's Delegate Assembly

G.5.a. Governing Board Members will discuss and select a delegate and possibly an alternate delegate to represent Flowing Wells as the District Delegate to the ASBA Delegate Assembly on September 7, 2024. The delegate would represent the Board's position regarding ASBA's proposed Political Agenda for 2024-2025 at the Delegate Assembly.

G.6. Discussion and Possible Approval of Arizona School Boards Association's Proposed Political Agenda for 2024-2025

G.6.a. Arizona School Boards Association's Draft Political Agenda for 2024-2025 is presented for Governing Board discussion and possible approval. This agenda is a marked-up version of the prior year's agenda, with changes marked in red. The Board may consider action to approve in whole or in part the Draft Political Agenda.

H. Adjourn