Crane governing board meeting at a glance
The Crane School District governing board convened on May 10 for its regular meeting, which can be accessed at https://vimeo. com/701700109. Here’s a look at what happened.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
The meeting began with a public hearing overviewing the expenditure budget revisions for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Chief of Finance and Operations Dale Ponder presented on the topic, identifying the changes made.
For the maintenance and operations fund, there’ll be a reduction of $150,000. Ponder noted that nothing was cut to make this shift. For capital funds, there’s an increase of about $2.5 million to address a new dining hall and classroom space for Gowan Science Academy. This includes ancillary components and curriculum adoption.
The classroom site fund will increase by nearly $147,000 and the special projects fund is set to increase by about $11.6 million due to Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds and other grants.
Ponder stated the revisions are mainly due to changes in average daily membership, changes to the revenue control limit from the prior year, budget balance carryover from the prior year and changes in budget lines due to program expenses and utilization of ESSER funds.
A hearing was also held on the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction Plan. This was in accordance with the requirement that the local educational agency (LEA) must regularly review and revise the plan as needed at least every six months. Part of this process involves seeking public input, but no members of the public came to speak during this hearing, making it uneventful.
ASBA DELEGATE SELECTION AND POLITICAL AGENDA
The governing board selected Sarah Claridge as a delegate and Marcos Moore as the alternate to represent Crane in the Arizona School Boards Association’s delegate assembly in September.
The proposed issues for the year’s political agenda to bring to the assembly are as follows: adequately and equitably fund district schools at least to the national median per pupil standard for funding; public accountability for taxpayer dollars spent on education; the inclusion of a poverty weight for school districts who provide educational services to students who are living in households at, or below, the federal poverty level; and funding for allday kindergarten.
ELA CURRICULUM ADOPTION
The governing board approved the adoption of new English/Language Arts (ELA) curricula. This decision comes after a process involving public hearings and a committee. Director of Curriculum Abby Pemberton presented the curricula recommendations to the board: “Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Into Reading” for kindergarten through sixth grades and “Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Into Literature” for sixth through eighth grades.
“I am so excited to make this recommendation … You know, you’re not going to have a perfect adoption which everybody agrees with the program, but I am so proud of these committee members [who came to a consensus on April 25],” Pemberton said.
She explained to the board that the program would cost about $394,165 in its first year and in the following years, about $162,518 per year for consumables and digital licenses. Some concerns were expressed about the amount of digital material available, but Pemberton noted that plenty of schools already have the trade books favored by students that could supplement material and an as-yet-undetermined outside source will also be turning a critical eye to the program.
One of the big reasons for adopting a new curriculum program now is that the district hasn’t adopted an ELA course since about 2002-2003. Pemberton stated doing so now is going to be a big investment.
“We’ve struggled with this for years, getting an ELA, and then COVID hit and it just kicked our butts,” board member Sarah Claridge commented. “We’re starting fresh and we’re going to get this and everybody back up where we need to go–and at such a low cost, I mean, come on!”
Ultimately, the board approved the curricula, but with the following caveats: extensive professional development for three years will occur for the curriculum as well as English Language Learners; all physical copies of books will be in the hands of students, teachers and principals as deemed necessary; and funding will come out of district funds and not schools’ site funds.
CONSENT AGENDA AND ACTION ITEMS
The governing board voted to approve the consent agenda, which consists of items of a routine nature that do not typically require deliberation. However, board member Sarah Claridge pulled one item considering adoption of 2022-2023 school program capacities for discussion.
Claridge expressed that the concern of setting the district up for huge classrooms has been brought up a few times and would like to see the issue become a little more streamlined. Ponder answered her concerns, stating that in most cases, there’s sufficient capacity in buildings to accommodate enrollment requests. Additionally, the district caps classrooms where certain measures are met. Ultimately, the item was approved with the note to keep an eye on it should capacity concerns arise.
A few of the evening’s action items involved employee compensation. The governing board approved a 3% salary increase for the superintendent for the 2022-2023 school year to align with all other staff members of the district. It approved the revised 20222023 Proposed Classified Management Salary Schedule for various positions and the adjusted hourly rates for the 21st Century Community Learning Center program hourly rates (effective July 1, 2022). The board also approved a new position of preschool substitute classroom support.
Lastly, the major remaining action item on custodial services led to the board’s approval to continue its partnership with SSC Services for Education (SSC) for the 2022-2023 school year, effective July 1, 2022. The governing board had previously requested that administration solicit feedback from staff members regarding the quality of custodial services being received from SSC, and after the presentation including the feedback received, voted to continue with SSC.
The next governing board meeting will take place Tuesday, June 28 at 5 p.m.