MINUTES OF REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING OF GOVERNING BOARD
Place, Date and Time of Meeting
701 West Wetmore Road, January 9, 2001, 5:49 p.m.
Board Members Present
Dr. Kenneth Smith, President
Nancy Young Wright, Vice President/Clerk
Kent Barrabee, Member
Mike Prout, Member
Mary Schuh, Member
Central Administrators Present
Dr. Vicki M. Balentine, Superintendent
Dr. Katie M. Frey, Associate Superintendent
Dr. Richard Hooley, Associate Superintendent
Todd A. Jaeger, J.D., Associate to Superintendent and General Counsel
Call to Order and Signing of Visitors Register
Dr. Kenneth Smith called the meeting to order.
1. Motion to Recess Open Meeting and Hold an Executive Session:
Dr. Smith announced that the Board would recess open meeting and hold an executive session for:
| A. Consideration and determination of appeal of long-term suspension hearing officer's
decision, pursuant to A.R.S. § 15-843(A)
B. Determination of whether to hold an expulsion hearing and designate a hearing officer to hear evidence, prepare a record and bring a recommendation to the board, pursuant to A.R.S. § 15-843 (F)(2) |
A motion was made by Mr. Prout, seconded by Mrs. Schuh and passed unanimously, that the Board recess into executive session. The time was 5:50 p.m.
Reconvening of Meeting and Signing of Visitors Register
Following the executive session, Dr. Smith reconvened the meeting at 7:07 p.m. and asked
members of the audience to sign the visitors register. Procedures for addressing the Board
were described.
Pledge of Allegiance
Amphitheater High School Culinary Arts II and III students were introduced by Principal Ramon
Paz: Timothy Calk, Morgan Sciutto, Cherie Crooks, Anna Soderman and Jennifer Erickson. They
led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and were recognized by the Board with certificates of
commendation.
James D. Schuh commented on the Gear Up program, of his view of the advantages received by the cohort group and the disadvantaged non-cohort group.
2. Oath of Office to Newly Elected Governing Board Members
At the general election held November 7, 2000, Kent Barrabee, Mike Prout, and Nancy Young
Wright were elected to the office of Governing Board Member of Amphitheater United School
District No. 10. Dr. Balentine administered the Oath of Office to Dr. Barrabee, Mr. Prout
and Mrs. Young Wright.
3. Election of Officers of the Governing Board
In election of officers, Dr. Barrabee moved the nomination of Dr. Kenneth Smith for President
of the Governing Board; the nomination was seconded by Ms. Young Wright and passed
unanimously. Mrs. Schuh moved the nomination of Nancy Young Wright for Vice President/Clerk
of the Board; the nomination was seconded by Mr. Prout and passed unanimously.
4. Announcement of Date and Place of Next Governing Board Meeting
Dr. Smith announced the next regular meeting of the Governing Board: January 23, 2001, 7:00
p.m., at Wetmore Center, 701 West Wetmore.
A motion was made by Mr. Prout to approve the consent agenda, with the exception of Item I. Ms. Young Wright seconded the motion, and asked that Item A also be excluded from the motion. In voting on the consent agenda, with the exception of Items I and A, the motion passed unanimously. Appointment of personnel is effective, provided all district, state and federal requirements are met.
Item A: Ms. Young Wright noted corrections to minutes: May 23, 2000: Dr. Kenneth Smith to be shown as present; December 12, 2000: meeting location, Painted Sky Elementary School.
Item I: Mr. Prout inquired as to the use to be made of two cars being donated to Canyon del Oro High School. This information will be provided in a Friday memo.
A motion was made by Mr. Prout to approve items A (as corrected) and I. The motion was seconded by Dr. Barrabee and passed unanimously.
| A. Approval of Minutes Minutes of the December 12, 2000, December 6, 2000, and May 23, 2000, Governing Board meetings were approved.
B. Appointment of Personnel
C. Personnel Changes
D. Leave(s) of Absence
E. Separation(s) and Termination(s)
F. Requests for Early Retirement with Special Benefits
G. Tucson Electric Power Company Right-of-Way Easement at Ironwood Ridge High School
H. Out-of-State Travel
I. Acceptance of Gifts
J. Approval of Vouchers
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5. Study of Policies BED, BEDD, and BEDF Regarding Governing Board Meeting Procedures,
Bylaws, Rules of Order and Voting Method; Study of and Board Direction Regarding Revisions
Thereto
Board book information: A.R.S. § 15-321(D) mandates that school district governing boards
adopt rules for their own governance. The Amphitheater Governing Board has adopted the ASBA
model of simplified rules of governance for its meetings. President Smith requested revision
of those rules to be more comprehensive, yet not complicated, and Mrs. Schuh provided
suggestions for revision based upon Pima County Board of Supervisor procedures.
The Board studied draft revisions to these policies on November 14, 2000. Additional revisions, based upon the Board's discussion and revision, were contained in draft revisions as presented. These additional revisions include a "call for the question" rule which allows members to object to the cessation of debate, as suggested by Dr. Barrabee and Mr. Prout. Other revisions had been made to provide guidance on how to address the Board, as Dr. Barrabee requested. A statement had also been added to reference the controlling authorities to which Board actions are subject, as Mrs. Schuh requested. As Dr. Smith suggested, revision had been made to include a statement that Robert's Rules of Order shall apply where these rules do not address a matter of order. Current versions of Policies BED, BEDD and BEDF were also available for comparison.
Dr. Smith stated he would like Board policy to be consistent with Robert's Rules of Order, which states that nominations do not require a second. Under Policy BEDD, Rules of Order, Motions, the revision is to read, "Each item shall require a motion and all motions shall require seconding, with the exception of a nomination, which shall not require a second."
Dr. Barrabee referred to the proposed change to Policy BEDD, under Suspension of Rules: "Rules of order may be subject to suspension only upon a majority vote of the members of the Board present at a meeting, and only when placed on the agenda." He stated that if you were to place it on the agenda, it would need to be a week before; therefore, how would you then be suspending the rules. Mr. Jaeger responded that the reason we require that it be placed on the agenda is to comply with the Open Meeting Law. Dr. Barrabee asked whether notice of rule suspension could be included on agendas as a footnote. Mr. Jaeger stated that this could be done.
Ms. Young Wright noted in Policy BED, the proposed addition, "All actions of the Governing Board and District are governed and controlled by the U.S. Constitution . . ." She suggested it might be clearer if it read, "All actions of the Governing Board and the District and its Employees . . .", and asked for clarification as to whether "district" does mean "employees." Mr. Jaeger indicated that the district acts through its employees, so this would be inclusive of the actions of district employees. "Employees" could be added, however. Mrs. Schuh noted that "district" implies all people who come under the umbrella of the district, including employees, students, parents.
In response to an inquiry from Mr. Prout, Mr. Jaeger clarified that the Governing Board's policies are the district's policies, because the Governing Board sets the policies for the district. There are also administrative regulations that are determined by the Superintendent but also govern the district and its employees.
There being no objection to adding "district employees" to this particular item, Dr. Smith suggested that this be included. He also directed that the Suspension of Rules footnote be placed on the agenda.
A motion was made by Ms. Young Wright and seconded by Mr. Prout to approve the policy as suggested.
In discussion, Dr. Smith stated that Robert's Rules of Order, Ninth Edition, will be followed until changed by the Board.
The motion passed unanimously.
6. Open Meeting Law Training
Board book information: The Arizona Open Meeting Law (the OML), A.R.S. §§ 38-431, et seq.,
underwent revision in Chapter 358 of the 2000 Laws adopted by the Arizona Legislature and
signed by the Governor. This item provided for review of the requirements of the OML,
including the new revisions.
Mr. Jaeger reviewed the Open Meeting Law, particularly as it applies to the Governing Board and its committees. In discussion of Board members forwarding such items as newspaper articles to other Board members and possible violations of the OML, it was felt that the Information section of the agenda would be an appropriate place for consideration of such items. Dr. Smith stated that this is an area where the Board must exercise a substantial amount of caution. It was noted that it was communication involving a quorum of the board that was at issue; sending something to one Board member would not constitute a communication within a quorum, and would not be prohibited.
Mr. Jaeger stated that the law only restricts the communication that Board members have with one another. He clarified that if a Board member sent an e-mail to a non-board member and that person then sent it to all the Board members, not at the sending Board member's request but simply on his or her own volition, that is not a problem. The same would apply with an employee. The law specifies that a member of the board cannot request that a staff member act in a way that the board member himself or herself would not be allowed to act. If the Superintendent happens to obtain information and determines of her own volition to send it to the Governing Board, that is not inappropriate -- assuming that it is not an attempt to circumvent the law, that there is no implicit or explicit understanding that the Superintendent will forward the item to the Board. The Superintendent is communicating with the Board members rather than the communication being between the quorum of the Board.
Mr. Jaeger clarified that a Board member placing something on the Arizona School Boards Association list-serve, knowing that all of the other members of the board are on the list-serve, does not violate the law because the Board member is seeking to communicate with a broad group of individuals. The same would be true of an op-ed piece: it is a very broad-based dissemination and one doesn't know whether Board members might read it. Mr. Jaeger indicated in Board members receiving a clipping service from the district there is no violation of the law.
Dr. Smith stated that, being cautious, he had asked the Board secretary on a number of occasions to post purely social gatherings, indicating that the Board will not be discussing business of the Board. Mr. Jaeger said he agreed with this practice, and had asked the Board secretary to do the same. While it may be a very conservative interpretation of the law, we know from the Attorney General that this complies with the law. It is advisable, because any time you have a gathering of the Board in some room, however separated they may be by different groups or barriers, it could be questioned whether or not there has been any communication or whether there has been compliance with the law.
In discussion of call to the audience, Mr. Jaeger clarified that if an agendized item is addressed during call to the audience, the Board may respond.
Ms. Young Wright, referring to the revised OML, wherein it indicates that call to the audience is specifically permitted by law, stated it was her understanding that was added because of Amphitheater and its long-standing efforts to get call to the audience. She expressed appreciation to Diana Boros and others who could not be present for helping make this happen.
Board members discussed the fact that a forum for governing board candidates could not be held during the last election because of the OML. Ms. Young Wright expressed the hope that before the next election clearer direction could be obtained. It was felt that this would require legislative modification.
In discussion of sharing of things such as newspaper articles, Mr. Jaeger stated that if an article ties in with an agenda item, it could be mentioned and passed out at that time; otherwise, an informational agenda item that would tie into current events issues in the district would be appropriate. Administration will further consider these issues and report back to the Board. Board members thanked Mr. Jaeger for his presentation.
Board members requested future agenda items:
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Mrs. Schuh: Update on La Cholla/Donaldson issue, for the next agenda (information will be
provided this week and also placed on a later agenda).
Mr. Prout: Joint meeting with Oro Valley Town Council. Dr. Smith noted that the meeting is scheduled for February 5. The agenda will be compiled by both entities. Board members will submit suggestions for the agenda. Ms. Young Wright suggested impact fees for schools be included. Ms. Young Wright: Discussion of detail of minutes. Dr. Balentine stated that she could talk with Board members individually and move forward with that input, with Board members providing input when they notice details they would like included. Mrs. Schuh: Budget discussion, perhaps including departmental input. Dr. Balentine noted that there will be a general budget process presented at the January 23 Board meeting, outlining the process the district will use. It was her recommendation that at that time the process not involve individual department input to the Board, that this be done in a separate administrative capacity, with compiled results then presented to the Board at various points in the next couple months. |
There were no comments from the public.
A motion was made by Ms. Young Wright, seconded by Dr. Barrabee and passed unanimously, that the meeting be adjourned. The time was 9:05 p.m.