MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE

Governing Board of Education

Regular Meeting Minutes

      October 27, 2010

A regular meeting of the Mountain Institute Governing Board of Education was held on October 27, 2010at the Mountain Institute District Office, 3003 Centerpointe East Dr., Prescott, AZ  86301and convened at 6:00 p.m. 

6:00 P.M.  REGULAR SESSION

1.    WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER:

      Chairman Roger Harlow called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.                               

2.   PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/FLAG CEREMONY:

      The pledge was led by Roger Harlow. 

3.   ROLL CALL:

      Present were Board members Heidi Baker, Tony Carroll, Jesse Eller, Roger Harlow, Ronnie Hawley, and Casey Samsill.  A quorum was established.  Thomas Liuzzo was absent. Also present were; Ray Polvani, Mountain Institute Superintendent; Jeramy Plumb, Program Director; Howard Moody, ESA consultant and Finance Director; Sandy Somsen, Career and Education Coordinator; and Karen Leja, Board Secretary. Guest from the community was Paula Rhoden, Prescott Daily Courier. 

4.   PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:

      There was no public participation. 

5.   CONSENT AGENDA:          

      There were four items on the consent agenda:  Approval of the minutes of the October 13, 2010 meeting; Approval of the October 27, 2010 agenda; Approval of Payroll Voucher 528 totaling $9,787.14; and Approval of Expense Vouchers 8105 totaling $9,958.32 and 8106 totaling $4,565.04. Mr. Eller moved to approve the consent agenda. Ms. Baker seconded and the motion carried 6-0. 

6.  SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT:

      Dr. Polvani reported on four items:

• The new Community Advisory Council will meet October 28 for its organizational meeting.  The council has a membership of 20 people with countywide representation in business, hospitality, agriculture, government, and other industries.
• The Monster.com “Making it Count” career seminar will be held November 16 at Yavapai College Performing Arts Center for 250 students.
• Letter received from Hillside Elementary School District thanking Mountain Institute for the donation of the Protégé phone system.
• An orientation meeting was held with the two incoming MI Governing Board Members:  Michael Taylor representing Prescott and William Fitzgerald representing Seligman. 

7.    OLD BUSINESS: 

       A.  Discussion Item:  Curriculum/Instruction/ProgramStatus.

            Mr. Plumb reported the enrollment numbers are holding strong at 2500 as reported at the last meeting. The anticipated Average Daily Membership (ADM) is between 500 and 550. There have been some data errors in reporting numbers and administration is working with school sites to finalize enrollment reports. 

       B.  Discussion Item:  2011-12 Program Development.

Mr. Plumb reviewed new registration procedures and a timeline developed by a subcommittee of the Mountain Advisory Committee (MAC).  Registration for the 2011-12 central programs will be launched at the December 3rd Career & Technical Education (CTE) Day at Yavapai College CTEC.  The early registration timeframe will provide information to students and parents and will ultimately give solid early enrollment numbers allowing for better program planning.  New marketing materials are also being developed to provide additional information to students and parents during the planned early registration time period. 

       C.  Discussion Item:  Growth & Sustainability Grant construction status.

             Mr. Plumb provided board members with two field operation reports from the project management company  N.L. Booth.  He also gave a power point pictorial of progress of the Growth & Sustainability Grant project sites  at Ash Fork, Bagdad, Mayer and Seligman.  The photos highlighted:

• Ash Fork Welding Shop – new support columns, expanded space, new electrical wiring
• Bagdad – new piping, security lighting, new electrical drops.
• Mayer – new power sources, painted pillars, walls, newly painted safety lines
• Seligman Welding Shop – new main electrical service entrance, new light fixtures, refinished walls with fire retardant, new insulation in ceiling, new walls.         

       D.  Discussion Item:  Update on 2010-11 Governing Board Goals.

Dr. Polvani presented two documents to the board:  1) the Governing Board goals in Action Plan format with strategies, responsible staff, target date, budget/resources, and evaluation/documentation categories; 2)  the 2010-11 Action Plan progress report showing the progress towards each goal.  Some items discussed were:

• Satisfactory progress for curriculum development based on CTE Assessment scores.
• Some academic measures in place; others need additional progress.
• Good progress on communications with press releases, newsletters, outreach to satellite districts.
• Making good progress with registration timeline to insure student engagement early.
• Progressing on technology; Mr. Moody is a consultant to and Mr. Plumb is a board member of  the Yavapai County Educational Technology Consortium.
• Little progress on grant opportunities; have ideas to move forward.
• Making progress on interaction and communication with satellite districts. 

The Administration will bring further updates on goal progress to the Governing Board at meetings on January 12, April 20 and June 4. 

       E.  Discussion/Possible Action Item:  Consider approval of Satellite School IGA.

Mr. Moody stated that the Governing Board had given staff direction at a previous meeting to proceed with IGA discussions with the satellite school districts and send the IGA to the attorney for review.  The attorney made two minor changes to the IGA:

• Page 7, paragraph 5, added the phrase:  “by either party for conflict of interest to the statutory requirement for cancellation of the agreement.”
• Page 8, added paragraph 14 “Iran/Sudan and paragraph 15 “Compliance with Immigration Law,” both are required by statute. 

The only other changes were updates made by Mr. Plumb on the programs list. Mr. Moody said the attorney is ready to execute the IGA and will be requesting waivers of conflict of interest to allow them to represent MI and the satellites and sign the IGAs as attorney for both parties.  Mr. Eller moved to approve the Satellite School IGA template.  Mr. Samsill seconded and the motion carried 6-0. 

8.    NEW BUSINESS:

A.    Discussion/Possible Action Item:  Consider approval of Strategic Alliance for Volume Expenditures (SAVE) cooperative purchasing agreement.

Mr. Moody reminded board members they had approved procurement policy changes at the October 13 meeting.  He explained the procurement regulations require school districts to maintain a “vendors list” to obtain quotes and competitive bids. Currently MI is a member of two purchasing agencies:  Mohave and TCPN (The Cooperative Purchasing Network).  The Administration is recommending MI join the Stategic Alliiance for Volume Expenditures (SAVE) cooperative.  Mr. Eller said the County Health Department is part of SAVE and received great savings on equipment such as copiers.  Mr. Carroll moved to approve the SAVE Purchasing Agreement.  Mr. Hawley seconded and the motion carried 6-0.

B.    Discussion/Possible Action Item:  Consider approval of Forest Fees Management Association IGA Conflict of Interest Waiver.

Mr. Moody reminded board members they had approved the IGA with the Forest Fee Management Association at the last meeting.  As the County Attorney will be representing both parties, the administration is requesting approval of a conflict of interest waiver.  Mr. Samsill moved to approve the Conflict of Interest Waiver relating to the Forest Fee Management Association IGA.  Mr. Eller seconded and the motion carried 6-0. 

C.    Discussion Item:  Review of Governing Board Self Evaluation tally. 

Dr. Polvani explained by policy the Governing Board should have an evaluation by October 31.  Board members were given the form at the last meeting and the document being reviewed this evening is a compilation of all seven board members’ replies.  Mr. Harlow reviewed the document by section asking board members for comments or questions.  Board members voiced concerns on wording of some of the questions.  Mr. Moody informed them the wording of the questions can be changed for future evaluations.  Mr. Eller noted a lot of consistency in responses in the questions answered in sections A, B C and D.  These answers he said will help guide the district in the future.  Mr. Carroll suggested instead of using response categories of never, rarely, about ½ the time, almost always and always, this be changed in the future to percentages or a numbering system.  Board members discussed concerns of the process of hiring a new superintendent when that time is reached.  They also showed concern on replacement of other positions when needed.   Dr. Polvani said if fortunate, a school district receives a one-year notice for the need to hire a new superintendent.  A district would generally then hire a search firm and the search firm works with the district to develop a job posting, job description and follow through on the hiring process.  Overall, board members saw consistency in the evaluation responses.  They requested the evaluation tally be part of the board retreat in June. 

D.    Discussion/Possible Action Item:  Governing Board meeting schedule for rest of year.

Dr. Polvani explained the new board member from Seligman who is scheduled to join the board in January has notified the district that he has a standing commitment that precludes him from meeting attendance on any Wednesday now or in the foreseeable future.  County School Superintendent Tim Carter has indicated that the current board may decide whether to maintain the current Wednesday meeting schedule prior to the reorganizational meeting in January.  Mr. Carter indicated the knowledge of the conflict now gives him additional time to find a new appointment from Seligman if needed.  A lengthy discussion was held on the best days for board members’ meeting availability.  The consensus from board comments was the second Wednesday was a good day and members preferred not to change the meeting schedule.  Mr. Hawley said there will be difficulty finding another representative from Seligman but he knew other board members will look out for the interests of the Seligman district if a replacement cannot be found soon.  Dr. Polvani thanked the board members for their discussion and direction and will talk to the Seligman board appointee.                         

9.   ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Next scheduled Board Meetings are: 

      Nov. 11, 2010          @ 6pm                         Regular Meeting            Mountain Institute D.O.

      Dec. 1, 2010           @ 6pm                         Regular Meeting            Mountain Institute D.O.

      Dec. 15, 2010          @ 6pm                         Regular Meeting            Mountain Institute D.O. 

      Mr. Samsill said he will not be in attendance at the December 1 meeting.     

10.  ADJOURNMENT:

Ms. Baker moved to adjourn the meeting.  Mr. Hawley seconded and the motion carried 6-0.  The meeting was adjourned at 8:06 p.m. by Chairman Harlow. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Karen Leja

Board Secretary