By China Cassidy On Wednesday, June 17, the Holbrook Unified School District sent out a survey asking parents for their input on how HUSD should proceed with start the 2020/2021 school year. Like many schools across the state, HUSD has been tasked with finding a way to begin the school year while ensuring the safety of the students, teachers and their families. In the survey parents were asked to select from a list of options to help them determine how to best approach the new school year. Parents were asked if they felt it would be best to start as normal with the original return date of July 29, start later in the summer and not have Thanksgiving and summer breaks, have a four-day school week with longer school days reducing contact time or change to a year-round schedule with more intercessions throughout. The district outlined the precautions and areas they intend to focus on should the students return for the new year. According to administration, the district will implement heavy sanitization policies to ensure the health and wellness of the students and staff as well as increase signage surrounding health and safety. Whichever option the school concludes is best for everyone involved, they plan to operate on five basic principles, which include signage, screening, sickness response, social distancing and sanitation. Depending on what Arizona legislators decide to with consideration to COVID-19 for reopening the schools, HUSD is prepared to offer options both on and off campus. There may be the option for students to attend physically, online with teacher instruction from home or both in what is being called “blended learning.” HUSD will continue to offer student health and nutrition services, counseling, educational resources and other opportunities, as well as extra-curricular activities for students, which would be optional. The board also approved the district’s annual expenditure budget revision for the 2019-20 budget. The estimated budget capacities for fiscal year 2021 include just over $11 million in base level support, $400,663 teacher experience index and audit services, $3.2 million in transportation revenue control limit, $1.4 million in district additional assistance (DAA), $1.4 million in district override assistance, $2.2 million in desegregation budget, $272,483 desegregation capital budget, $731,000 ESSER Funds (CARES Act) and $1.1 million budget balance carry forward for a total of $21 million general budget limit. In other business, the district: * Approved a 60-day review of the texts including “Introduction to Chemistry,” “Textbooks for High School Students Studying the Sciences” and “Chemistry 2e.” The textbooks and resources are open source, online resources that are provided free of charge. * Approve the proposed budget. * Approved a billed amount of $10,972 to Specialty Resources. HUSD contracts with Specialty Resources for special education case management. Specialty Resources provides services through a purchase order that is not to exceed $10,000. During the COVID-19 school closure, Specialty Resources exceeded the allocated hours providing services to the special education students, which exceeded the purchase order amount of $9,977. * Approved school task force members to be paid $25 per hour for certified staff and normal hourly rates for support staff for non-contract time to work on school planning for SY 20-21. Each school will build a school task force to help build a strategic plan for reopening schools due to COVID-19. Funding will be provided through the CARES Act Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds. * Approved governing board meeting dates for the 2020-2021 school year. * Authorized all governing board members, the superintendent and the executive secretary to attend Arizona School Boards Association’s sponsored conferences during the 2020-2021 school year. * Approved out of state travel for Superintendent Dr. Robbie Koerperich to attend West Ed Board meetings in October, January, April and July. * Approved the Summer Activity proposal. * Approved the dual enrollment and TALON Grant agreements addendums between the Holbrook Unified School District and Northland Pioneer College. * Approved the agreement with the Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology for the coming school year. * Approved the annual Beyond Textbooks agreement between HUSD and Vail Unified School District. * Approved the Food Service Permanent Service agreement between the HUSD and the Arizona Department of Education. * Approved the Arizona Department of Health and Nutrition agreement between HUSD and the Navajo County Accommodation District No. 99. * Approved the renewal of the client service agreement with Educational Services Incorporated for the 2020-2021 school year. * Approved the FY 21 HUSD Indian Policies and Procedures. * Reviewed Dr. Koerperich’s performance pay goals and consideration of performance pay outcomes. * Approved a contract extension for Dr. Koerperich as HUSD superintendent through June 30, 2023. Approved Joy Burrough’s resignation/retirement and waived the $500 liquidated damages as per Policy GCQC Resignation of Professional Staff Members due to the position not being filled for FY 20-21. * Approved the reimbursement of errantly withheld alternative contribution rate amounts for FY 2016-17 and 2017-18 to “Return to Work” employees. The district errantly withheld half of the Arizona State Retirement System required Alternative Contribution Rate to the State Retirement system from return to work employee paychecks for these contract years and would like now to reimburse these funds to the appropriate identified employees. The district has worked with legal counsel for advice and recommendation to rectify this error. * Approved the support staff employment hiring of Patricia DeWitt, Gerrianne Bielefeldt, Beatriz Ortega and Michelle Barreras as Hulet Daycare substitutes; and Jesse Knight, Ashley Speers, Sara Speers and Mason Spencer as food services summer student workers. * Approved the support staff resignations of Martha Blosser, cafeteria worker; and Annie Dickson, bus driver. * Approved the certified employment of Kate Zulaski, Holbrook Junior High School eighth grade social studies teacher; Nicole Moyte, Park/Hulet elementary schools transfer from first grade to second grade; Brianna Allison, Park Elementary School kindergarten; Jolee Starkey, Park Elementary School special education teacher transfer from Indian Wells Elementary School first grade to Park Elementary School; Cheri Grau, HJHS principal; Lance Phaturos, HHS principal 30-day contract extension; Peggy Reid, Hulet/Park elementary schools second grade student teacher intern certificated teacher; and Joshua Raisor, HHS math teacher. * Approved the certified staff retirement of Beth Plumb, HJHS Retirement/Return to Work ESI. * Approved extra duty for Andrea Tomlin, professional development presenter; Meagan Newton-Pender, Park Elementary School Title II action research; Beth Self, Arizona Music Educators Association Conference; Lona Haussman and Stephanie Peters, Hulet/Park elementary schools cooking matters class; Julia Fairbanks and Amanda Remos, preschool special education summer child find; and Mark O’Dell, temporary summer warehouse worker. * Approved expense and revolving fund vouchers totaling $258,715 and payroll vouchers totaling nearly $1.2 million. * Authorized acceptance of a donation of 200 plus masks from Chenoa Bah Jenson and Amy Yeung, Orenda Tribe Online Spread Love and Spread Light Fundraiser.
