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Board approves sick leave policy

At their November meeting, the Grand Canyon School Board adopted a sick leave policy supported by teachers and administration.

School Superintendent Sheila Breen said that she'd worked out details with teacher and staff representatives Jason Evans, Terry Tobin and Peggy Russell.

"We're all pretty satisfied with this," she said.

Under the new policy, which goes into effect on July 1, teachers will earn 12 days of leave a year, accrued at a rate of a day a month.

Unused leave carries forward without limit until an employee leaves the district. The new policy hikes the buyback rate from $15 to $50 and includes some buyback provisions for long-time teachers.

They also agreed to work on the wording of a section giving five non-accruing days a year to part-time employees with between 32 and 39 hours a week after Board member Chuck Wahler noted it wasn't clear how those days were earned.

"It seems to me the way this is written, in theory the second week the employee works, they could take five days off if they get sick and quit the next week," he said. "Conceptually I think we just need to work out the language so that we can ensure that people are only taking what they've sort of earned and earning it in a way that's roughly equivalent to the way that full-time folks do."

Apart from the sick leave, the policy also allows up to five days of bereavement leave per loss, up to 10 days a year. This time will not carry over year to year.

"If someone has a really bad year and they lose three or four people in their family, we can accommodate that," Breen said. "But it also puts a limit on it so people aren't taking it for a distant relative or if an acquaintance passes away. They're going to have to choose."

Technology plan

The Board approved a two-year technology plan, which is required for the district to receive federal e-rate funding. Technology teacher Brad Houston said it is only a starting point for the district's policies, which the Technology Committee will be fine tuning.

"It's a commitment to the state on how we'll run and manage our technology," he said. "It doesn't get into a lot of detail, like will we allow e-mail access to the students? Will each student have a log-in? These are the kinds of things to discuss in the committee."

New sports fee

The Board accepted a $20 participation fee for middle school sports beginning in the 2008-2009 school year.

"We keep running into situations where we have to pay something for middle school athletics and we have no budget for that," said Breen. The fee will help offset the costs of travel, referees and equipment. It will also make the program eligible for donations through the school tax credit program.

Board member Suzette Streit asked about help for families unable to afford the cost. Breen said that the district has picked up not only some fees but also the cost of sports physicals and insurance for some students. They would continue that with middle school as well, she said.

"I'm fine with this as long as we've got a vehicle for folks who are going to have an issue paying," Wahler said.

Pay schedule

The Board approved some simplifications and clarifications to the extra-curricular pay schedule. The change sets the pay rate at $8 for all game day jobs and formalizes an agreement in which, for sports trips, the district paid parents $100 for overnight chaperone duty, and $50 for one day trips.

County rec plan

Breen reported on a public hearing that she, Board President Clarinda Vail and Pete Shearer of the Sanitary District attended in Williams earlier this month. It was one of several hosted by the county Parks and Recreation Department to glean resident input as they develop their strategic plan.

"I think it's very important for us to stay involved in the next year to make sure they remember Tusayan and the ELGA land when they're talking about building parks," said Breen.

The first phase of development for the 80 acres includes sports fields, playgrounds and related infrastructure, which they hope the county will build. The district would maintain any improvements.

"I think we've got a pretty good shot of getting what we need built into that plan," she said.

Legislative

Breen said that following the Oct. 23 Board of Supervisors meeting, she was able to sit in on a study session with state legislators. Representatives Lucy Mason, Tom Chabin, Andy Tobin and Nancy McLain shared their legislative priorities and bore the bad news that projections of a $600 million deficit in the state budget are optimistic.

"Stay tuned. It's going to be another great budget year," said Breen.

Discovery

For the first time since he started keeping year-to-year comparisons, Principal Bob Kelso reported an increase in focus visits. There have been 229 referrals this year, a 44 percent rise over last year's 159.

He said that some of that increase could be traced to students who skip out on an afternoon of school.

"This year, kids are getting a focus referral for every class ditched," he said. "You can get 16 focus referrals very quickly, in the space of a couple of hours."

Students who skip lunch detention also get focus referrals now, rather than just the opportunity to make it up in the afternoon.

"What we were finding was kids would get a lunch detention and skip that because the after-school detention suited their schedule better, it was a little more social, they could get some homework done ... We found that to be problematic."

Math review

Kelso reported that Jeff Hovermill, a math consultant from Northern Arizona University, was sitting in on middle and high school classes and meeting with math teachers.

"Our essential question to him was, what will it take for us to prepare our students for AP (Advanced Placement) math?" said Kelso.

ELGA update

The land transfer under the Education Land Grant Act is nearly reality with Forest Service officials working out the final kink, Breen said.

"The big holdup for the contract was trying to settle who owns the southernmost part of Long Jim Loop Road," she said. "That was the last thing they were working on."

They learned that ownership had transferred from the Grand Canyon Airport Authority to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Correspondence

Breen provided the board with copies of thank you letters that she sent on behalf of the district. One went to culinary arts instructor Matt Yost, whose students catered and served a dinner during the Arizona School Board Association County meeting that was held here in October.

"The food was excellent, was nicely presented and the students did a good job of taking orders and serving," the letter stated. "For their first catering experience, they did very well."

The other was to the Coconino County Board of Supervisors, thanking them for their decision to assume interest, court costs and attorney fees in the tax judgment won by Xanterra. The letter also thanks them for their move to pay the entire judgment then collect from taxpayers over a span of time and at a low rate of interest.

"Your concern for the financial impact of repayment on our district taxpayers is commendable and we sincerely appreciate you supporting a repayment schedule that is manageable," Breen wrote.

Financial

The board approved payroll vouchers in the amounts of $94,783.43, $93,917.93 and $96,993.75. They also approved accounts payable vouchers for $55,875.38, $21,878.40, $23,952.50 and $52,895.65.

Substitute

The Board approved Brian Fulthorp as a substitute teacher. He is pastor of the Grand Canyon Assembly of God Church.


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