APPROVED 02-05-2024

Board of Education Information Committee Meeting (Thursday, February 1, 2024)

Generated by Nikkol Sipes on Friday, February 2, 2024

1. Board Information Committee

A. Call to Order

Ms. Vadla called the meeting to order at 10:04 a.m.

B. Roll Call

Members Present: Penny Vadla (attended virtually), Tim Daugharty (attended virtually), Patti Truesdell (attended virtually), Spencer Co, Student Representative (attended virtually)
Members Absent: Matt Morse
Other Board members present: Dianne MacRae (virtually attended), Virginia Morgan(attended virtually), Zen Kelly(attended virtually), Miss Maggie Grenier, Student Representative to the Board

C. Approval of Agenda

The February 1, 2024 Information Committee meeting agenda was approved as presented.

D. Approval of Notes 12-04-2023

The December 4, 2023 Information Committee meeting notes were approved as printed.

2. Student Representative Update

A. Student Representative Update

Mr. Spencer Co reported on the following:
He noted that he regrets that he will not attending the fly-in. He gave updates on the attendance for the ASSAA meeting in Barrow. He noted the bill that he would prioritize and found interesting, Senate Bill 140. He spoke regarding the potential importance of this bill.

3. Information New Business

A. Legislative Information

Ms. Vadla opened up committee discussion on preparation for the fly-in, in particular bills that the committee is interested in focusing on and discussing with legislators on the trip. Ms. Vadla briefly noted all the attachments and documents on today's agenda. Mr. Holland spoke to the KPBSD Fact Sheet on the agenda. He noted key talking points when attending the fly in and speaking with legislators including SB 140. He also spoke to the Charter School and the teacher retention language within SB 140. Ms. Vadla also spoke on SB 140. Ms. Truesdell brought attention to SB 173. And Ms. Vadla spoke to this as well. Mr. Holland spoke to several bills that may warrant some attention SB 173, HB 230, SB 88.
Ms. Vadla spoke to her priorities when visiting Juneau including the BSA, teacher retention and recruitment, retirement, and student wellness and safety. Ms. Vadla requested that the committee members start thinking about the bills that they would like to focus on as those members attend the Juneau Fly-In and bring these to the upcoming Information committee meeting on Monday. Ms. Vadla spoke to the preparation for the upcoming Monday Information Committee meeting as well as having packets and information ready for the fly in by Tuesday for the members to bring with them. She also commented on the 2024 KPBSD Fact Sheet as well as the importance of a BSA increase. Mr. Holland spoke to advocacy in regards to the BSA, recruitment and retention, as well as, awareness of the impact of inflation on School Districts. He also noted the Board members have access to the Balancing Act software to introduce variables in attempting to present a balanced budget for FY25. He spoke to the increase in BSA that would need to be passed in order to balance the FY25 budget with a minimum of 1200. Ms. Vadla is in favor of this suggested increase to the BSA and for advocating in favor of this. Mr. Daugharty posed a question regarding speaking to the public in regards to the BSA and the cost of student education per student. He proposed educating the public on what the BSA would include per student, including staff costs, food costs, etc. Mr. Holland agreed and welcomed more ideas to present this to the public and agreed that there is room for further demonstration of school funding. Ms. Truesdell spoke to teacher recruitment and retention, and potential numbers to put to this turnover rate within this district potentially due to unsustainable funding. Mr. Holland noted ACSA has data regarding open teaching positions impacting districts across the state of Alaska. He also spoke to the costs associated with training new recruitments verses retaining current employees. Ms. Vadla spoke to the difficulties associated with recruitment and retention in Alaska. Mr. Kelly was invited to speak to Mr. Daugharty's questions earlier. He noted SB 140 and the 300 dollars that are being proposed within the bill. AASB came out with the proposed BSA increase of 1413 that would adequately offset the impact of inflation. He also spoke to the Balancing Act software and applying different BSA increases and whether this would support balanced budget for FY25. The proposed 300 BSA increase in SB 140 is only going to provide the KPBSD currently with 5 million extra dollars and does not cover the 13 million the district is facing. Mr. Holland spoke to the fact that local municipalities on the Kenai Peninsula are in favor and have passed resolutions to support a meaningful BSA increase. Ms. Vadla requested once more for committee members to provide Bills that they would like to prioritize for Juneau. She spoke to the 2024 KPBSD Legislative Priorities as guidance for talking points. Miss Grenier was invited to speak as a student attendee to the Juneau fly-in. She spoke to her interest in the answer to Mr. Daugharty's question regarding a specific cost to educate each student but also noted the district should not be interested in just the bare minimum but to have sufficient enough funding so that students can thrive. She spoke to the importance of a thriving environment to attract future students and staff. Ms. Vadla spoke in support of Miss Grenier. Mr. Holland made closing comments, and recognized the students attending the meeting today and their successes.

4. Adjourn

Ms. Vadla adjourned the meeting at 11:02 a.m.