PUSD administration recommends switching policy-service to The Trust; board to consider vote next month

Administration recommended that Prescott Unified School District move its model-policy subscription from the Arizona School Boards Association to the Arizona Schools Risk Retention Trust, and asked the board to consider a formal vote at its next meeting.

The recommendation came during an extended discussion led by Andy (board member), who described the Trust service as "more concise yet detailed and prescriptive" and said the district's administration believed the Trust better matched the district's needs for navigation, updates and day-to-day usability.

The administration cited four practical advantages: expert guidance to interpret changes in law and practice, up-to-date policies tied to legislation, reduced legal and operational risk through clearer language, and efficiency for staff who implement policy changes. Andy said the Trust's portal was easier to navigate and that the Trust would perform policy edits on behalf of the district rather than relying on local staff to copy-and-paste changes.

Kelsey (staff member) and Sarah (staff member) joined the discussion with implementation details. Kelsey noted the Trust and ASBA both provide quarterly or as-needed policy updates and legislative hyperlinks, but the Trust's process for making updates is simpler: the district sends proposed edits and the Trust performs the portal update. Sarah described the Trust platform's layout as clearer for staff and public users.

Cost differences were a major theme. The administration presented an initial comparison showing substantially lower fees for the Trust in the early years, though both sides acknowledged those figures could change. Andy said the Trust expects to raise subscription fees over several years but that the Trust's multi-year proposal still compared favorably to current ASBA pricing. Board members asked staff to confirm longer-term fees and caps before a final vote.

Board members raised concerns about advice quality and legal risk. Clark (board member) reminded colleagues of a prior legal disagreement that led to policy changes and said: "we got bad advice and we paid the price for that," arguing the district needs reliable counsel rather than only liability-driven wording. Andy responded that Trust materials are reviewed by teams of educators and attorneys and that many districts of varied sizes now subscribe to the Trust.

The administration outlined a tentative transition plan if the board approves the change: sign a Trust contract, perform a crosswalk between current district policies and Trust drafts, adapt any Prescott-specific policies (for example, local practices such as animal-in-school rules), and bring finalized policies to the board for review before a July 1 implementation.

Board members asked for follow-up information from districts that considered switching but stayed with ASBA; Andy said he would attempt to collect that feedback. Several trustees asked staff to provide more detail on the expected staff hours and the Trust's process for migrating copyrighted ASBA text where the district currently relies on ASBA model language.

The board did not vote at the meeting but directed staff to place the item on the next meeting agenda for a formal vote.