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Board questions large invoices and a member says agenda requests were denied 10 times
Summary
Board member Scar pressed district staff about several large invoices — including a $70,000 line for a fleet vehicle — and accused the chair of denying ten emailed requests to add items to agendas; staff said they needed more lead time to pull specifics and the motion to add a classroom consolidation item failed.
A tense exchange over agenda access and invoice transparency highlighted the meeting.
Board member Scar asked to add an item for discussion on "future classroom consolidation and the board process to review such consolidations," but that motion failed for lack of a second. During discussion he also told the board, "I have requested on 10 occasions, via email to the chair to ask for items to be on the agenda. All 10 have been denied." Chair Daniel Arcand acknowledged the concern, outlined options for adding items under Robert's Rules and said he would "look into it."
Scar pressed staff on specific invoice lines after the invoice register was pulled from the consent agenda for separate consideration. He asked whether a $70,000 invoice to Chrysler Forest Lake was for a purchased vehicle; operations staff replied, "We purchased them outright," and said they would need to look up the register entries for other line items such as Johnson, Lapp & Galloway Architects and Centimeters Construction Company Inc. Scar also told staff that providing the register earlier in the week (Wednesday rather than Friday) would have allowed more preparation and quicker answers.
District staff repeatedly asked for more lead time to provide line-item details. Several board members suggested follow-up outside the meeting to resolve specific invoice questions. The discussion did not produce immediate supplemental documentation; staff committed to follow up with the requested details after the meeting.
