Payne argued that he asked that a Board issue be placed on the agenda pursuant to Board Policy 308 but the Chair refused to do so – he  sought to have official minutes to reflect that refusal

At the March 26 Yavapai Community College District Governing Board meeting, Third District Representative Toby Payne requested that the formal minutes from the February 18 Board meeting be amended to reflect a concern he originally raised in January. Specifically, Payne asked that the minutes document his January 19 letter to Board Chair Deb McCasland, in which he formally requested that an agenda item be added to discuss potential conflicts between Higher Learning Commission (HLC) requirements and existing Board policy. The HLC accredits the Community College.

Payne’s proposed addition to the minutes read:

“Mr. Payne reported that on January 19 he sent Chair McCasland (Tape 14:42:44) a letter requesting that an agenda item be added to the next Board agenda pursuant to existing Governing Board policy. He also listed proposed actions. He was asking for a discussion regarding HLC alignment, delegation of authority, and overall governance and policy alignment with Board policies. The goal was to see that there is perfect alignment with the various Board policies and the Higher Learning Commission.”

In an interview, Payne explained that his effort stemmed from concerns that current Board policies may be out of step with HLC standards. He asserted that Chair McCasland’s refusal to place the item on the agenda violated Board Policy 308, which he interprets as requiring the Chair to honor such requests.

His motion to amend the minutes was denied in a 3-2 vote. Chair Deb McCasland, Patrick Kuykendall, and Steve Bracety voted against the amendment, while Payne and William Kiel voted in favor.

Payne argued his addition would make the minutes more transparent to the public; Board majority remained mostly silent, with the Chair claiming discussion was unnecessary since the motion concerning entering the executive session was on the meeting videotape

At the March 26 meeting, Third District Yavapai Community College Governing Board member Toby Payne requested that the official minutes accurately reflect what transpired when the Board voted to enter executive session on February 18. He specifically asked that the following statement be included in the February minutes. “I respectfully request the following to be added,” he said:

Mr. Kiel requested that the Board discuss an issue or issues prior to going into executive session.  The Chair did not open the floor for discussion after a second to go into executive session, so Mr. Kiel decided not to attend the executive session.  Mr. Payne stated that he was very concerned about the transparency to the public about why the Board is going into executive session or why the Board is holding a virtual meeting.  He did not attend the executive session.

Mr. Payne’s request to amend the minutes was rejected by a 3-2 vote, with Chair Deb McCasland, Patrick Kuykendall, and Steve Bracety voting in favor. Only Representative William Kiel voted against the motion in support of Payne. The majority members offered few comments before casting their votes. Chair McCasland stated that everything was documented in the meeting video and noted that she had never engaged in a discussion regarding the decision to enter an executive session.

A video clip of this portion of the meeting may be viewed below:

No details were released regarding the exact nature of the embarrassing failure to activate the link

The Yavapai Community College Governing Board unexpectedly rescheduled its zoom meeting set for March 25 to March 26. The change occurred when Board member William Kiel informed the Board’s lawyer on the morning of March 25 that the electronic link to the Board agenda had not been activated on the Board’s website. Because the link was not properly activated, members of the public were unable to access the agenda at least 24 hours before the meeting, as required by law.

Arizona law mandates that Board agendas be made publicly available at least 24 hours prior to a meeting. However, the Board’s lawyer believed that  the March 25 meeting could have proceeded despite the web notification failure because paper copies of the time, place, and summary agenda were properly posted elsewhere. However, she advised the Board to reschedule the meeting to ensure that the public, particularly those relying on the website link, had an opportunity to review the agenda and the topics to be discussed at least 24 hours before the event.

The written explanation offered by the Board lawyer is set out below:

“The Governing Board’s legal counsel learned late on the morning of March 25, 2025 that the link on the College’s website to the District Governing Board’s March 25 meeting agenda was inadvertently not activated until the morning of March 25.  The agenda was posted more than 24 hours in advance, but the link was not made “live” at the time.  Therefore, members of the public attempting to access the meeting agenda from the College’s website could not do so at least 24 hours in advance.

“The College physically posted the meeting agenda more than 24 hours in advance of the March 25 , 2025 meeting.

“The Open Meeting Law allows a governing board to proceed with a public meeting if a ‘technological problem or failure’ prevents the posting of the agenda on the website 24 hours in advance, as long as the agenda was physically posted in compliance with the Open Meeting Law.  Although the March 25 District Governing Board meeting could therefore proceed despite the technological agenda posting issue, the Board has been advised to reschedule the meeting to ensure that the public receives adequate notice of the meeting.”