Regular Meeting of
the
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 6:30 p.m. Executive Session/7:30 p.m. Open Meeting
High School Library
Present: Elaine Brighty, Chair Jere Hochman, Superintendent
Sonia Correa-Pope Rob Detweiler, Director of Finance & Operations
Andy Churchill Press
Michael Hussin (left at 8:02 p.m.) Public
Kathleen Anderson Debbie Westmoreland, Recorder
Marianne Jorgensen
Maureen Ecclestone
Gabriella Booth
Chrystel Romero
Michael Katz (left after executive session)
Executive Session: The Regional School Committee voted by roll call vote to enter executive session at 6:30 p.m. Ms. Brighty noted that they will return to open session at approximately 7:30 p.m.
1. Welcome 8:01 p.m.
A. & B. Call to Order/Agenda Review—The School Committee returned to open session at 8:01 p.m. Ms. Brighty welcomed everyone to the meeting and then reviewed the agenda.
C. Minutes—Mr. Churchill made a motion to approve the minutes of December 18, 2007. Ms. Jorgensen seconded and the minutes were approved, with minor corrections, with one abstaining.
2. Announcements and Public Comments
None
There were no announcements or public comments.
3. Superintendent’s Update
8:06
p.m.
A. Middle School Principal Search—Dr. Hochman noted that the Middle School Principal position was posted in a variety of places around the country and that a number of applications have been received. He then reviewed the process, explaining that the interview committee of parents and faculty has been set up and members have been notified. Committee members have begun to look at all of the applications received. After a review period, the interview committee will meet with Dr. Hochman to determine semi-finalists to be interviewed. Semi-finalists will go through an interview process with the interview committee, after which the committee will meet again with Dr. Hochman to recommend finalists for consideration. Dr. Hochman then reviewed the interview process for the finalists. Ms. Anderson asked if the School Committee will know who is on the interview committee. Dr. Hochman said he will compile the final list and provide the information to the School Committee.
B. Scholarships, Awards and Prizes—Dr. Hochman noted that the list of scholarships, awards and prizes was provided in the agenda packet as requested by the School Committee at an earlier meeting. Ms. Anderson noted that the Martin Luther King Breakfast Scholarship is not included in the list. Dr. Hochman will make sure it is added to the list.
Dr. Hochman reported that he is
hosting two State of the District meetings tomorrow,
January 23. The first meeting will take
place at 1:00 p.m. at the
4. Unfinished/Continuing Business 8:19 p.m.
A. FY09 Budget Assumptions—Dr. Hochman reviewed the list of information that has been provided to the Regional School Committee to date. He and Mr. Detweiler then reviewed the information contained in the document Meeting #2: Budget Assumptions in detail, noting that the data will be updated continuously as information becomes available from the towns and the state.
School Choice: When reviewing the school choice information, Dr. Hochman distributed and reviewed a document regarding choice in the Regional Schools. The document outlined school choice enrollments at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year; changes in those enrollments to date; and a worksheet for use in determining recommendations for school choice openings in the 2008-2009, if the committee votes to remain a choice district. After brief discussion, the school committee decided not to take a formal vote on choice at this meeting. However, they did direct the administration to go forward with determining which grade levels should have additional choice slots opened for next year in order to make a recommendation at a future meeting.
In reviewing information on Excess and Deficiency (E&D) funds, Dr. Hochman noted that the current E&D cap is 3.5%. The Regional Agreement Review Committee is currently discussing whether to increase the cap to 5%, which is the percentage used by all other Regional districts in the Commonwealth and is the amount recommended by the Commonwealth. During the review of Circuit Breaker funds, Dr. Hochman noted that we will be lobbying the Legislature to increase the percentage of circuit breaker reimbursement because it is the one thing that would benefit every town in the Commonwealth.
During review of the information on expense assumptions, Dr. Hochman reminded the committee that the Districts reached an agreement with the unions for a one-year contract extension with a 1% salary increase for FY08. The agreement also included reopening negotiations this year for FY09. When discussing class size assumptions, Ms. Jorgensen asked that Dr. Hochman provide the committee with a list of how many positions have been lost during the past few years of budget cuts. Ms. Brighty thanked Dr. Hochman for providing the assumptions, stating that the information is very helpful in the planning process.
B. FY09 Budget Discussion—Mr. Detweiler distributed and reviewed the Regional budget worksheet. He noted that if the FY09 budget is level funded with only the known increases (utilities costs, insurance increases, etc.), it will increase over FY08 by $1,128,924, which represents an increase of 4.1%. In order to support that level of budget with the current revenue assumptions, cuts would be required totaling $407,229. Dr. Hochman noted that these numbers will fluctuate a great deal over the next few weeks as more information is confirmed regarding revenues and expenses.
Mr. Detweiler noted that the current budget figures include the assumption of including $100,000 of E&D funds for budget support. He explained that it would be prudent to include another line called E&D contingency that would build funds in the budget that could be used in case of an emergency. He noted that if no such amount is included in the budget, the district would have to get the approval of all four towns in order to spend additional E&D funds if an emergency arises. Although no amount has been included in the budget figures at this time, Mr. Detweiler encouraged the committee to consider this during their planning. Ms. Jorgensen asked if there is a recommended amount for E&D contingency. Mr. Detweiler said he is still getting advice on the amount and will bring a recommendation to the School Committee at a future meeting.
Mr. Churchill asked about the effect of moving transportation costs out of the Regional budget if the Regional Agreement Review Committee votes to make that change. Ms. Jorgensen stated that the committee is meeting this Saturday and hopes to vote at that time. A report will be made for presentation to the School Committees; however, she stated that there does not appear to be a great impact on the towns because the Regional assessment will go down while the elementary budgets will increase. Ms. Jorgensen thanked Mr. Detweiler for the information provided in the budget worksheet, noting that it is very helpful.
5. New Business 9:38
p.m.
A. 2008-2008 School Calendar—Dr. Hochman noted that the agenda packet includes two drafts of the 2008-2009 school calendar: a pre-Labor Day start and a post-Labor Day start. He noted that 08-09 is a quirky year due to a number of factors, including the fact that Labor Day falls on September 1st. Dr. Hochman explained that the calendar has been distributed in a number of ways to receive feedback and he will bring a recommendation to the committee at their next meeting.
6. Reports None
7. Sub-Committee Reports 9:54 p.m.
A. Regional Agreement Subcommittee—Ms. Jorgensen reported that the committee is looking at two issues: transportation and the E&D cap. She noted that the committee has reached agreement on transportation and hopes to vote on whether to increase the E&D cap to 5% at their meeting this Saturday. She explained that a concern expressed by a member of the subcommittee is what controls there are on how funds will be spent if the cap is increased to 5%. Ms. Brighty noted that MASC officials have stated that there are no restrictions on School Committee use of funds and they recommend that the Committee should not develop any sort of guidelines or policies governing the use of E&D funds.
B. Food Service Committee Update—Ms. Brighty reported that the RFP will be going out on February 1st.
8. School Committee Planning None
A. Calendar Review
B. Items for Upcoming Meetings
9. Adjournment 9:25 p.m.
Ms. Brighty adjourned the Regional School Committee at 9:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Westmoreland
Approved 2/5/08