Budget Committee Meeting

                                                         Non-approved Minutes

                                                           September 25, 2007

                                         Sullivan Elementary School, Sullivan, NH

 

Members present: Thomas Parker, Neil Moriarty, Norm Dion, James Ells, Carol Lothrop, Peter Stuhlsatz, Jen Gomarlo, David Ott, Wayne Lechlider, George Tremblay and Jonathan Kenyon. Absent: Eric Stanley, Peg Richmond and Mike Carney.

Administrators Present: K. Dassau, Superintendent and K. Chambers, Business Manager.

 

1.      Minutes of May 22, 2007: MOTION: J. Gomarlo MOVED to accept the minutes of May 22, 2007 Budget Committee Meeting. SECOND: P. Stuhlsatz. DISCUSSION: It was noted that the vote on the amendment to discuss all Choice Programs in the MRPSOC Grant passed but in fact it failed. The motion to accept the Budget Committee schedule as presented including the 1-11-07 date had failed it was noted that it passed in the minutes. The correct spelling for M. Houfer is M. Houfer. Kids First Monadnock! Is not a committee.  VOTE: 8.059/0/1.072/5.699. Motion passes.

 

2.   Public Comments: N. Moriarty informed the Committee that Peg Richmond and Eric Stanley were not able to make this meeting. He also informed the Committee that M. Carney has resigned. N. Moriarty notified the Selectmen of Sullivan.

 

      K. Cota, Chair of the Facilities Committee invited the Budget Committee to attend the meetings in October. There are a lot of exciting things going on including the final phase of the Master Plan.

 

      D. Mousette welcomed everyone to Sullivan. He thanked his staff for the set up and the refreshments.

 

3.   Budget Oversight:

a.      K. Chambers passed handouts to the committee. The MRSD Monthly Expense listed the year-end unaudited remaining unexpended amount of $1,258,695.45. The auditors would be making the final adjustments but this is pretty close. The MRSD Revenues Report listed $918,648.88, which is the over anticipated amount of revenue received. T. Parker commented that the District has over 2.1 million dollars in cash. K. Chambers agreed. This amount would go to reduce taxes. The next document is the estimation of the tax rate based on the 2006 valuation. K. Chambers commented that the Catastrophic Aid is a five-year average and has come in over the estimate.

b.      Bonuses: K. Chambers handed out the budget transfers approved by the School Board year-to-date. The first and second pages are wage increases in 2007-2008 for non-union employees who did not receive a raise last year. The nurses salaries did not reflect years of experience and were adjusted appropriately. The third page was the raise for the special ed. director and the principals for 2007-2008. The 4th page is the 3rd grade teacher at Mt. Caesar and the tech position allocated in the three schools in which time is shared. Emerson principal moved funds for management purposes, which resulted in no cash effect. MC2 received another teacher to meet their staffing requirements. The 5th page shows the transfer for the hire of a nurse at the Northern Schools for 3 days a week.

c.       Budget Status Reports: K. Chambers passed out the same information the Finance Committee received at their meetings. They received the Status of Assets, the monthly expense report, revenue report, capitol project fund report, the food service expense report and the food service revenue report. The next information was a summary of the grants, MRPSOC, Federal, State and private as well as donations. N. Dion asked why the School Improvement Plan was a negative $7115.00. K. Chambers speculated to why but would be finding out the information. 

 

 

 

4.   Health Insurance Cost update of committee: N. Moriarty explained to the committee that the health insurance went out to bid, which would have been a large savings to the District but the teachers did not vote or accept it. T. Parker commented that he would imagine that this is a negotiation issue and that it cannot be discussed. He would like to see the spreadsheet with the comparison of health benefits. K. Dassau commented that he would like to correct the record that the Board did push the issue to filing an unfair labor practice against the teachers. The teacher’s counter acted and filed an unfair practice against the Board. A decision would be made on October 23, 2007. J. Ells asked why the committee was discussing this because there is nothing anyone can do until the lawsuit is done. N. Moriarty said that it was information only. K. Dassau informed the committee that re-bidding alone netted the District $500,000.00. T. Parker congratulated K.Chambers for going out to bid. 

 

5.      Teacher Early Retirement Town of Sullivan Attorney Opinion: N. Moriarty explained to the committee that Attorney Apple had given his opinion concerning the early retirement and that the attorney from Sullivan gave a different opinion. J. Ells commented that on May 22, 2007 he asked that it should be listed what person has asked for a specific agenda item. He commented that this topic was discussed in length. We have a legal opinion. He said that as a Budget Committee we can not waste time on this issue. N. Moriarty said that it was a piece of information. J. Ells said that we already talked about this. N. Moriarty said that the Budget Committee never voted on it. J. Ells read part of the minutes of the January Meeting. N. Moriarty would like to have the Budget Committee vote to see if they consider it legal. J. Ells asked if N. Moriarty thought it was illegal. He said that we have an opinion and that as a chair you are promoting your own agenda. He said that the committee should vote to see if they want to discuss the early retirement. MOTION: J.Ells. MOVED not to discuss Item #4 Teacher Early Retirement until a court or higher court over turns Attorney Apple’s decision. SECOND: J. Kenyon. MOTION to amend: J. Ells MOVED to remove Item #4 Teacher Early Retirement from the agenda. SECOND: J. Kenyon. MOTION: J. Ells MOVED to suspend the discussion on teacher early retirement. SECOND: Failed for lack of second. MOTION: J. Ells MOVED to table the discussion on the teacher early retirement unless or until a legal opinion from a higher court. SECOND: J. Kenyon. VOTE: 9.563/0/0.738/5.699. Motion passes.  

 

6.      Budget 2008-2009: N. Moriarty informed the committee that E. Stanley would be the Chair of the Default Budget sub-committee.

 

Potential Budget /Warrants: N. Moriarty listed potential budget and warrants as follows: Operating budget, Teacher Contract, Support Staff Contract, Facilities Maintenance and possibly but not at this time a Major Building at MRHS.

 

N. Moriarty asked the committee to give their opinion on how they would like to review the budget. J. Gomarlo said that she would like to have all available information and would like to know the tax impact prior to the vote. J. Kenyon said that the process we are doing now we are going away with knowledge. W. Lechlider said that he would like to know the budget in depth. C. Lothrop had no opinion. T. Parker said that he would like to go through it in order to justify the bottom line. He would like to know what effect to the children it would have when the committee suggests cutting. He commented that the bulk of the elementary schools are wages and benefits. He said that the committee should not take much time on the elementary schools. N. Dion agreed with T. Parker on the elementary schools. He felt that a majority should be spent on the high school and the warrants. The big issues. N. Moriarty commented that the Facilities Committee is bending over backwards to get their requests done. J. Ells commented that the 2 meetings are better for the newer members. G. Tremblay said that he would agree with T. Parker and N. Dion and also the voters need to be informed about the warrants. P. Stuhlsatz commented on simplicity and the fact that we do not make School Board Policy. N. Moriarty said that the committee should look at the elementary schools once, the others more and move on. D. Ott said that he would like to look at the big issues twice and be informed to go back to the Gilsum voters. J. Kenyon commented on a closer exam of all the schools. N. Moriarty would challenge the School Board to look at night school and all day kindergarten. N. Moriarty commented that the consensus was to look at 7th grade, 8th grade, the high school and MC2. J. Kenyon asked what the committee hopes to discuss. N. Moriarty said that there is nothing to cut at the low end. MOTION: J. Kenyon MOVED to keep the budget process as is going through this fiscal year. SECOND: J. Ells. VOTE: 5.811/2.144/2.346/5.699. Motion passes.

 

7.      The next meeting will be on November 3, 2007.

 

8.      Other Discussion: J. Gomarlo commented on the bi-Laws. N. Moriarty asked J. Gomarlo to review the bi-laws. N. Moriarty will send her the most recent information.  

 

9.      Superintendent’s Comments: K. Dassau commented that there are big issues including the accreditation report, AYP and the learning and student issues. All day kindergarten is not without cost. There would be a need for 3 more teachers and 3 more rooms. Space is a critical issue.

 

K. Dassau said that he is disappointed that M. Carney resigned. He would like to welcome C. Lothrop.

 

There would be a Surry withdrawal deliberative session on October 6, 2007 at 10:00 AM. The vote would take place on Nov. 6, 2007.

 

They would be constructing the playground at Mt. Caesar and would welcome volunteers on October 6, 2007.

 

There has been an extension on the MRPSOC Grant until the end of the school year 2008. The $450,000.00-$500,000.00 would be covering the students already in the programs.

 

There would be a meeting to discuss the Accelera Survey on Sept. 27,2007. The donors for the survey were John Hoffman, Tom Fenton, Jim Putnam and Markem Corp.

 

10.  Chairman comments: N. Moriarty invited volunteers for the playground construction.

 

11.  Public Comment Period: C. Dreyfuss commented that members of the committee said that there is nothing to cut at the elementary level it would imply that there is something to cut at the high school. The health insurance went out to bid, which was a savings to the district.

 

J. Craig commented on the NEASC and AYP which are very large issues and the fact that the administration and the School Board are working hard to get the district where it should be. There has to be a plan. It is going to cost money.

 

Mr. Kaplan commented and requested that the real numbers be used when giving information. He informed that committee that the teachers did take a vote on the health issue but decided that it belongs in negotiations. The teachers are not opposed if it is done properly.

 

K. Craig commented that the Budget Committee has to think about the charge to educate the kids. We need to get our kids at a proficient level. We need to be putting our money to improve education.

 

The next Budget Committee Meeting is on November 3, 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

 

12.  Motion to adjourn: J. Gomarlo MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 PM. SECOND: J. Ellis. VOTE: Unanimous for those present. Motion passes.

 

 

Respectfully submitted, 

 

 

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Recording secretary