Monadnock Regional School District

School Board Finance Committee Meeting Minutes

January 15, 2008

Monadnock Regional HS/MS

Approved

Committee members present: Jim Carnie, Doug Lyman, Jane Fortson, Gene White, Tim Aho and Phyllis Peterson. Administrators Present: Katie Chambers, Business Manager, and Dr. Kenneth Dassau, Superintendent.

The meeting was called to order at 6:04 pm.

1. Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the January 2nd minutes by D. Lyman, seconded by G. White. Motion passes: unanimous for those present.

2. Old Business: a. 2008/2009 Warrant – Any final recommendations? T. Aho made the Motion to have the finance committee recommend to the full board to have the proposed budget be the same as the default budget at the deliberative session in order to get the roof back in the warrant. Seconded by D. Lyman for discussion. Discussion: T. Aho stated that going with the 37.5 million and waiting on the rood until the building project passes could be so many years that the building could be a swimming pool before anything gets done. T. Aho felt removing the amount from the budget would allow for it to go on the warrant for the roof. D. Lyman stated that since we never discussed line items then we should go down and discuss. P. Peterson fears that we will lose credibility with the public if we put it off. K. Chambers stated that we need it, but we’re no desperate. They have looked at Wilcox, Mt. Caesar, and the Middle School roofs for leaks, these would be fixed first, she further stated the whole amount first proposed for this year wasn’t urgent. T. Aho stated that if the teacher’s contract is to pass and the public gets wind that we are leaving the roof off to pass a teachers contract they may look at it negatively. G. White wants to hear line item cuts, he won’t vote in the affirmative on this motion. J. Fortson agrees that the roof needs to be fixed and thinks getting the budget lower compared to the default would help the budget to pass, but doesn’t want the budget at the default level and won’t vote in favor of this motion. J. Carnie still feels there is surplus money in the budget as presented and would vote for the motion. Motion passes: 4 yes (T. Aho, D. Lyman, and J. Carnie and P. Peterson), 2 no’s (J. Fortson and G. White). T. Aho made the motion to recommend to the full board to add $770,000 into article 6, making it $824,340. Seconded by D. Lyman. Discussion: T. Aho asked how soon they would be moving on the project (roof) and that if it were left off this year would it cost more to fix it in the future. Motion passes: 3 Yes (D. Lyman, J. Carnie, and T. Aho) 1 no (G. White), 2 abstentions (J. Fortson, P. Peterson).

b. Debt Financing: Facilities Committee request: Pending the special school board meeting. Pending the Feb. 12^th meeting.

c. SAU Withdrawals – Who pays for long-term liabilities of original district-should state legislation be proposed. The administration has not had time to proceed with putting together a separation package for the Surry withdrawal. This item is pending the administration preparing a separation agreement.

Motion to permanently move public comments up after the approval of minutes on the agenda by J. Fortson seconded by P. Peterson. Discussion: J. Carnie mentioned that we have been criticized for not having time for public comments in the past, so to make sure we hear from the public moving it forward would accomplish this. We could then have it at the end of the agenda as well if time permits.

Public Comments: E. Stanley asked if a budget committee member is sued for performing their duties for the district are they entitled to legal representation at the districts expense? D. Lyman stated that if they were representing the district (as an elected official) and there was a lawsuit, then he thought there was a state law that said yes. J. Carnie stated that an attorney represents the school board and that it would be up to the full board to determine if the attorney were to represent the budget committee member. E. Stanley asked that couldn’t the vote be skewed if the member were an unpopular one with the board, and shouldn’t a policy be in place. J. Carnie suggested that E. Stanley bring the problem to the full budget committee to determine how they would like to proceed and then as a whole board present their thoughts to the full board.

New business:

3a. Budget transfer handout- K. Chambers went over the truck estimates received for the replacement of a pickup truck needed. The repairs necessary for the current vehicle exceed its blue book by 1/3 more. G. White made the motion to recommend the full board authorize the purchase of the 2005 GMC ¾ ton pickup. Seconded by P. Peterson. Motion Passes: 3 yes (T. Aho, P. Peterson, and G. White), 3 abstentions (J. Fortson, D. Lyman, and J. Carnie). P. Peterson made the motion to approve the budget transfer as presented by K. Chambers for the purchase of the aforementioned truck. Seconded by G. White. Discussion: None. Motion passes: All in favor.

3b. 2006/2007 Monthly Expenditure Summary – K. Chambers handed out a worksheet detailing the expenditures for the 06/07 school year and explained that she would be putting together a similar worksheet for the 07/08 year, then attempting to estimate any surplus/deficit.

3c. Financial reports – Reports handed out, no questions regarding the information presented and nothing of particular note that K. Chambers felt needed to be brought to the committee’s attention.

3d. Legal Bills – No new legal bills. J. Carnie asked if we would be receiving a legal bill for the day of court the lawyer’s office did not relay the message and the lawyer showed up? No answer provided.

4. Second Public Comments: None.

5. Next Meeting: February 5^th, at the Monadnock Regional MS/HS in Swanzey at 6:00 pm.

6. Adjourn: Motion to adjourn by J. Fortson, at 6:59pm, seconded by P. Peterson. Motion passes: Unanimous for all present.