Monadnock Regional School District

School Board Finance Committee

Meeting Minutes

March 6, 2007

Middle/High School Conference Room

APPROVED

Committee Members Present:

James Carnie, Chairman

Sue Oerman, Vice Chairman

Jerry Mazza

Phyllis Peterson

Gene White

Other School Board Members Present:

Doug Lyman

Budget Committee Members Present:

none

Administrators Present:

Katie Chambers, Business Manager

Ken Dassau, Superintendent

Public Present:

Dixie Gurian

Call to Order: Chairman J. Carnie called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m.

Approval of Minutes: There were no minutes presented for approval.

Revenue, Expenditure, and Status of Assets Reports: K. Chambers distributed Revenue, Expenditure, Status of Assets as of this date. S. Oerman noted that the Status of Assets Report did not total properly. K. Chambers will follow up with staff who prepare the report. Follow-up was provided on the following:

• Food Service – a year-to-date revenue and expenditure report was distributed. K. Chambers stated that according to Food Service Director Tom Walsh, meal collections are $12,000 in arrears to date. She had provided him with contact information for a reputable collection agency and he was setting up a meeting with them. The District’s policy includes the use of a collection service for outstanding accounts.
• Facilities Master Plan – K. Chambers distributed copies of the minutes and votes of the 2005 and 2006 annual district meetings with respect to the Expendable Trust Fund established for future architectural and engineering and construction work. She explained that the 2005 article establishing the trust had been approved by the voters. The funding in 2005 was designated to be from that year’s surplus, but since there had been a deficit that year, there was no money put in the fund. In 2006, the $75,000 that was proposed to put in the fund was defeated by the voters, so there is still no money in the fund.
• MRPSOC travel – D. Gurian explained there were two items. First there was the national conference of the Voluntary Public Schools of Choice which is held annually for the 13 grantees across the country to meet and discuss their programs. Last fall it was held in Minnesota and Dave Hodgdon, David Lesser, Michelle Munson, Ronerta Tenney, Fred Bramante and she attended. The cost was under $5,000, about $2,400 for air fare and about $1800 for hotel. The second item was staff from the Keene High School went in the fall to Waltham, Massachusetts, to a conference on Virtual High School programs.

Legal Bills: A report of the most recently paid legal bills was distributed and reviewed.

Project Manager Compensation: K. Chambers explained that the Project Manager had resigned in early January. The vacancy had been advertised and posted and applications received. She was ready to start interviewing the candidates. She would like to hire the person at the rate proposed in the 2007/08 budget, up to $41,000. The rate of the person who resigned was approximately $34,000 at the time, a very low rate because of the unusual circumstances that occurred when the position was created last spring and filled from within. With an April hire date of the new Project Manager, there was enough money saved during the vacancy period to fill the position at the higher rate of pay for the balance of the fiscal year. K. Dassau explained that the higher rate of pay would attract a suitable candidate. After discussion, S. Oerman moved to support the request to hire a Project Manager at a rate of pay up to $41,000 per year. P. Peterson seconded the motion. The vote was in the affirmative, yes – 4, no-0, abstain-1 (G.White).

MRPSOC Five Year History: D. Gurian’s report was distributed. She gave a brief overview of the documents then fielded questions from the members of the committee. It was agreed after a lengthy discussion that D. Gurian would return at the next meeting with additional detail on the MC2 break-out in the report.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 20, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. at the Monadnock Regional Middle/High School.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m. upon approval of a motion by G. White and second by J. Mazza.