August 26, 2008

Monadnock Middle/High School, Swanzey, NH

Members present: Neil Moriarty, Norm Dion, James Ells, Jen Gomarlo, David Ott, Wayne Lechlider, George Tremblay, Lynn Rust, Toni Ellsworth and Peg Richmond. Absent: Peter Stuhlsatz, Mike Morrison, John Tommila and K. Stark.

Administrators Present: K. Dassau, Superintendent, K.Chambers, Business Manager, Earl Wammack, New Business Manager, D. Hodgdon, Assistant Supt. of Curriculum and Laura Aivaliotis, Recording Secretary.

1. Approval of the July 24, 2008 Minutes: MOTION: J. Gomarlo. MOVED to accept the July 24, 2008 Budget Committee Meeting Minutes. SECOND: D. Ott. VOTE: 7.884/1.238/0/6.878. Motion passes.

2. Public Comments: P. Bauries asked for clarification on the cost per point for the teachers for Longevity. She had heard that it was $746.00 and then in an email from the School Board it stated that it was $400.00 per point. K. Dassau explained that in the first year of the proposed contract each point would be $400.00 and in the second year of the contract it would be roughly $726.00. The variables are the years of service and the people.

E. Wammack the new Business Manager was introduced to the Budget Committee.

3. Budget Oversight:

3a: MRSD Monthly Expense Report: K. Chambers passed out the unaudited June report. K. Chambers explained that there has not been much activity this summer. She expects a surplus in the amount of $600,000.00. The Committee reviewed the MRSD Revenues. K. Chambers explained that the negative in the District Wide Account is really an offset in the individual school accounts due to the health insurance savings. T. Ellsworth arrives. The Committee reviewed the Monthly Expense Report, The Fund 2 Grant Revenues and The Capital Projects, which indicate the on going projects. K. Chambers explained that the attorney fees are in the School Board Account. The Committee reviewed the Food Service revenues and expenses. She explained that the Food Service is in great shape. Revenue Fund is for local donations and gifts. J. Ells arrives. K. Dassau explained that criminal checks are done on all employees. The prints are done at the SAU office and they are sent to the State.

3b:Major Transfers: K. Chambers explained that there were quite a few transfers since last year. The transfers provided what was not in the default budget. N. Moriarty commented that the School Board could set the default at a high 6 or 7 level. K. Chambers said that might be done with the Board’s approval. N. Moriarty commented that when attending Finance Committee Meetings in June and the Committee agreed with most of the items brought before them. He said that there was no challenge to the transfer sheets.

3c: Major Expenses for next month: K. Chambers explained that the major expenses would be the payroll and the benefits. Maintenance is being finished up and the contractors are being paid. K. Chambers explained that the PA System is being moved for $6,000.00. This was a health and safety issue of the NEASC. N. Moriarty was asked about the high 6 or 7 level on the default. He commented that the School board already knows what they want. K. Dassau explained that it was the direction of the Budget Committee and the School Board to use the surplus to get these issues done. N. Moriarty offered the suggestion to take pressure off the meetings. K. Chambers explained that the major transfers were to be utilized by the surplus. N. Moriarty suggested that the Committee read the Finance Committee Minutes.

4. Cost Per Pupil: Subcommittee Read-out –George Tremblay: The Subcommittee passed out information to the Committee. He explained that they gathered information and compared the information to the other District. The information revealed that MRSD Kindergarten –12 grade has the highest cost per pupil in comparison with the other Districts. The class size is right on line. The Committee looked at the salaries of the teachers and they averaged $47.00 less than Keene, which is the highest around. The administration salaries are in the middle of the pact. The committee also explored the NECAP testing. MRSD has not faired well but it is not clear if it is related. Other Districts did better. The Committee has not found the answer to the question but is willing to explore further. J. Gomarlo commented that the plant operation maybe costing the District more to keep up due to an old building. It was suggested going over every line item. G.Tremblay explained that is a huge job. It was stated that transportation is not in the cost per pupil. N. Dion commented that there is a high cost in the administration. The principals per students are very high and the number of Dept. Heads is very high. The administration is very expensive. K. Dassau explained that the Education Committee and the Finance Committee have reorganized the Dept. Heads. N. Dion commented that it made it worse. G. Tremblay explained that the per pupil cost is an open question. We as a Committee would still like to explore it. There is about a $2000.00 difference per pupil with other districts. G. White questioned the salary schedule handed out. It needs to state the dates. J. Ells commented that they are the 2005-2006 salary schedule numbers. L. Rust asked if there were items that the administration could analyze. K. Dassau explained that the SAU would have to drop everything. K. Dassau explained that the subcommittee has the information from the DOE 25. D.Coffman commented that we need to figure out the difference in the per pupil cost which is about 4 million dollars more than other Districts. This information will filter out to the public and there is a vote in 2 weeks. Someone needs the assignment. Dr. Kaplan commented that it is a very lousy job of analyzing the information. You are not comparing apples to apples. We need a detailed report. We need someone from the outside to figure it out. We do need to go line by line. The Special Ed. needs to be included. The salary schedule is totally off. No one except the Business Manager would know how to do this. Do not pass it off to the hardworking people on the Budget Committee. We need to be careful. K.Dassau commented that K. Chambers is leaving on Sept. 12, 2008, E. Wammack is new and we are working on a budget for 2010. This is a multi-town District. There are a lot of variables. He said that there is a lot to analyze. The District could hire someone to do this. G. Tremblay asked where the burden of proof lies. He asked what some of the big factors are. A knowledgeable person could take a guess. Get a person to do it and to help the budget. He said that he is not ready to dig by himself. K. Dassau explained that the SAU gave the committee the information. L. Rust we are going to be under hot lights. We need the administration to take the reasons back to the Budget Committee. J. Ells suggested a destination and a purpose. We are opening a can of worms. W. Lechlider suggested keeping this committee until after the budget process and meet with the administration. W. Lechlider commented that the goal is to find the answer and it is huge. J.Ells suggested a logical answer. To figure out what we are trying to accomplish. We need to set a destination. N. Moriarty commented that the biggest drivers are the teacher salaries and the facilities. N. Dion commented that staff was also. D.Ott commented that this is published information.

5. Facilities Update: It was commented that the Board has voted on a 12 million-dollar infrastructure work to the high school and an 18 million-dollar plus new middle school. A list of projects being done over the summer was listed including the nurses station, the roof work and siding work. K.Chambers passed out the Facilities Master Plan presented by Kaestle Boos and then the separate Middle School Plan and the infrastructure work to the high school. K.Chambers explained that the Board voted to finance the up to 12 million-dollar infrastructure project with a 10 year Capital Appreciation Bond and the New Middle School with a 20 year Capital Appreciation Bond. K. Dassau explained that there is significant work being done in the District. The roofs, the gym and well as the new gym floor, the bleachers, moving of offices, the Gilsum MPR floor, Emerson MPR, Troy sprinkler system, auditorium chairs in process and the completion of the weight room. It was mentioned that besides the planned projects the District did another $700,000.00 in unanticipated projects.

6. School Board Liaison Report:

6a. Curriculum: D. Hodgdon explained that they have been very busy over the summer with curriculum work. They have focused on curriculum development in science and aligning the math and reading K-12. The summer has been very busy and productive.

6b. Facilities and Finance: N. Moriarty commented that the proposed infrastructure and new middle school was not the recommendation from the Finance Committee. G. White commented that the Finance Committee has worked very hard this year and not with a rubber stamp. The Committee spoke to the teachers and the principals and asked a lot of questions. They had 3 or 4 meetings prior to the votes. The School Board worked hard as well. He said that we have problems in facilities, personnel and student achievement but have made great strides so far. The teacher’s contract is significant. The Facilities Committee has been working like crazy. The decisions have not been made at the last minute. The Facilities has been working a year and a half to come up with a building proposal. We have serious infrastructure issues and we need a new middle school. We still have space issues. We need both articles. He has a feeling that this is going to be a different year. We know that improvements need to be done.

7. Vision 2008-09:

7a. Public Opinion: Increased Community Communication-School Board Selectmen/Meeting: The School Board has been meeting with the individual town selectpersons to promote the contract and answer questions. K. Dassau explained that they are not sure about Sullivan because of the lawsuit issues. T. Ellsworth explained that she would set up the meeting. W. Lechlider asked the committee members to get out and contact their neighbors and ask them to support and vote on the teacher’s contract.

7b. Goals/Direction: W. Lechlider commented that due to the contracts and the facilities projects this committee should take a very close look at the operating budget. That should be our goal. It was commented that $600,000.00 of the surplus would be returned to the voters and the $580,000.00 was spent. The administration acted on the direction of the School Board and the Budget Committee. G. Tremblay commented that if there were a deficit they would scream louder. N. Moriarty commented that there were 2 defaults with overruns. You don’t give it back to the voters and you will pay. You did not spend what you said. Every facilities warrant has passed. The next Budget Committee Meeting is on Sept. 23, 2008 at 7:00 PM.

8. Review Budget Committee Meeting Schedule: The Budget Committee Schedule was handed out.

9. Any other items the committee wishes to discuss: It was suggested that the committee should invite B. Pickering to the next meeting to present his Dept. Head Proposal that was approved by the Education Committee. It was also suggested that J. Carnie the president of the Education Committee attend as well.

10. Setting next agenda/meeting location: Sept. 23, 2008 at 7:00 PM in the MS/HS Library.

11. Superintendent Comments: K. Dassau reported that the CRC has been very busy. Facilities work is ongoing through the summer. The teachers are positive. The CRC has prepared a letter to go out to the voters prior to the contract vote. A copy was given to the Budget Committee.

12. Chair Comments: W. Lechlider would encourage people to support the teacher’s contract. He would encourage employees at the school to go out and vote. The Student Government is working to move the vote. There are a lot of good things that are going on.

13. Public Comments: C. Kahn commented on the salaries that were presented not being accurate. The District has been loosing employees due to no pay increases. We need to be competitive. We have lost 25% of our teachers over the last 2 summers. She would encourage the Budget Committee to support the contract. The teachers are hopeful it would make a huge difference this school year.

D. Coffman asked if there was a schedule for the work to be done from the Capital Improvement Plan and work completed. K. Chambers explained that B. Mitchell and the Project Manager as well as the Facilities Committee are getting better in the building of estimates for bids.

K. Dassau informed the Budget Committee that the District would be using the Reverse 911 to contact all the voters in the District. It was asked if there was a contingency for the staff if the contract was voted down.

D.Ott thanked G. Tremblay and the subcommittee for their work on the per pupil cost.

Dr. Kaplan thanked the Budget Committee for their support on the contract. He said that it has been the highest morale on opening day. It is a motivated work place.

14. Adjourn: MOTION: J. Ells. MOVED to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 PM. SECOND: G. Tremblay. VOTE: Unanimous for those present.

Respectfully submitted,

Laura L. Aivaliotis

MRSD Recording secretary