FINANCE COMMITTEE

MINUTES – March 29, 2004

TOWN HALL – 7:30 P.M.

 

Members present:  Pietal, Heitin, Fixler, Goldberg,  Goodman, Hearne, Hitter, Miller, Feldman,             Rose, Sydney, Tuck

                                                       

 

School Committee Budget Review – Dr. Claire Jackson

 

1.      FY ’05 request of $28,110,683 – 7% increase over FY ’04 ($26,258,779)

a.             Maintenance of Effort (MOE) budget for FY ’05 would be $28,686,779

b.            Priorities allocation $550K

                                                   i.      To meet anticipated state SPED funding decrease

                                                 ii.      Will return to general fund if funding is more than anticipated amount

c.             Shortfall to MOE - $550K

d.            Additional needs

                                                   i.      $251K - SHS time on learning

1        to meet state requirement of 990 hrs.

2        will fund 5 teacher positions, one each in major subjects

                                                 ii.      $82K -  new science teaching supplies and materials for grade 9 physics

e.             Modifications

                                                   i.      $912K in reductions and savings 

 

2.      Questions / Discussion Points

a.       Cut of .5 custodial staff

                                                   i.      not a good idea to reduce maintenance of school buildings - not just schools but town wide problem  (Mr. Hearne)

                                                 ii.      choice instead of more teacher reductions (Dr. Jackson)

                                                iii.      should maintenance by instituted town wide (Mr. Pietal)

                                               iv.      yes, good idea (Dr. Jackson)

b.      Professional Development cut $62K

                                                   i.      Why  (Mr. Hearne)

                                                 ii.      Always a vulnerable area (Dr. Jackson)

1        Creative solutions – share costs with other towns when utilizing outside experts

2        Make use of in district talent

c.       Curriculum Coordinators

                                                   i.      Shift from PT to FT coordinator

d.      Expenses Transferred to Grants

                                                   i.      Transportation Supervisor – 1/2 time position of which 1/2 is SPED transportation coordination

                                                 ii.      SPED summer programs

e.       Time on Learning

                                                   i.      You didn’t meet the state requirement last year? (Mr. Goldberg)

                                                 ii.      “open campus was not a choice, it was a “necessity” (Dr. Jackson)

f.        Grants

                                                   i.      Is there a summary of grants including salaries on grants? (Mr. Heitin)

                                                 ii.      Yes. I’ll get that to you (Dr. Jackson)

                                                iii.      How stable are our grants (Mr. Heitin)

                                               iv.      Stable – approx. $1-2million per year, this year a bit less (Dr. Jackson)

                                                 v.      Title 1 – Reading and math assistance below poverty level

1        Sharon 4% of students, but all benefit from the aides hired

2        Approx. $254K

                                               vi.      SPED – contracted services – home, hospital, psychology services

                                              vii.      Are we as effective as other towns in getting grants? {Mr. Pietal}

                                            viii.      “yes and no” – we could use a grant writer but we are about as effective as other towns (Dr. Jackson)

g.       Salaries

                                                   i.      page 2of 23, lines f & g - placeholders for negotiated raises (Mr. Sydney)

1        $16,728,005 voted in FY ’04

2        $17,480,866 FY ’05 estimate

3        FY ’04 budget contains money to cover year one of the new contract, still under negotiation

4        “What if contract is not settled by June 30? (Mr. Goodman)

5        “we can not compromise our negotiations” (Dr. Jackson)

h.       Legal

                                                   i.      Why the fluctuation from year to year (Mr. Hearne)

                                                 ii.      Needs vary from year to year (Dr. Jackson)

1        School Committee Legal Issues

a.       Contract negotiations

2        SPED Legal Issues

a.       Resolve difference of opinion between Parent/School when deciding what would be “free and appropriate education”

                                                iii.      Legal Resources

1        SPED lawyer

2        Town counsel

3        Contract negotiator

i.         Technology Plan

                                                   i.      A remnant of ED Reform

1        One good computer for every 4 students

2        Sharon has one for every ten students

                                                 ii.      Funded by capital expenditures

1        We have made great gains in the last 2 years at Cottage, East, SMS, Heights

                                                iii.      Technology Teachers

1        One at each elementary school

2        Two at the middle school

                                               iv.      “May we receive an updated Technology Plan?” (Mr. Heitin)

1        “Yes” (Dr. Jackson)

j.        What is your vision for Sharon Middle School? (Mr. Sydney)

                                                   i.      Keep it together – remove asbestos, upgrade the HVAC, replace windows and roof ; Sharon must start thinking about replacement of the building - but not for ten years (Dr. Jackson)

                                                 ii.      Work done now will be integrated into a new building, i.e. the specifications for tile replacement are being taken from the plan for a new SMS (Mr. Gilligan)

k.      Maintenance and Operations

                                                   i.      What are the offset costs to rental revolving fund? - $175,000 (Mr. Goldberg)

1        $100-110,000 rental fees charged to Community Ed and Recreation Department (Dr. Jackson)

                                                 ii.      What about the $82,000 reduction for the lease payment for modulars at the SMS? (Mr. Goldberg)

1        It represents 1/2 the payment for the modulars (Dr. Jackson)

l.         FY ’05 Objectives

                                                   i.      “How are we doing?” (Mr. Hearne)

                                                 ii.      “We’re doin’” (Dr. Jackson)

1        MUNIS system is in good shape (accounting/bookkeeping)

2        We can look ahead 10 years in the budget process

3        We have resources for funding education

a.       We are working together with the town

                                                                                                                           i.      Priorities Comm - $550,000 to plug a big hole

b.      We froze the FY ’03 budget and carried forward $400,000 to fund a FY ’04 SPED payment

4        We are “staying afloat“ as an excellent school system

5        We have a 5 year capital plan (Mr. Gilligan)

6        The town is willing to discuss the funding of SPED costs as a town wide budget problem


e.       General Comments

                                                   i.       If a school MOE budget is 9% increase and the rest of the town is 5% increase… (Mr. Hearne)

                                                 ii.      The schools must stabilize to go forward (Mr. Nebenzahl)

                                                iii.      I’m concerned about the Health Insurance Trust Fund - We are not fully funding our reserves now because we think we can do that in good times – what if these are good times? (Mr. Hearne)

                                               iv.      I don’t believe that these are good times – if the state did not reduce our SPED aid we could have lived at a 5% increase – state funding has never been so low (Dr. Jackson)

                                                 v.      How much less? (Mr. Pietal)

                                               vi.      Ten years ago ch. 70 made up 10-12% of the school budget (Dr. Jackson)

                                              vii.      More state aid is not coming back in 2 years – it’s generational (Mr. Gilligan)

                                            viii.      Right, there are structural problems we have to get our hands on. In 1993, state passed Ed Reform with more funding. Towns grew more dependent, now there is less state funding. (Mr. Fixler)

                                               ix.      The town budget is made up 70% taxpayers / 30% state. We’ve had more money every year except one. (Mr. Pietal)

                                                 x.      Things should get better. $28 million is not the total budget, plus the state payments to SPED. (Mr. Liao)

                                               xi.      What percentage is the school budget of the town budget? (Mr. Hitter)

                                              xii.      76- 80% (Dr. Jackson)

                                            xiii.      State aid is $270,000 more in ch. 70 aid in FY ’05, school population is leveling, cost per student has increased in the past 3 years (Mr. Goodman)

                                            xiv.      The pay has gone up- with steps, longevity and increase of 3%… (Mr. Sydney)

                                             xv.      We’re still losing employees to other towns (Ms. Tuck)

                                            xvi.      Parents are killing themselves to provide things the school budget can’t. (Ms. Sapirstein)

                                          xvii.      Three things why our schools are successful – the children/teachers/parents (Dr. Jackson)

                                         xviii.      Can we have a comparison of the number of teachers in Sharon and 3-4 comparable towns?

                                            xix.      Yes. (Dr. Jackson)

Recommendations for Articles

 

1.      Article 2 (Fill Finance Comm. Vacancies)

a.       Moved (Heitin/Tuck)

VOTED: 12-0

 

2.      Article 3 (act upon/hear reports)

a.       Moved (Heitin/Tuck)

VOTED: 12-0

 

3.      Article 10 (Sharon Friends School Fund)

a.       Moved (Heitin/Tuck)

 VOTED: 12-0

 

4.      Article 11 (Norfolk County Retirement Annual Assessment)

a.       Moved (Heitin/Goodman)

 VOTED: 12-0

 

5.      Article 12 (Annual Audit)

a.       Moved (Fixler/Tuck)

 VOTED: 12-0

 

6.      Article 13 (DET costs)

a.       Moved (Heitin/Rose)

 VOTED: 12-0

 

7.      Article  (Mass Highway Dept. Funds)

a.       Moved (Heitin/Goldberg)

 VOTED: 12-0

 

 

 

New Business

 

1. Moved Minutes of Meeting 3/15/04 (Fixler/Heitin)

VOTED: 10-0-2 [Sydney, Tuck abstaining]

 

2. Moved Minutes of Meeting 3/22/04 (Heitin/Sydney)

VOTED: 11-0-1 [Sydney abstaining]

 

2.      Next Meeting March 31, 2004