BC20101028sdist

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BUDGET COMM= ITTEE /= MEETING MINUTES

Thursday, October 28, 2010<= /p>

APPROVED &#= 8211; November 18, 2010

CALL TO ORDER – 7:30pm

PRESENT:

Also Present:

Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. Dan= iel Guimond, Mr. John Lavallee, Mr. Robert Sherman, Ms. Angèle Diack, Mr. Ken Dunne, Selectmen Representative Edmund Gleason, School Boa= rd Representative Andy Ducharme

Business Administrator = Adam Steel, Director of Special Services Tina McCoy

ABSENT:

Mr. Dennis Viger, Mr. G= regory Farris

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

ACTION ITEMS

Business Administrator Ad= am Steel reviewed the pending action items through a letter provided to the Board da= ted October 28, 2010. (see Attached) There was a discussion regarding a= Special Education position. There was= an individual that was previously shown in the budget book, but was no longer = in it because the individual was now being paid through a new position that was being funded federally. Each = year funding is reviewed, this year the grant was moved around to create the new position. Mr. Hall questioned= what would happen to the individual if there was no funding next year. Mr. Steel said the individual woul= d have to apply for any open position in the District, assuming there was one. Director of Special Services Tina = McCoy joined the conversation. She = said the bulk of the federally funded positions fell under her domain. She said the IDEA grants were supp= osed to enhance provided services, not take something that should be in the budg= et anyway. She explained that the Special Education teacher had been with the District for a long time (with seniority) and was fully aware of the situation. She said the position had to be he= ld by the right individual with the right experience, so they opted to move the individual (from the budget) into the federal grant. The move freed up money in the bud= get to hire someone to take that individual’s place.

Mr. Guimond asked if the individual received retirement benefits and if so would it come off the fed= eral funds. Mr. Steel answered yes= to both questions. Mr. Guimond w= anted to know by moving one individual and hiring someone else if the school was hiring a person that the tax payers didn’t agree to. Ms. McCoy said the individual move= d into another position creating a vacancy. Mr. Guimond said a ‘body’ had been added to the staff. Ms. McCoy said they did, but it wa= s a different job. They did so be= cause they had the funding to enhance their services. Mr. Guimond’s point was individuals were being added to the school. Mr. Steel responded that the feder= al funds had always worked in that manner; they received federal funding and it was allocated as the administration saw fit. Sometimes it was used for capital = items, but most of the time it was staff. <= /span>Mr. Steel said in this case they rearranged staff they currently had; the affec= t to the tax payer was non-existent.

Mr. Lavallee questioned i= f the individual, who was moved from the budget to federal funding, was part of t= he union. Ms. McCoy answered yes= . Mr. Lavallee asked if they were st= ill a member of the union. Ms. McCoy answered yes. Mr. Lavallee sa= id the point being made was that an additional union position had been created, go= ing around the warrant article structure.

Mr. Hall said the difficu= lty he had was in the last budget there had been a high school special education position that was voted down. Ms. McCoy said they were aware of that fact and knew they couldn’t just h= ire another person because it had been voted down. They took a hard look at what type= s of support they could put in place using the money, which is why they defined a different position that had a different job description.

Mr. Steel continued to re= view the action items and his response to such.&nbs= p;

2011 SCHOOL BUDGET REVIEW – PELHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT

Mr. Steel spoke to the pr= oposed District budget.

A question was raised reg= arding Specialized Consultation. Ms.= McCoy explained that the district provided services to approximately 360 students with educational disabilities. At times there was a need for specialized consultants to be hired providing support to the staff. There w= as further discussion regarding the lines for charter school placement, in sta= te tuition, out of state tuition, and what was required of the district to pro= vide these services. Ms. McCoy dis= cussed what needs there were for specific supplies and equipment for students.

There was a brief discuss= ion regarding the employees and services provided for those in the English as a second language. Currently th= ere are twenty eight Pelham students participating in the program. Ms. McCoy then discussed the exten= ded school year services.

Mr. Steel spoke about psychological services and speech/language therapy. He said in these two areas they ha= d the hardest time finding employees; there weren’t many people in those fi= elds that were available for hire. The district had legal obligations to perform testing services and to provide speech/language therapy. Mr. = Steel explained that they believed they might be able to save money if they hired someone in both of the areas based upon the rates being paid for outside people. He said while it was = true once an individual was put on the payroll, the costs would increase each ye= ar, they were currently seeing yearly increases contracted services. He said they were seeking guidance= from the Budget Committee as to their recommendations. He said they felt it would be in t= he best interest of the district to hire full time employees in both areas. Ms. McCoy discussed the budgeted services and the costs savings of hiring additional employees. There was further discussion regar= ding the position, funding and the manner in which it would be requested. Mr. Steel referred to the budget s= howing the possible cost savings of hiring individuals. Mr. Hall felt that the School Board should make the case through a warrant article. He said it was clear there would b= e cost savings.

The Board continued their= review of the budget. Mr. Steel disc= ussed technology and told the Board that an item was included in the budget to connect the school and Town’s networks through aerial fiber optic cable. It was noted that if t= he project were to move forward, the Selectmen would be asked for their approv= al.

Further along in the budg= et, Mr. Lavallee noted that maintenance overtime was listed in all three schools as well in the district and questioned what the total charge was. Mr. Steel said a lot of it was the= use of the buildings over the weekend; some revenue was brought in to offset it. The big variable affectin= g the overtime was snow removal in the winter.&n= bsp; Mr. Lavallee commented that the total overtime cost was close to $100,000.

Mr. Guimond questioned the Transportation Coordinator job description. Mr. Steel replied that the coordin= ator was the first line of communication when it came to transportation. They were a liaison between parent= s and the bus company and sorted out almost all of the transportation issues encountered.

Mr. Steel discussed the h= ealth insurance line. He did a calculation for each individual employee, deducted their contributions and added the benefits costs for retirees.&nbs= p;

There was a discussion re= garding the building acquisition line which included the final lease payment for the high school modular classrooms, Memorial School sprinkler system and Memorial School modular classroom for use of their library. Mr. Steel said= the line for the sprinkler system was $250,000, however, bids were requested and due to be received next week; he expected the number to drop significantly. He noted they = were scoping the Memorial School modular proj= ect in order to have an RFP. They ex= pected to have the number by reconsideration.&nbs= p; Ms. Diack asked if it would be a warrant article. Mr. Steel said the School Board el= ected to put the item in the operating budget.&n= bsp;

There was a line for Food= Service in the amount of $20,000. Mr.= Steel noted that Food Service program operated as a separate fund; the amount was included in the event the program had a deficit. In the event there was a surplus t= he program could carry that surplus to the next fiscal year.

The Board reviewed the Fe= deral Funds and Kindergarten Grant budgets. Ending the evening’s discussion, Mr. Steel provided an outline= of the Food Service budget. Ther= e was an increase in the food line, which was believed to lead to better products= for the students. Also, the servi= ng line at Memorial School was budgeted to be replaced= . It was noted that the Director was working on a comprehensive list of equipment and a replacement schedule.

The Board completed their= budget review.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Lavallee/Guim= ond) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(8-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:50 pm.

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Respectfully submitted,

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Charity A. Landry Willis

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = Recording Secretary