BC20101101s

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BUDGET COMM= ITTEE /= MEETING MINUTES

Monday, November 1, 2010

APPROVED &#= 8211; November 18, 2010

CALL TO ORDER – 7:30pm

PRESENT:

Also Present:

Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. Dan= iel Guimond, Mr. John Lavallee, Mr. Dennis Viger, Mr. Gregory Farris, Mr. Rob= ert Sherman, Ms. Angèle Diack, Mr. = Ken Dunne, Selectmen Representative Edmund Gleason, School Board Representati= ve Andy Ducharme

Business Administrator = Adam Steel

ABSENT:

None.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

MINUTES REVIEW

MOTION:

(Lavallee/Sher= man) To approve the O= ctober 18, 2010 meeting minutes as written.

VOTE:

(10-0-0) The motion carried.

ACTION ITEMS

Business Administrator Ad= am Steel reviewed a letter dated November 1, 2010 that outlined the action items requested previously by = the Board. (see Attached)

2011 SCHOOL BUDGET REVIEW

Kindergarten – Mr. Steel noted that there were actually t= hree full-time teacher positions, but they had not been used based on enrollment. The decision was = made to use two full-time teachers and keep the third half-time to save funding.= There were no additional questions= .

Pre-School – Mr. Guimond asked why there was request for software since the Elementary School was next door. Mr. Steel believed pre-school was preparing for the event that they may be housed in a different location in = the future, as well as to allow for some seclusion between the two systems. Mr. Viger asked where the software resided. Mr. Steel replied it= was on the server. Mr. Viger conf= irmed it was password protected. Mr. Steel answered yes. There wer= e no additional questions.

Elementary School – Mr. Farris asked for clarification as= to why the Title I position was moved and wanted to know if it was because they felt the federal funding may go away. Mr. Steel believed the concern was that the Title I program had been= in the school (and a success) for a number of years and it was their job to not rely on federal funding for a program that needed to take place. They wanted to free up federal dol= lars to make the program even more successful and reach more children. Mr. Farris asked if the position m= oved into the budget was more of a director or teaching position. Mr. Steel said it was a ‘hyb= rid’ position (instructional and administrative); the director spent a large por= tion of their time interacting with students.&n= bsp; Mr. Farris asked why the school didn’t simply hire aides with = the federal funds, versus moving a position into the budget as well as hiring aides. He said it seemed as t= hough they were circumventing the voters on positions in the school. Mr. Steel believed the School Boar= d felt the program merited having a director to anchor the program. Mr. Farris asked if it was the expectation, based on other federally funded positions, to have more positi= ons moved into the budget with the intent on hiring more people with federal money. Mr. Steel said they wa= nted to make use of whatever federal dollars were available to them. He said the point was well taken, = but when a program showed itself as being successful and went on to become necessary at that time any school board would look at how the program could have some permanency. Ms. Dia= ck asked how the school would handle enrollment increases and if they would se= ek additional teachers. Mr. Steel replied that they could review the situation on an annual basis. Mr. Viger questioned if the job description of the Title I person would change when they moved. Mr. Steel answered no.

Mr. Hall confirmed that t= he school would be receiving approximately $128,000 in Title I money. He said they would be spending approximately $75,000 on one person and it seemed they may do better to hire additional tutors instead. He= then discussed the number for substitutes and commented that he may cut the numb= er to what it had been last year. He hoped it was being addressed during contractual negotiations. Mr. Ducharme pointed out that the budgeted number had been decreasing each year, however the expended amount = had been increasing. Mr. Hall agr= eed, but felt the issue was out of control and not being addressed. Mr. Dunne asked if there was a rea= son for the increase over the last few years.&= nbsp; Mr. Steel would like to think it was cyclical. He noted that the budget number pr= esented was something he needed to stick with because it was an uncontrollable item= . Mr. Farris noted that in FY10 ther= e was an over-expenditure of close to $75,000 that had been paid for within the budget. Mr. Steel said that w= as correct. Mr. Farris commented= that the school had also turned back close to $250,000. Mr. Steel said that was also correct. Mr. Ducharme stated = this was a different year, different budget and a different person building that budget.

In going through the budg= et Mr. Farris commented that the budget showed increases based on projected enrollment, however the enrollment was going down. Mr. Steel said the projected enrol= lment was for the year they would be entering and the amount of supplies that wou= ld be needed for that time.

Ms. Diack asked where the= SNAP software, used by the Nurse, was located and why it needed to be purchased since the nurse should be able to access it off the server. Mr. Steel stated that the software= was priced based on ‘instance’, as in the number of times it was installed and then based on how many users were connected to each instance.

Mr. Guimond commented tha= t he had a problem with having two Assistant Principals mainly because the voters vo= ted no and the school did it anyway.

The Board continued their= review of the elementary school budget.

Mr. Lavallee asked if an = analysis had been done breaking down the cost per pupil, per school. Mr. Steel answered yes. Mr. Lavallee asked if the District= costs were included. Mr. Steel answ= ered yes. Mr. Lavallee asked that = the information be provided to the Board for review. Mr. Steel noted that in school year 2008/2009 Pelham ranked second lowest in the state for cost per pupil. Ms. Diack asked how the cost per p= upil was calculated. Mr. Steel sai= d the number was a ‘raw’ number and qualified that the cost was not a perfect metric. He said they = took the number spent by the district and divided it by the number of pupils. The MS25 filed each year included District costs and was broken down into three areas: elementary, middle sch= ool and high school. Mr. Steel sa= id because Pelham’s middle school was not an approved middle school by s= tate standards (in terms of classification) the costs were broken down into two areas with the District costs being prorated into those groups based on the average daily membership.

There were no additional comments.

Memorial School – The Board reviewed the proposed budget.

Ms. Diack asked why there= was such a large drop in the expended amount for Language Arts supplies (FY09 $= 1960 down to FY10 $245). Mr. Steel= had no answer.

Mr. Guimond asked if the co-curricular stipends were a contingency.= Mr. Steel answered no. He said he wanted to make sure he could break down which clubs, activities and athletic programs were defined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement; the first stipend line reflected this. The ‘other approved stipends’ were those approved by the School Board over the years. = Mr. Guimond asked if people were charged money for joining clubs. Mr. Steel stated they charged a transportation fee for athletics. He didn’t believe that a fee was charged for a general club membership. Mr. Guimond said = it was something the School Board might want to look into. Mr. Ducharme said it would depend = on the clubs. He felt the clubs were serving a good need for the students and if it could be supported with Town money, that what they should do. Mr. Farris asked how many students were involved in the clubs. Mr. Steel said there was no prescr= iptive number. He said past attendan= ce was reviewed when deciding upon offering certain clubs. He believed the principals tried to match student interests with what clubs were offered.

Mr. Lavallee said the sti= pends had been increased last year in a poor manner and questioned which of them = were included in the contract and which weren’t. Mr. Steel previously provided the = Board with information regarding the clubs breaking down the cost per school. Mr. Lavallee felt the stipends sho= uld be reviewed when negotiating the contracts.&n= bsp;

Mr. Dunne asked if the cl= ubs were level funded. Mr. Steel said because the clubs were covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement and effectively level funded. Mr. Lavallee questioned how clubs were started. Mr. Steel believed it happened organically by students expressing a common interest. A faculty advisor had to be identi= fied and a proposal was brought to the School Administration by the teacher.

With regard to co-curricu= lar transportation, it was Mr. Guimond’s understanding that there was a regional format for sports so the students didn’t travel as far. He wanted to know why the line was= still being level funded. Mr. Steel= said he looked at previous expenses and found the number to be close to what was budgeted in the past. He woul= d have reduced the line had the expenses been significantly less.

Mr. Hall commented that t= he salaries for custodians had increased approximately $23,706 and asked what constituted the increase. Mr.= Steel replied that it was largely due to the kindergarten custodial position that= was not included in previous budgets, as well as the half time position at the = high school.

There was a brief discuss= ion regarding building repairs and the items listed. Mr. Farris wanted to know what cau= sed the increase from FY09 $31,975 to FY10 $68,270. Mr. Steel said the air conditionin= g was part of it; he would verify the information.

Mr. Hall commented that t= here was approximately $200,000 of ‘one-time’ items that showed in the F= Y11 budget that skewed the percentages.

There were no additional comments.

High School – The Board reviewed the proposed budget.

Ms. Diack asked for an explanation of the ‘track change allowance’. Mr. Steel explained when the contr= act ended and there was no new agreement, it entered a status quo period. When that occurred teachers could = no longer get step increases, however trial law had proven when a teacher went from having a bachelors degree to a masters, or masters plus twelve (as def= ined in the contract) they were still able to receive a salary increase.

Mr. Lavallee asked how ma= ny steps/increases were available within the contract. Mr. Steel said the current contract had a total of twenty seven steps. Mr. Viger asked if ste= ps were added once they reached the top. Mr. Steel said they didn’t anymore. Previously there were thirteen ste= ps, but they had been redefined. =

Mr. Hall asked how much w= as charged for Driver’s Education. Mr. Steel said the amount increased each year and believed this year= it was approximately $600 per student.

In looking at required paperbacks, Ms. Diack noticed that the budget indicated they were replaced annually and questioned if the students were able to keep the books. Mr. Steel replied there was a coll= ection that was rotated over a number of years; the same dollar amount was used ea= ch year.

Under the new furniture/f= ixtures line (classroom desks, bookcases, chairs), Mr. Guimond wanted to know if th= ere was a definite plan for the $8700 listed.&= nbsp; Mr. Steel stated there was a rotation that occurred each summer; they took the budget and replaced as many of the items as possible. Typically the budgeted amount was = not enough.

Mr. Farris questioned wha= t was being replaced under the Industrial Arts/replacement of fixtures line. Mr. Steel stated digital cameras w= ere used in the class; the line item was to replace cameras that were broken or damaged. Mr. Farris said it appeared a lot were replaced in FY09 because the budget was higher. Mr. Steel didn’t know what t= he expenditure was used for. Mr. Guimond had a hard time with the fact that certain items (i.e. calculators = and cameras) were being purchased for the students. Mr. Steel said they got stuck in a= bad situation when they wanted to use a specific tool in a class and some paren= ts elect not to go with their requirement to purchase such. Mr. Guimond said the student didn’t have to take the course, they were electives.

Mr. Farris questioned whe= re the increase came from for professional services. Mr. Steel understood that there ha= d been an increase in the NHIAA dues and assignor’s fees for each team.

Ms. Diack saw that each o= f the schools had a line for custodian overtime in the amount of $20,000 and aske= d if the amount was for snow removal. Mr. Steel said the budgeted amount was for snow removal, weekend overtime etc. He said they no= rmally asked a custodian substitute to come in versus having a regular custodian w= ork an overtime shift. Mr. Guimond asked if the fees collected for the use of the school on the weekends cover= ed the overtime pay for custodians. Mr. Steel said it didn’t cover it completely. Mr. Guimond asked if the School Bo= ard would review the extra-curricular activities and at least cover the overtime expense. Mr. Ducharme said wh= at the School Board had done was re-categorize the groups that use the schools into different pay scales. Mr. Ste= el believed they would be collecting more revenue than previously collected ba= sed on how the facility use policy was rewritten.

Ms. Diack discussed the custodians and wanted to know when the half-time person had been hired. Mr. Steel said they had worked in = the school for at least five years. They were previously not listed in the budget.

Under repairs and mainten= ance, Mr. Hall believed there was a question as to whether the exterior doors wou= ld be ADA compliant. Mr. Steel said he received a quote from one vendor to replace all the doors; the quote was $57,497 and suspected there would be additional savings when they went out = to bid. If there was a savings, = they would review making the front door handicap accessible if possible; the cos= t for doing so was not known. Mr. S= herman suggested also reviewing the back door because it accessed the portable classrooms. Mr. Dunne said du= ring the site tour there was a question regarding some of the windows in the classrooms and questioned if they would be part of the unanticipated repair= s, or if they would be brought forward next year. Mr. Steel stated (per code) the wi= ndows in the school were not large enough to be used for an egress. In his opinion, it didn’t ma= ke sense to make the windows larger if the school (in the future) would requir= e a sprinkler system.

There were no additional comments.

District – The Board moved on to reviewing the District budget.

There was a discussion re= garding special services; Mr. Steel indicated there was no control and it was diffi= cult to know what the expenses would be, although funding had to be available. He believed the best practice woul= d be to have a capital reserve fund for special education that would cover a min= imum of two students each year.

The Board continued their= review of the budget.

Under salaries for occupa= tional therapy, Ms. Diack asked how a contracted service person versus and employee was delineated. Mr. Steel rep= lied that the Department of Labor had a twelve-step check list to help employers decide whether someone is an employee or a contractor; they were becoming m= ore strict about that delineation. In th= is case, the person had been signing contracts and had been a paid employee for ten plus years and receiving benefits and was in the New Hampshire Retireme= nt System. Mr. Viger asked how m= any more contractors were not on 1099’s.= When Mr. Steel found this mistake he asked if there was anyone else = and was told there was no one else in a similar situation. He said every employee he knew of = was listed in the book.

There was a discussion re= garding technology services.

Mr. Guimond noted there h= ad been a huge increase in the budgeted amount for audit expenses between FY09 to FY10. Mr. Steel believed the = amount had been fairly consistently budgeted and didn’t think a reduction wo= uld be uncalled for.

The SAU Share final numbe= r will be obtained Nove= mber 2, 2010 during their meeting. Mr. Far= ris asked that the salary increases for the non-union employees be provided. Mr. Steel said he would. He believed the number in the budg= et would be adjusted downward. <= /p>

With regard to the landsc= aping contract, Mr. Viger asked if it included plowing. Mr. Steel believed that the Town H= ighway Department plowed the main driveways surrounding the buildings and the custodial/maintenance staff did the sidewalks.

Mr. Lavallee asked when t= he bus contract ended. Mr. Steel inf= ormed that the contract was currently up and explained the current situation. He said a transportation committee= had been formed and were currently reviewing a broad spectrum of alternatives f= or transportation. Mr. Viger ask= ed if Pelham was looking to join Win= dham with some sort of agreement. = Mr. Steel replied that nothing was out of the question at this point; they were currently in the fact finding phase.

Mr. Hall addressed dental insurance, which had increased 46% ($82,465). Mr. Steel commented if the budget = for the past five years were reviewed there was a missing year that blew the nu= mber out of proportion. He said he= ran the numbers through every employee who got dental insurance and had come up with the number contained in the budget.&n= bsp; He suspected that the dental line would be overspent. Mr. Lavallee hoped this was an ite= m that would be reviewed during contract negotiations because he felt the costs we= re getting out of control.

Mr. Guimond asked what the current unemployment rate was. Mr. Steel said he would get the information.&n= bsp; Mr. Viger asked how many people utilized unemployment. Mr. Steel said unemployment was for anyone who lost their job or was not renewed, including some teachers who resign in lieu of not being renewed. The insurance rate was set by past experience; Mr. Steel didn’t have those figures with him. =

Mr. Steel informed that t= he total on the Building Acquisition c= ould be reduced by $125,000; bringing the figure down from $529,994 to now read $404,994. Mr. Viger questione= d the logic of leaving the library modular as a line item versus putting it in as= a warrant article. Mr. Steel be= lieved the School Board felt it was an important enough item to include in the operating budget. Mr. Viger a= sked on what basis the decision was made. Mr. Ducharme stated there was a population crowding issue at the mid= dle school and by having the portable library some classroom space would be fre= ed up. There would also be room = for teachers to have desk locations and a small meeting space.

Mr. Steel addressed the $= 20,000 for Food Service. He explaine= d the funds would be used in the event the program had a deficit.

There were no additional comments.

Federal Funds – Mr. Hall felt it was important for the Bo= ard to have information on an annual basis to know where the employees were pla= ced.

There were no additional comments.

Kindergarten Grant – There were no comments/questions.

Food Service - There was a discussion regarding the budget to which Mr. Hall questioned why there had been a $94,000 surplus. M= r. Steel stated there had been virtually no equipment purchases during the previous year which accounted for some of it. He said there had also been a cut = in personnel, hours trimmed and things were done more efficiently. In addition, the program started m= aking use of the state commodities program. Mr. Steel noted they were in the process of developing an equipment replacement plan.

Ms. Diack questioned what= caused the increase in contracted service. Mr. Steel said the number was based on what they planned to spend th= is year and was largely an estimate. He believed in reality they had been paying some of the money out of expense and equipment lines when it was really a company that was providing= a service. He asked that the nu= mber be broken out more appropriately. Mr. Viger asked if contracted services included milk and bread in the past. Mr. Steel said it could= have been, but those items should have been under food expenses. Those items were currently listed = under a different line.

Mr. Hall commented that t= here would be approximately 100 less students and should be some sort of reducti= on.

Mr. Hall reviewed some of= the numbers in the budget that had been amended and those items that had not previously been accounted for. He told Mr. Steel that he had done a wonderful job presenting the budget and appreciated the work that he had done.&nbs= p;

Mr. Steel discussed the p= rocess taken in the preparation of the budget.&nb= sp; He believed the numbers presented were accurate, and were as close as could possibly be prepared what the expenses would be next school year.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION:

(Lavallee/Sher= man) To adjourn the meeting.

VOTE:

(10-0-0) The motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:15 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