APPROVED
TOWN OF
BUDGET COMM= ITTEE - MEETING MINUTES
APPROVED &#= 8211; December 1, 2011
CALL TO ORDER –
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PRESENT: Also Present: |
Mr. Larry Hall, Mr. John Lavallee, Mr. Dennis Viger, Mr. Gregory Farris, Mr. Robert Sherman, Mr.= Joe Puddister, Mr. David Cate, Mr. Ken Dunne, School Board Representative Meg= an Larson, Selectmen Representative Edmund Gleason School Business Adminis= trator Adam Steel, Superintendent Dr. Henry LaBranche, School Board Chairman Rob Hardy, Pelham High School Principal Dr. Dorothy Mohr |
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ABSENT: |
Mr. Daniel Guimond |
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
2012 BUDGET REVIEW AGENDA -
Mr. Steel came forward an=
d reviewed
the memo dated
Mr. Farris asked how many custodians, between the three schools, were used for summertime help. Mr. Steel will obtain the number.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>
Mr. Hall discussed the ch= art that was provided showing sick days used by PEA and PESPA compared to the chart indicating the funding detail for long-term substitutes. He commented that they were signif= icant numbers. He said he read the = PESPA contract and saw that in 2010 they averaged 9.11 days per member, which was contractually more than two of the units.&= nbsp; He discussed what employees were entitled to. He asked for more clarification be= cause the numbers provided didn’t appear to make sense. Mr. Farris asked if employee could accumulate a certain number of sick days and then get a buy out of those days. Mr. Steel said PESPA didn’t have a buy out. =
Mr. Steel highlighted the following topics in the High School budget prior to the Board’s review.
1)&n= bsp; The substitute line has been split into two lines: daily and long-term substitutes. At the high school there are two people that act as both hall monitors and permanent substitutes that work in the building everyday throughout the cou= rse of the school year. The conce= pt is that those individuals cover the first two teachers that are absent. The daily substitute line has been reduced to credit the amount used for those two people.
2)&n= bsp; The driver education lines have been eliminated; the program is now done through an outside arrangement with a contracted service. It no longer has an expense or exposure to the district with finances.
3)&n= bsp; Vocational/tuition line has been increased because = the state no longer subsidizes vocational education the way they had in the pas= t.
4)&n= bsp; Increase of $10,000 in the athletic training depart= ment budget. They currently had a = vendor at a very competitive rate and they are unsure if they’ll be able to maintain that rate moving forward. <= /span>
5)&n= bsp; Official’s line has been reduced by $13,800 b= ased on previous year’s usage.
6)&n= bsp; Athletic supplies have been reduced; they previously paid for track and tennis court resurfacing. FY13 doesn’t have one of tho= se major projects.
7)&n= bsp; The library has $7500 for library automation.
The Board began reviewing= the proposed budget.
Mr. Sherman asked that ‘extra periods’ in the salary line be explained. Mr. Steel said at the high school, teachers taught during three of four blocks each day. Some elect to teach an extra cours= e and when doing so, based on the CBA they are entitled to extra pay. The line was budgeted based on past experiences.
Mr. Hall recalled there h=
ad been
a discussion last year regarding an agreement with a retired teacher. He asked what the length of the
agreement was. Mr. Steel said=
every
teacher’s contract he was aware of was for one year. Mr. Lavallee saw that there was one
teacher who was retired and questioned if there were any increases built in=
to
the contract. Mr. Steel said =
that
was correct (there were no increases).&nbs=
p;
Mr. Lavallee asked for the term of the contract. Mr. Steel replied the contract was=
a one
year agreement. Mr. Lavallee =
asked
if the teacher was a consultant.
Mr. Steel said every teacher has a one year contract. Every person considered a teacher =
at
Mr. Farris asked if the accounting textbooks were in the second year of purchase. Mr. Steel said there were multiple courses taught throughout the business departments. Dr. Mohr stated some of the books weren’t able to be replaced in the replacement cycle; accounting wasn’t replaced because of a budget freeze. Mr. Farris questioned where the mo= ney went for those books last year. The money was put toward retirement. Mr. Sherman asked if the proposed budget would put them back on sche= dule and up to date. Dr. Mohr said= it would put them back on a revised replacement schedule for business.
Mr. Viger asked if provis= ions had been made to buy converters for the school when Comcast switched to HD programming. Mr. Steel answer= ed no; it had been brought to their attention and they were reviewing to see how m= any televisions it would effect. =
Mr. Sherman asked about t= he new Entrepreneurship course being offered and if was replacing another course.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Dr. Mohr said the course had been approved by the School Board last spring as part of the school’s long= -term curriculum offering. She said= it was an additional offering, but based on student choices, a couple other courses in the computer sciences area would not run. The course would be held in the co= nsumer science area. Mr. Cate asked = if a new teacher was needed for the course.&nbs= p; Dr. Mohr said they would use a current staff member.
There was a discussion re=
garding
the purchase of text books. D=
r.
Mohr said the courses being taught were what the state was recommending.
The line for chemical was= te removal was new last year; it was a previously unbudgeted item. Each year the chemistry department= has discarded waste.
Mr. Hall asked what the t= ypical case load was for the special education case managers. Dr. Mohr said it ranged from 27-33= . They worked with students with IEP’s; there were approximately 120 students with IEP’s in the = high school. There was a discussion regarding the duties and services provided by the case managers.
It was noted that the hig= h school had received three IPads through a grant they were involved with; there was= no cost to the Town.
Mr. Cate asked if the voc= ation tuition line included both the tuition and the transportation. Mr. Steel stated they had a separa= te for vocational transportation. Mr. Gleason asked if the increase in the vocation line was attributable to an increase in students or an increase in fees from the tuition. Mr. Steel said it was neither; in = the past the state had provided a subsidy for vocational tuition. The tuition numbers have gone up b= ecause the vocational centers were not receiving the subsidy any longer. Students are sent to Alvirne, Pink= erton, and Salem High.
Mr. Gleason said in the p= ast there had been concern about the fire hazard with the banners in the upper portion in the gym. He asked = if the banners in the gym were now in compliance for being flame retardant. Dr. Mohr replied they had worked w= ith the Fire Department and now had fewer banners hanging in the gym. Mr. Steel will confirm that the replacement banners in the budget were fire retardant.
There was a discussion re= garding the retention of records. Fir= e-proof file cabinets were included in the budget because here is still a requireme= nt to retain hard copies.
Mr. Cate questioned if the
increase in Guidance salaries was contractual. Mr. Farris noted there was approxi=
mately
a 2.5% increase over the entire department. Mr. Steel commented that the peopl=
e were
budgeted appropriately based on the salaries they were supposed to have.
Regarding the on-line dat= a base for the Library; Mr. Steel will find out if it is able to connect to other on-line data bases. He noted = it would have an on-line presence for people to access either at school or at home. Mr. Viger asked how the e-books would be accessed. Dr= . Mohr said students could access them from their computer whether at school or at home; they don’t need an outside reader (i.e. Kindle). Mr. Farris asked if the proposed n= ew technology ‘e-book readers’ were software or a device such as a Kindle. Dr. Mohr believed an = e-book reader was something within a computer that allowed a student to read the on-line reference material. M= r. Dunne asked if there were different levels of the My Learning Path program; there was a different cost for the Elementary school. Mr. Steel didn’t have the an= swer, but would find out.
The Board continued revie= wing the budget. It was noted that the= line for water was for testing the water. There was currently no contract for rubbish removal; they were going into the bid process. The Sch= ool Board added a line for replacement lockers. Mr. Hall commended the schools for having the maintenance/replacemen= t schedule; it has been a useful tool to level the repair numbers and long-term maintenance.
Mr. Sherman asked if the = problems with the exterior doors had been taken care of. Mr. Steel said the replacement of = all exterior doors was budgeted last year, however, when the retirement issue c= ame up the project was put on hold. He said now that some of the retirement money had come back to them, they were waiting to see if the project could be done this year. If not, they would begin in the spring.
The fuel line for LP gas =
was
discussed. Mr. Puddister noti=
ced
there was a difference in the budgeted amounts and questioned if there was a
difference in size between the middle school and high school. Mr. Steel answered no; he was not =
sure
how the new unit would run therefore the number was a conservative guess.
Mr. Cate questioned why t= he fuel oil increase was so high. Mr.= Steel explained he had taken the FY12 amount of $3.229 per gallon and added 25%; = the amount was based on last year’s usage. Mr. Cate asked to see the usage am= ount from last year. Mr. Steel will provide it.
Mr. Steel reviewed the it= ems that Board had questioned and wanted answered.
The Board completed their= budget review.
ADJOURNMENT
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MOTION: |
(Farris/Sherma=
n)To
adjourn the meeting. |
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VOTE: |
(10-0-0)
The motion carried. |
The
meeting was adjourned at approximately
= &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
BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING/Monday,