HOLDEN BOARD OF SELECTMEN
REGIONAL SELECTMEN MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 3, 2012
7PM Senior Center
Present: Chairman Anthony Renzoni, Robert Lavigne, Mark Ferguson,
James Jumonville, Kenneth Lipka
Others Present: Jacquie Kelly, Acting Town Manager,
Elizabeth Helder, Recording Secretary
Regional Members Present: School Committee: Duncan Leith, Steve Hammond, Ken Mills, Deidre Kosky, Holden Finance Committee: Al Berg, Don Mancini, Jim Dunn, Karl Makela, Town of Rutland: Peter Litsky, Mike Pantos, Sheila Dibb, Joe Becker, Rutland Finance Committee: Matt Hadley, Lyndon Nichols, Deborah Kristoff, Carlisle Bindor, Karen Narhwold, Rutland Administrative Assistant Jacqueline O’Brien, Paxton Board of Selectmen: Fred Goodrich, Peter Bogren, Jack Malone, Paxton Town Administrator Cara Riches, Paxton Finance Committee: Rich Fenton, Mark Love, Sterling Board of Selectmen: Ron Fumaniuk, Paul Sushchyk, Brian Patacchiola, Sterling Finance Committee: Bob Brown, John Kilcoyne, Princeton Board of Selectmen: Edie Morgan, Stan Moss, Princeton Town Administrator John LeBeaut, Princeton Advisory Board: Jim Comer, John Shipman,
George Handy, Phil Mighdoll, Joe Lota
Chairman Renzoni opened the meeting at 7PM.
Introductions/Purpose of the Meeting
Chairman Renzoni said the purpose of the meeting was to address concerns regarding the FY13 budget and the FY14 budget, which is predicted to be financially difficult for both the local towns and the State. It is important to continue to have open, transparent communications between the towns and the school district administration in light of the District’s recent financial issues.
Chairman Renzoni expressed his disappointment that neither Superintendent Pandiscio nor Interim Superintendent Gaspero were in attendance at the meeting. He stressed that it is important not to wait for another crisis to occur.
Mr. Pete Bogren with Paxton provided a status update on the WRSD Revenue Sharing Task Force. As a member of this Task Force, he said it has only met twice. He said at its first meeting, Superintendent Pandiscio shared a plan different than what the Revenue Sharing Task force had in mind. At a future meeting, the School Committee will explain how the school budget is put together. He said he has received feedback from the community who fear that the task force will not go anywhere. He asked all to remain optimistic; at least the town and district are sharing information on their respective budgets are produced.
District Discussion
Mr. Duncan Leith, Chair WRSDSC, said the School Committee was in the process of interviewing to fill the Business Manager position. Mr. Anthony Gaspero has been named as Interim Superintendent effective immediately. The School Committee will soon form a Superintendent Search Committee. He said the district’s FY13 budget crisis had ended with only one teaching staff reduction at Dawson and library aides at all the schools. Ten students from Anna Maria College are helping staff the libraries. Hopefully, library staff positions will be restored at the High School within the school year.
He said FY14 budget is up in the air right now. The State has indicated that they might fully fund Ch. 71 (Transportation). This has never happened before. The School Committee would like to see all staff positions restored. He said the School Committee is considering giving the District towns the authority to pass their K-8 budgets without the approval of the four other town’s approval. This will be a lengthy process and will not happen within the next fiscal year.
Sel. Lavigne asked how the Superintendent Search Committee would be comprised. Mr. Leith said that in the past, the District used focus groups to help screen applications and come up with preliminary questions to submit to the Search Committee during the interview process. The focus groups would also attend interview sessions and provide feed back to the Committee. The School Committee anticipates conducting interviews for the Superintendent in the spring of 2013. Mr. Leith said he hoped to hire a candidate prior to the May Elections and Town Meetings. Sel. Lavigne said the Holden Select board is in the process of establishing its goals and will share any school-related goals with the District.
Mr. Karl Makela with the Holden Finance Committee asked how the audit process was progressing. Mr. Leith said the Department of Revenue has ruled that adjustments to the budget cannot be made after the end of the June 30th Fiscal Year. However, Mr. Leith said that the District and other Districts within the State have been able to make budget adjustments in the past. The District will carry a deficit into the FY13 budget and will make budget adjustments during the year to help balance the budget (reapplying grant monies). Powers and Sullivan have completed their audit. Now a firm will be hired to conduct a phased forensic audit. A company will also come in and audit the business practices of the Administration.
Sel. Ferguson asked why the Superintendent/Interim Superintendent were not in attendance. He said all the other District Town’s have almost full representation and it is unfortunate that the District Administration could not send someone to participate in the meeting.
Paxton Selectman Jack Malone asked why Powers and Sullivan did not pick up on the financial problems in the budget in 2011 and 2012. Additionally, why are Powers and Sullivan being allowed to audit themselves? He commented that getting information from the School Administration is like pulling teeth; information requested from the District comes in pieces. Mr. Leith said that the District will not pass along its 2.7M in accounting errors to the District towns; these will be made up from within the District budget. Mr. Malone asked why the District can make up almost 3M in financial errors from within its budgets but it was unwilling to cut 3M from its budget when the Town of Paxton requested it. When it impacted the District budget, the School Committee was willing to do it but when the Town’s ask for the
cut it couldn’t be done. Mr. Leith and Holden School Committee Representative Steve Hammond said that staff cuts would have been made with a 3M cut to the budget and that is what unfortunately what happened. Mr. Lavigne clarified that cuts weren’t made; money was just not spent where it was needed.
Mr. Bogren said that Paxton was told flat out by Peter Brennan that before a single teacher is cut, athletics would go. Paxton officials understood from the District that cuts would have to be made and staff would be eliminated. Additionally, the K-8 proposal that the District is floating must be approved by the DOR and would probably require a legislative change. It is a very lengthy process and will take several years to accomplish, if at all.
Mr. Hammond responded that the cuts that were made very late in the game. Mr. Leith said this Administration has made many cost savings efforts and defended the efforts of District Administration who worked very hard to bring a balanced budget to the towns in a four-day period after the 1.5M accounting error was discovered
Sel. Renzoni commented that the meeting was not a “gang up” session on the School Committee. It is unfortunate that members of the School Administration could not attend and provide information. Mr. Leith is doing his best and does not run the day to day operations of the District.
Sel. Lipka said he found it interesting that the District Administration was able to find the 2.7M in several days time to balance the budget. Saving money should be a day to day operation and the taxpayers should expect this. Mr. Leith said the District finds ways to save money everyday.
Mr. Comer of the Princeton Advisory Board said that crisis management should not be done Monday thru Thursday but everyday.
Mr. Alan Berg, Holden Finance Committee commented that the School District has to stop expecting the Towns to give the District every single revenue dollar. You cannot keep coming to the Towns with a budget that is 3-5M over what the Towns can afford and then wonder why there is animosity between the Towns and the District. The School District must come to the Town individually for budget discussions and negotiations before presenting its budget.
Mr. Phil Migdoll, Princeton Revenue Task Force and a member of the District Audit Task Force, said that the budget errors that occurred this year happened in the business manager’s general ledger and would not have been discovered in an audit. Hopefully, safeguards will be put in place to make sure this cannot happen again.
Mr. Malone asked about oversight; who has managerial responsibility for Peter Brennan? What are the consequences of those involved in the management of the books?
Mr. Leith said that Superintendent Pandiscio was retiring because he felt he had become a liability to the District. Ms. Susan Sullivan, Director of Human Resources, is responsible for overseeing contracts and health insurance.
A member of the audience requested to ask a question. Sel. Renzoni said that only questions from members of invited committees could ask questions. At the end of the meeting, the group will decide whether they will take questions from the public.
Sel. Renzoni said that Acting Town Manager Kelly had already been directed by the Holden Select Board to tighten the Town’s budget. Sel. Lavigne asked who will prepare the District budget this year. Mr. Leith said that Mr. Gaspero will prepare the budget with the help of the District Administration. Dr. Pandiscio has offered his help at no cost to the District. Sel. Renzoni asked where the Administration gets its direction for the development of the budget.
Mr. Alan Berg, Chair of the Holden Finance Committee, asked where Susan Sullivan’s part in the health insurance budget?
Mr. Bogren asked if Town finances could be taken into consideration when building the District Budget. He said he recently watched a School Committee meeting where a School Committee member commented that “we can’t let Paxton and Rutland set the District Budget again.” Mr. Leith said he thought that was a reasonable request. Mr. Bogren said it would be nice to see a level funded budget from the District for FY14.
r. Matt Hadley, Rutland Finance Committee, asked what health insurance carriers the District is considering. Mr. Leith said the District is considering leaving the GIC and opting for a single-source insurer.
Mr. Joe Lota, Princeton Advisory Board, asked why the School Committee cannot limit itself to the same limits that the Town’s does, instead of presenting unsustainable budgets.
Mr. Leith suggested that the Towns come up with other ways to increase its revenue to help offset its School Committee contribution. He said the City of Worcester has implemented parking fees and other fee-based charges in order to create more revenue for its budget. The Towns could do the same.
Mr. Ron Fumaniuk, Sterling Board of Selectmen, said the School Committee needs to get realistic, adding that the Committee has a huge credibility problem.
Sel. Renzoni concurred that there was a significant lack of oversight within the District. However, things are getting tight in Holden and the Board will not increase fees to residents to increase revenue to give to the District.
Ms. Sheila Dibb, Rutland Board of Selectmen, said there is a disconnect at the School Committee level. Every single year the threat of teacher cuts comes out. She is tired of having this held over her head. She expressed a lack of confidence in the School Committee.
Mr. Michael Pantos, Rutland Board of Selectmen, asked the group why should there always be an “odd town out” when it comes to the budget. He said it was important for the Towns to work harmoniously with each other; it has to be unified across the board. We are all here at this meeting to help educate the kids and there comes a time when the School Committee needs to run the Administration and not the other way around.
Mr. George Handy, Princeton Advisory Board, thanked the School Committee members for coming to the meeting and their courage. He said he served on the Committee 25 years ago and it was an “us and them” mentality then and it seems times have not changed.
Member Town Issues
Chairman Renzoni stated that the Regional Agreement is being reopened this year. One member from each town will serve on the Committee. The Towns will provide input and the School Committee will vote on any changes to the Agreement. Steve Hammond is the Holden Representative serving on the Committee.
Sel. Lavigne said there are many things in the Agreement that Holden would like to see changed.
Sel. Jumonville said he would like to see 1. The installation of a provision where the District Towns can make changes to the Agreement and, 2. He would like to see control of K-8 education returned to Towns and leave the High School (9-12) regionalized. He said he felt that many of the problems discussed tonight could be eliminated if K-8 control was returned to the Towns. He encouraged the member towns to run their own numbers to see if it could work.
Mr. Leith said that his personal opinion was that the Towns ended up cutting more services when they were in control of K-8 education.
Mr. Bogren asked if the Towns were receiving the School Committee representation that they deserve.
r. John LeBeaut asked if the District would put out a memo once a month to provide a status report on District activities, including the Audit, Recruiting Business Manager, Recruiting Superintendent, and the FY13 and FY14 budgets. Mr. Leith thought the request was reasonable.
The group voted unanimously to allow the public to participate in discussion.
Mr. Ed Meyer, Fort Sumter Drive, Holden, addressed Mr. Leith with budgetary concerns.
Ms. Melissa Hadley, Rutland, asked how the District could know that it can save 2M to a sole source health insurance carrier (BC/BS) rather than save with the GIC. Mr. Leith said the GIC is a three-year commitment and the GIC has not worked out as well as the District had hoped. The District is looking at all cost savings options.
Chairman Renzoni hoped that the District is beginning to understand where the Towns are coming from. He agreed with Mr. Panthos’ statements that the Towns need to work together.
Adjournment
Motion by Sel. Lipka, seconded by Sel. Jumonville, it was UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:48PM.
APPROVED: Approved November 5, 2012
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