MINUTES OF MEETING
JACKSON SCHOOL BOAR
Jackson Grammar School
February 5, 2015
1. Call to Order: The Feb. 5th meeting of the Jackson School Board was called to order at 6:30 p.m. Present were Chair, Genn Anzaldi, Jerry Dougherty, Fred Nemeth, Keith Bradley, Andrew Kearns, Dr. Carl Nelson, Finance Director, Becky Jefferson, and Principal, Gayle Dembowski. There were two members of staff/public present.
2. Approve Minutes (1-20-15) – Motion by Mr. Kearns, second by Mr. Dougherty, that the Minutes of the Jan. 20th meeting be approved as circulated. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
3. Citizen Comments: None.
4. Presentation of School Programs/FYI Items:
- SAU – Other School Board Reports - Dr. Nelson reported there will be an
SAU Executive Board meeting on Feb. 12th. The Strategic Planning Committee meeting is being held tonight. He informed Board members, since they will not be able to attend, they can get information from Kevin Richard and join any of the subcommittees they would like.
5. Old Business:
- Whitney Center – Mr. Kearns said we need to know how we can put the
Whitney funds into the line item, noting he has one more Board meeting prior to elections and would like to move to a vote and get it taken care of. Mr. Dougherty explained to Ms. Jefferson that the Board would like to give the Whitney Fund money to the Friends of the Whitney Center, noting it is usually about $8,000 to $10,000. Ms. Jefferson stated it should be a line item in the budget – the Board needs to appropriate somewhere in the vicinity of the $8,000 to $10,000, if when the Board gets the money they intend to directly turn it over to the Friends of Whitney. It was noted there is $3,000 in the existing budget. She suggested discussing this at the public hearing tonight. Mr. Dougherty questioned if we estimate high and do not receive that much, would the taxpayers have to make up
the difference? Ms. Jefferson said it is estimated revenue. Mr. Dougherty said if they want to give some back to the Capital Reserve Fund, it will be in there and they can do that. Ms. Jefferson said the amount of money that goes in the Trust Fund is done by vote of the town – a charitable foundation cannot put money in – you can say “we have offsetting revenue.” Mr. Dougherty stated that then does not solve our problem. Mr. Kearns said then the warrant article would get set off a whole year. Mr. Bradley explained to Ms. Jefferson that the Friends of Whitney will be paying the School District for cleaning services. Ms. Jefferson stated it can come in as rental of facility. Mr. Kearns said he wants it in the motion that they will be paying any overage costs for cleaning. Motion was made by Mr. Dougherty, seconded by Ms. Anzaldi, to increase the operating budget by $6,000 to be applied to line item 1400-320-120 -Whitney
Center Projects. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
Mr. Kearns pointed out the need to create a policy. Dr. Nelson suggested Mr. Kearns draft the wording for a policy and email it to him. Ms. Dembowski noted we have guidelines that say no event will happen without school staff on the premises.
6. Instructional Issues:
- Consider Second Reading and Adoption of Revised Personnel Policies for
Noncontracted Employees – Motion made by Mr. Bradley, second by Mr. Kearns, that the Board approve at second reading the revised Personnel Policies for Noncontracted Employees. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
7. Consider Personnel Actions: None.
8. Business Affairs:
A. FYI – 2014-15 Budget Status Report – There were no questions or comments.
B. Signing of Warrants and Budget Forms – All documents were duly signed.
- Consider Approval of Proposal for Off Property School Bus Lighting –
Proposal was made by Maintenance employee, Gary Allen, that the Board approve provisions for lighting at the old town salt shed (where the bus is housed) in order to make it possible for the bus driver to conduct his pre-trip bus inspections, and to install a watt meter to keep track of electrical use for the lighting and for block heater use. Motion was made by Mr. Bradley, second by Mr. Nemeth, that the Board approve provision for lighting in the old town salt shed and for service for block heater use for school buses.
Mr. Allen explained the lighting is inside the shed and the lights would be on sensors. He said since the Fire Dept. is paying to keep the bus there, it has been suggested that a separate meter be installed to keep track of what our use is. Mr. Bradley questioned how they will bill us. Mr. Allen thought it would probably be annually. Mr. Bradley said he would prefer monthly billing. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
Mr. Bradley congratulated Mr. Allen on the very nice letter written on his behalf by Jay Henry, Jackson Road Agent, and the Chair requested that the letter be made a part of the public record. [See attached.]
9. Administrator’s Reports:
A. Superintendent – Dr. Nelson stated the Joint Boards looked at Program of Studies for Kennett High School and Eagle Academy, some changes were made, and it will now be going to the Conway School Board for a vote on Monday.
B. Principal
Ms. Dembowski reported they had a very productive teacher workshop on Friday morning. They discussed the literacy map and have been adapting our curriculum to Common Core Standards. She said grades 4-6 will be changing next year – students will not be getting grades, but will instead receive rankings on how they are performing. She said they met in the afternoon to discuss the report cards - everyone feels good about it. She said some changes were recommended that will be coming back to the Literacy Committee. She noted for the upper grades, the test preparation will be in the same month as the test.
10. Citizen Comments: None.
11. Board Member Issues:
- Set Date for Next Meeting – Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 6:30 p.m.,
School District annual meeting at 7:00 p.m.
B. Appointment of Courtney Wrigley as School District Clerk Pro Tempore – Motion made by Mr. Dougherty, second by Mr. Nemeth, that the Board approve appointment of Courtney Wrigley as the School District Clerk Pro Tempore for the upcoming annual meeting. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
Ms. Anzaldi questioned where we left off with putting skis on the bus. Mr. Kearns stated we have one bus with underneath storage. Ms. Dembowski said the kids going over to the middle school could put their skis in underneath-storage, the issue is getting the skis home on Friday – they have not been allowed to do that up till now. It was decided this would be taken up with (Bob) the bus driver.
Mr. Bradley wished the public to be aware that the Board has three positions open for the upcoming elections. Ms. Anzaldi agreed to be a write-in candidate; Messrs. Kearns’ and Nemeth’s terms also expire this year.
12. Signing of Manifest: Manifests were duly signed.
13. Nonpublic Session: None.
14. Adjourn: Motion made by Mr. Kearns, second by Ms. Anzaldi and carried by unanimous vote, that the meeting be adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
PUBLIC HEARING ON 2015-16 PROPOSED BUDGET
The Chair opened the public hearing on the 2015-16 budget at 7:05 p.m. There were three members of the general public present.
Dr. Nelson proceeded to review the increases and decreases, announcing the total budget figure will now be down $114,781, or 4.55% (with the addition of the $6,000 for the Whitney Center money).
He stated salaries are down by $30,000 because of a new hire and 50% reduction in the custodian position. Health insurance is down because it came in at 5.6% instead of the 10% estimated.
It was explained there is a decrease of $91,500 in Middle School Tuition – there are currently 21 kids at $21,500, next year they anticipate 16 kids at $22,500. High School Tuition is up slightly at $39,000 - there are currently 25 kids from Jackson, next year they are expecting 22.
Dr. Nelson noted a big decrease in Operation/Maintenance-Contracted Services because they did a number of things this year that will not have to be done next year. He said there is a $7,000 decrease in Contract Services-Grounds as we did our portion of the road at the Whitney Center last year, and that will not have to be done again this year. He noted the Whitney Center Projects line will now reflect $8500.
SAU Share is up due to increase in SAU budget for salaries and benefits for a new Superintendent, as well as market adjustments for wages for support staff.
Revenues: Dr. Nelson noted this is down because the estimated fund balance is down. He called attention to the fund balance retention-FY 2013 of $51,000 as the District was able to hold onto 2.5%.
Tax Rate Information: Dr. Nelson noted this changes slightly – the budget itself would have been down about $0.16 or 3%. Ms. Jefferson said we have already budgeted revenue of $8500. Dr. Nelson said if all warrant articles pass it will mean a $0.22 increase, which would make the budget go up about $0.05 per thousand.
Warrant Articles:
Article 1 – Budget - $2,409,254.
Article 2 – Capital Reserve Fund – Buses - $25,000
Article 3 – Whitney Trust Fund - $5,000 (currently that fund has $31,000).
Article 4 – Purchase of a bus – $97,000 – Dr. Nelson noted we are spending $40,000 from the reserve fund, leaving $48,000 plus the $25,000 in Article 2, totaling $73,000 in the fund for the next bus. Mr. Bradley said last time we bought a bus it came in about $10,000 less than anticipated and questioned where we got this number from. Ms. Jefferson stated the new bus this year came in at $91,000.
There being no questions or comments from the public, the Chair declared the public hearing closed at 7:12 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail T. Currier, Recording Secretary
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