Minutes of the Meeting of the Education Subcommittee of the Legislative Council
Held in Conference Room #3 in the Newtown Municipal Center,
3 Primrose Street, Newtown, Connecticut
Thursday, January 6th, 2011
Council Chairman Kathy Fetchik called the meeting to order at 4:08 pm.
PRESENT: George Ferguson, Kathy Fetchick, Kevin Fitzgerald and Benjamin Spragg
ALSO PRESENT: Bill Hart, Janet Robinson, one member of the press, one member of the public
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: None
ACCEPTANCE OF THE MINUTES:
Kevin Fitzgerald made the motion to approve the minutes of June 16th. Ben Spragg seconded the motion and the motion was approved unanimously.
George Ferguson made the motion to approve the minutes of September 15th with the change as recommended and submitted by Ben Spragg. Ben Spragg seconded the motion and the motion was approved unanimously.
eorge Ferguson made the motion to approve the minutes of November 29th . Kevin Fitzgerald seconded the motion and the motion was approved unanimously.
COMMUNICATIONS: None
NEW BUSINESS:
The Committee engaged Bill Hart, Chairman of the Board of Education and Janet Robinson, Superintendent of Newtown Schools in a discussion about budget planning and a review of those budget items that may represent significant increased costs to the taxpayers.
BUDGET PLANNING
Kathy Fetchick discussed number of presentations and schedules of boe/admin budget. Janet Robinson said the Superintendent’s budget will be presented on January 25th. Bill Hart said a full public hearing will be added on Feb 3rd. Bill Hart said they thought including a Public Hearing early in the budget process would be helpful for taxpayers. The budget has to be to the BOF by Feb 14th.
Ben Spragg asked Janet Robinson what budgeting guidelines were provided to the principals in advance. Janet Robinson shared with the budget preparation manual dated October 6th which was given to her staff (see attachment) in advance.
Ben explained Pat Llodra’s approach to her own staff asking departments to stay within current budgets. Janet Robinson explained that the principals and other department heads have been told to present a status quo budget meaning a budget that does not include anything new over the current year. They can also recommend additional items but that would be done separate from the status quo budget. Janet said she will present to the board what other items of cost have been requested by her staff but did not make it inside her recommended budget.
Bill Hart explained that the BOE is not expecting Janet to come in with a budget for the same program as this year, but they will also review her list of additional items she will bring for consideration.
The Committee then reviewed some of the larger budget items that may have a significant impact on the upcoming budget planning process.
SECONDARY SCHOOL REFORM BILL
Janet Robinson explained that this new mandate by the state concerns her because of the potential increased cost depending on how it is funded. She explained that because the students have to graduate with the increased requirements, it would be necessary to provide the new resources, possibly as many as 18 additional teachers, beginning with the 2014 school year. And it may be necessary to start with the upcoming budget by adding 2 teacher positions.
Ben Spragg asked if there has been any effort at the Superintendent’s level to communicate with the state to ask that they “repeal” this requirement, which right now is an unfunded mandate. Janet Robinson responded that she and her colleagues are communicating that to the state. She also explained that there is still talk about the requirement at the state level. They also have a lobbying group focused on it, not because they oppose the requirement, but because they want it to be properly funded.
Kevin Fitzgerald asked if there was any way to meet the requirement without adding 18 teachers and Janet Robinson responded that long distance learning is one option, but there is still at a cost for that. Bill Hart acknowledged that the BOE does not see this as a small problem. It will take a lot of work
Janet Robinson explained that additional spending would begin with the addition of 2 teachers for this upcoming budget, however she acknowledged that the 2 teachers would be needed primarily to address other needs, rather than just to ramp up for the Secondary School Reform Bill. Kevin Fitzgerald pointed out that Janet should steer clear of using the SSR to justify the addition of any teachers in the upcoming budget if in fact they are needed for other reasons.
Kathy Fetchick also pointed out that we should be careful about “gearing up” for something that we still don’t know we need yet.
Bill Hart said these two teachers might still be needed to enable kids to take the classes we have because there are currently 70 students on the waiting list for AP psych, for example. By incorporating these teachers now, we can ramp up to support the SSR by the time 2014 arrives.
FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN
On the subject of Full Day Kindergarten, Janet Robinson’s stated that the net cost is estimated at $308,000.
Kathy Fetchick confirmed that Full Day Kindergarten would be one of the items that would be separate from the status quo budget.
Janet Robinson feels that we may be able to justify Full Day Kindergarten space wise, however it may not be financially feasible. She reviewed the list of needs for Full Day Kindergarten with the committee. The net cost of $308k is after considering savings gained from transportation.
Kathy Fetchick asked if there will be other related costs for Full Day Kindergarten such as costs related to a change of curriculum and possibly the need to add more buses to which Janet Robinson responded that there would be additional costs possibly for the curriculum, but with regard to the buses, Janet thinks additional costs can be avoided by better alignment.
Bill Hart explained that he thinks if SSR is scaled back, we may see the state decide instead to require new mandates for early childhood development, such as Full Day Kindergarten or universal preschool which means every child would have access to pre-school, making this district Pre-K to 12.
Janet confirmed that she would likely be including Full Day Kindergarten on the separate list for presentation to the BOE.
HEALTHCARE
Bill Hart said he is anticipating that the health insurance costs will be higher on like for like claims due to inflation, but that assumes that actual costs for this year come in at the budgeted level. Ben Spragg pointed out the currently, the health insurance fund balance is in good shape.
TRANSPORTATION
It was discussed that this budget would include the expected increase to the cost for transportation. Janet Robinson will provide the exact dollar amount to the Committee. The BOE made clear that there are 18 months left on the current contract and that it is the BOE’s intention to make sure we have a transportation system that is right for newtown and for the taxpayers.
EFFORTS TO OFFSET INCREASES WITH SAVINGS
Janet Robinson and Bill Hart said they are looking at many ways to offset any increases including closely monitoring the health insurance plan and through negotiations with the unions over better plans and employee contributions, etc.
Kathy Fetchick expressed support for having the town and the district be on the same page beforehand when it comes to negotiations and Bill Hart pointed out that the district is working very closely with the town and with First Selectman Pat Llodra on the health insurance program.
Bill Hart also pointed out that they have been successful with locking into a really great rate for electric.
Kathy Fetchick recommended that Janet Robinson and the BOE carefully monitor the list of repairs or unplanned expense items that are not know about or discussed during budget planning but which could represent significant dollars, such as repairs or improvements made recently to the pool and the purchase of computer equipment for the Sandy Hook School. She pointed out that funding for these unplanned items might be better used toward the cost for teachers, for example.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: None
ADJOURNMENT:
Having no further business, George Ferguson moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:56 pm. Kathy Fetchick seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kevin Fitzgerald *Minutes are not finalized until approved at the next
regularly scheduled meeting.
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