NOTTINGHAM BUDGET COMMITTEE MINUTES
NOVEMBER 20, 2008
PUBLIC SESSION
APPROVED BY THE COMMITTEE DECEMBER 4, 2008
PRESENT: ABSENT:
Mr. John Decker, Chair Mr. Kyle Barry (Excused)
Mr. Peter Bock, BOS Representative Ms. Gail Powell (Excused)
Mr. Jack Caldon, School Board Representative Ms. Charlene Andersen (Excused)
Ms. Donna Danis
Mr. Gene Reed
Mr. Scott Curry
Mr. Chet Batchelder
Mr. Michael Koester
OTHERS PRESENT:
Ms. Michelle Carvalho, Principal, Nottingham School
Mr. Allen Demko, SAU #44 Interim Business Administrator
Ms. Kelly Tivnan, Budget Committee Secretary
The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:03pm.
SCHOOL BUDGET DRAFT #1:
Mr. Caldon showed the Budget Committee the financial statement and the school district expenses. He said that the remaining balance was $356,000. He said that the tax rate had been set. He said that a few years earlier the School Board had ended the year with a larger than normal fund balance. He said that when they had returned that money to the taxpayers, it had created a dip in the tax rate. He said that the current tax rate was up $1.04. He said that the large increase was because of the anomaly of the previously large fund balance instead of because of a large jump in spending on the part of the School Board.
Mr. Caldon said that the School Board had asked for membership on a Building Committee as a result of the population and facility studies commissioned by the School Board.
Mr. Caldon said that the budget information that he was presenting to the Budget Committee had a new look from previous years. He said that there was an effort at the SAU to get ADS as the common software among all the employees.
Mr. Caldon said that when the School Board looked at what really drove their costs, it was contracts with their employee groups.
Mr. Caldon said that the School Board had decided to put a 3.5% cap on the annual increase that they were going to give to the employees who were not under contract, such as the principal, vice-principal, food service director, head janitor and several others. He said that they had not decided on the actual percentage increase that they were going to give to those employees.
Mr. Caldon said that the School Board had reviewed the budget for four hours and they had not made any changes to the budget which had been proposed by the principal yet.
Ms. Carvalho explained that her budget had three focuses. She said that these were consistent with the School District goals. She explained that the Kindergarten enrollment projections were continuing to increase. She said that she was concerned about the student to teacher ratio at that grade level and she was proposing that the district add two paraprofessionals to help. She said that those personnel were not a part of her proposed budget yet. She also explained that she had included money in her proposed budget for an additional mobile computer technology lab as well as for replacement computers and software for the guidance counselor and speech therapists and for some additional classroom laptops. Finally Ms. Carvalho explained that her third focus was money that she had placed in her proposed budget
for grounds and facilities improvements. She defined those improvements as irrigation of the new soccer field, the addition of two doors onto the new school security system, air conditioning for the computer lab, adding some fire alarm strobes and horns and replacing the last of the bathroom partitions.
Mr. Caldon said that the district wanted to keep the learning reasonable in the lower grades. He said that kids in Kindergarten still needed nurturing and so he felt that a smaller student/teacher ratio was better. He said that the School Board was considering putting this item as a warrant article but they did not know whether that would be taking too large of a chance on something too important.
Ms. Carvalho said that the school technology program needed a second mobile lab. She said that it was part of their technology plan. She said that structured classes were held in the computer lab so it was important to have the mobile labs. She also said that the computer equipment for certain personnel was important.
Ms. Carvalho said that she thought the proposed grounds and facilities improvements were very important. Mr. Caldon said that many town events were held at the school. He said that it was really important for grounds improvements to move forward. He said that it was important for there to be safe, nice facilities for everyone in town to use. Ms. Carvalho gave a thorough explanation of her desire for air conditioning in the computer lab, the addition of the two doors to the security system, the fire alarms and additional strobes in some areas of the building and the replacement bathroom partitions.
Ms. Carvalho showed the Budget Committee a history of the school enrollment numbers. Mr. Curry thanked Ms. Carvalho for putting that detail together.
Ms. Carvalho said that the numbers for teacher salaries in the budget represented the current staffing with their step and track increases. She said that the salary line for the Technology Director did not include a percentage increase yet because that employee was one of the ones that was not represented by a collective bargaining agreement. She said that the Technology Director oversaw all the technology throughout the school building but that person did not teach any classes. Mr. Reed asked whether the School Board was aware of the percentage increase that the town was giving to their employees. Mr. Demko explained that the School Board was using the Cost of Living Adjustment and the Consumer Price Index for the Nottingham area. Mr. Bock asked whether the Cost of Living Adjustment was a part of the collective
bargaining agreement. Mr. Caldon said no but he said that the School Board had to be careful not to upset the quality of instruction in their school. Mr. Bock said that the town was using a 1.5% cost of living increase for their employees because of the difficult economy. He said that the Board of Selectmen had been seeing hardship cases. He said that there might some value for the School Board in visiting their 3.5% cap again. Mr. Caldon said that the School Board had looked at an 8% budget increase and had asked for it to be lowered to 6%. Mr. Reed said that the spread in raises between the town and school employees would present a problem for voters. Mr. Caldon said that contracts could not be renegotiated and that the school was the biggest business in town. He said that the School Board did not take their budget lightly. He said that they would be renegotiating the contracts next June. He said that the people in town
had voted on the contracts and had known the numbers. He said that there had to be equity among the employee groups within the school. Mr. Reed asked which employees were covered under collective bargaining agreements. Ms. Carvalho said that the collective bargaining agreement for the teachers included all the certified staff. She said that there was also a collective bargaining agreement for the paraprofessionals. Mr. Reed asked whether both unions were separately represented and whether both contracts were separately negotiated. Mr. Caldon said yes to both questions. Ms. Danis said that the school had a need to retain the best people and she said that the School Board would need to consider replacement costs if they did not pay them enough.
Ms. Carvalho said that the permanent substitute was the first one called. She said that person was always paid at a Bachelors Step 1. Mr. Batchelder said that it looked like the cost for substitute teachers had gone up. Ms. Carvalho said that her staff approached 85 people and that usually there was more than one of them out sick on any regular day. She said that the substitute costs would increase as well because she had multiple staff members who were pregnant and who would be taking maternity leaves. She said that there were other leaves that teachers could take as well and sometimes that did happen so she often had teachers on leave as well as sick.
Mr. Demko talked about the proposed health insurance numbers. He said that the Guaranteed Maximum Rate increase was 7%. He said that they had budgeted that entire increase and they would find out the actual number later. He said that they had budgeted a 4% increase for dental insurance. He said that the costs of the New Hampshire retirement system had increased 20% and the amount required for employer contribution had increased. He said that the cost of FICA had also increased. He said that they had tried to make the numbers in the budget for disability and workers compensation realistic.
Ms. Carvalho said that there was a new line in the budget for criminal records check. She said that because of the collective bargaining agreement with the paraprofessionals, the district was now required to pay for those checks. She said that they had hired five new paraprofessionals that they had paid for background checks for. Mr. Decker asked what had happened with that cost prior to the collective bargaining with the paraprofessionals. Ms. Carvalho said that previously the people who were hired as paraprofessionals had to pay for those criminal background checks out of their own pockets.
Ms. Carvalho said that the School District was looking at a slight increase in their copier expenses.
Mr. Demko said that the proposed budget included a 5% tuition increase. He said that the district had not received rates from Dover High School or Coe-Brown Academy yet. He said that there was an increase in the number of high school students projected. He said that they also had low senior class levels but high numbers of 8th graders so their tuition costs would increase. He said that the School Board was still in the process of getting information about tuition costs. He said that they had built in to the budget an increase factor of three students. He said that the School District had no control over the tuition rates. Mr. Koester noted that the taxpayers paid the same tuition rate for both Dover High School and Coe-Brown Academy. Mr. Decker said that the School District paid each school
their respective tuition rates but he said that if the rate was higher than the Dover rate, the parents reimbursed the district for the difference. He said that reimbursement was not considered revenue for the School District.
Ms. Carvalho said that there was money in the proposed budget for consumable supplies. She said that all of those supplies were bought through Seacoast Educational Services. She said that their costs for art supplies were increased in the proposed budget because those supplies needed to be replenished. She said that the costs for Language Arts supplies in the proposed budget were increased because the school was using a new handwriting curriculum and they needed specific paper. She said that the costs for math supplies in the proposed budget were increased because they needed to purchase manipulatives. She said that the costs for music supplies in the proposed budget had decreased. She said that the cost in the proposed budget for testing supplies was increased. She said that the cost for classroom
workbooks was increased in the proposed budget because of the school implementation of their new core reading program. She said that the cost for classroom periodicals had also increased in the proposed budget. She said that the proposed budget had $0 for classroom texts because they did not need to buy any at this time.
Ms. Carvalho said that there was money in the proposed budget furniture line for white and bulletin boards because they were trying to make a schoolwide effort to publicly recognize more student work. She said that there was also some money in the proposed budget furniture replacement line for black stage curtains. She said that the current ones were twelve years old.
Ms. Carvalho said that the five contracted service people who worked with Special Education students were mandated by law. She said that there were also twenty one Special Education paraprofessionals. She noted that two Special Education students had come into the School District in the previous year who needed contracted services and she noted that had been an unplanned expenditure.
Mr. Decker asked if the budget worksheet could include an "actuals" column. Mr. Demko said that the software might not allow more than seven columns. He said that he would look into that.
Ms. Carvalho said that the line in the proposed budget for the Special Education Secretary would change. She said that there were also lines in the budget for Special Education substitutes. She said that the line in the proposed budget for Special Education Tuition to schools other than Dover High School had decreased. She said that there were twenty three students placed outside the system and ten of them were preschool students.
Mr. Decker asked if the Budget Committee could get the high school enrollment numbers for all the district students. Mr. Caldon said that the School Board would get that information for the Budget Committee.
Ms. Carvalho said that the state mandated a computer program for Special Education student records. She said that there was an annual fee for that program. She said that the school would also like to buy an additional three classroom laptops and some fire proof file cabinets.
Ms. Carvalho said that the proposed budget included a slight increase in the cocurricular line. She said that the sixth grade students took a trip to Mount Washington. She said that the increase was a stipend for the chaperones. She said that stipend was a part of the collective bargaining agreement. She said that they had also increased the amount they paid to referees from $35 per game to $40 per game. She said that the proposed budget also included money to replace the soccer goals because they were unsteady and unsafe. She said that the proposed budget also included money to replace the baseball and softball uniforms. She said that those were some of the most expensive uniforms but they were part of a plan to replace all the old school sports uniforms.
Ms. Carvalho said that the guidance salary line in the proposed budget applied to 1.2 staff members who were considered a part of the collective bargaining agreement. She said that the same information applied to the school nurse salary line as well. She said that all those lines were either slightly increased or slightly decreased. She said that the line for speech salary applied to one assistant who was also a part of the collective bargaining agreement. She said that speech therapy was a contracted service which involved one person who was an employee of the SAU and a person who worked three days per week and was contracted. She said that the reason one of the people was hired by the SAU was because speech therapy people were very difficult to find.
Ms. Carvalho said that the lines in the proposed budget for course tuition reimbursement and staff conferences were a part of the collective bargaining agreement.
Ms. Carvalho said that the lines in the proposed budget for library salary and library aide salary were increased because of changes in staffing. She said that the new librarian had done a complete inventory and found that the school library had a valuable collection. She said that according to the new librarian they needed to do more targeted buying of books. She said that there was also money in the proposed budget for replacing the computer tables in the library.
Ms. Carvalho said that the proposed budget included an increased amount for software because they wanted to get Microsoft Office licenses for their new laptops. She said that they also wanted to replace battery backups and they needed a new color printer in their computer lab. She said that there was also money in the proposed School District budget for three new computers to be used by guidance and speech staff members.
Ms. Carvalho said that the costs in the proposed budget were increased in the School District audit line as well as in the attorney and negotiator lines. She said that the district was heading into a negotiation year.
Mr. Demko said that there was a Joint School Board meeting scheduled for Monday November 24, 2008. He said that currently the proposed SAU budget had increased by 5%.
Ms. Carvalho said that the salaries for the Principal and Assistant Principal needed to be adjusted for a cost of living increase. She said that the office secretary salary also needed to be adjusted for a cost of living increase. She said that the salary line had increased in the proposed budget for the School District Bookkeeper because the School Board had previously approved an increase in the number of hours for that person. She said that there had been an increase in the responsibilities of the School District Bookkeeper which included additional reporting at the state level. She said that because the School District Bookkeeper now worked 35 hours per week, that person had access to district retirement benefits. She said that salaries for maintenance and custodial staff also needed to be adjusted for a
cost of living increase. She said that the line in the proposed budget for the substitute custodian would stay the same. She said that part of the job of the substitute custodian was to provide coverage in the summer months because the school building was used often.
Ms. Carvalho said that the cost for rubbish removal in the proposed budget had increased because the district was going to be charged a fuel fee and they had not been charged such a fee in the past. She said that the reason for the fee was because of the volatility in prices. Mr. Reed asked whether the school recycled. Ms. Carvalho said yes.
Ms. Carvalho said that the bathroom partitions would cost between $5,000 and $6,000 each.
Ms. Carvalho said that the money for the grounds maintenance and the irrigation system might be pulled into a warrant article.
Ms. Carvalho said that the propane costs per gallon had increased. Mr. Reed asked whether the school had had an energy audit. Ms. Carvalho said yes. She said that they done one a few years earlier and done quite well. She said that as a result they had only needed to make some minor lighting changes.
Ms. Carvalho said that the school wanted to buy a Hepa vacuum cleaner because it would be compatible with student allergy needs.
Mr. Demko discussed transportation costs.
Ms. Carvalho said that their proposed budget included $0 for site improvements. She said that number might change because there might be costs for architecture based on the results of the population and facilities studies. Mr. Curry asked what the plan was. Ms. Carvalho said that the School Board anticipated they would need to make substantial structural changes to their current building during the 2011-2012 year. She said that the School Board would continue to review their options based on the need. Mr. Caldon said that he wanted the community to look into making a full investment towards solving the space and growth issues instead of just approving a series of stop gap measures. Mr. Curry said that he was concerned that the School Board might be over anticipating the amount of population growth in the
system. Mr. Caldon said that was possible but he said that the School Board also did not want to get caught in a situation where the school facility was overcrowded. Mr. Reed said that it seemed like the School Board was operating under the assumption that something would be built. Ms. Carvalho said yes. She said that the School Board had commissioned two studies which had given them numbers to work with. She noted that population projections beyond five years were not as solid as those for the immediate future. Mr. Caldon said that the School Board would have to keep revisiting the population projections because they were moving targets. Mr. Reed said that there might be a downturn in the number of births because of the downturn in the economy.
Ms. Carvalho said that the salary for the Food Service Director needed to be adjusted for the cost of living raise. She said that costs for food and milk had also increased. She said that the budget included a large piece of equipment known as a food warmer. She said that the student participation in the school lunch program was steadily increasing. Mr. Demko said that the goal in the school lunch program was to keep the costs low and the participation numbers high.
Mr. Reed asked whether the School District moved money from one account to another. Mr. Decker noted that in his experience with the school budget, they overspent lines but they didn't go over the bottom line. Mr. Caldon agreed.
Mr. Koester asked whether data could be exported from the software. Mr. Caldon said that the Budget Committee had received accurate information. He said that the level of training on the new software was finally starting to work. He said that it had been a struggle trying to get all the parties to use the software. Mr. Koester said that he would like the numbers so that he could isolate what the Budget Committee had no discretion over and so he could look at which lines had large percentage increases. He said that he would like to check some of the numbers himself. Mr. Demko said that the Budget Committee could not necessarily get the information for that use this year but they could definitely get it for next year.
Mr. Batchelder said that he loved the new format of the school budget worksheet. Mr. Caldon said that the previous year the default budget had been higher than the proposed budget. He said that the School Board and the school were trying to be sensitive and cost effective.
Mr. Caldon left at this time.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Mr. Batchelder made a motion that the Budget Committee approve their minutes from the meeting on November 13, 2008. Mr. Curry seconded the motion.
Mr. Bock suggested several minor adjustments. There was no disagreement from the other members of the Budget Committee.
Mr. Batchelder made a motion that the Budget Committee approve their minutes from the meeting on November 13, 2008 as amended. Mr. Curry seconded the motion. The present members of the Budget Committee voted unanimously in favor of the motion. The motion passed 7-0.
Mr. Curry made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:50pm. Ms. Danis seconded the motion. The present members of the Budget Committee voted unanimously in favor of the motion. The motion passed 7-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelly Tivnan
Budget Committee Secretary
| 
