TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL/BOARD OF EDUCATION JOINT BUDGET WORK SESSION
ROOM ALT. 6 DATE: APRIL 2, 2014
TIMOTHY EDWARDS MIDDLE SCHOOL TIME: 7:00 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Mayor Anwar called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Town Council
Members Present: Mayor Saud Anwar
Councilor Carolyn Mirek
Councilor Liz Pendleton
Councilor Janice Snyder
Councilor Steve Wagner
Councilor Keith Yagaloff
Members Absent: Deputy Mayor Ed Havens
Councilor Tom Delnicki
Councilor Cary Prague
Also Present: Town Manager, Matthew B. Galligan
Board of Education
Members Present: Chairperson David Joy
Vice Chairperson Lisa Maneeley
Diane Behler
Philip Koboski
Matthew Riley
Richard Stahr
Craig Zimmerman
Members Absent: Caroly Driscoll
Michael Gonzelez
Also Present: Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kate Carter
Asst. Superintendent Daniel Hansen
Asst. Superintendent Richard Cormier
Chris Chermerka, Business Manager
ITEM:
3. Public Participation
None
4. Items for Discussion
- Board of Education Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2014/2015
Mayor Anwar stated that this meeting gives the Town Council an opportunity to discuss concerns and have questions answered regarding the Board of Education budget.
Dr. Kate Carter, Superintendent of Schools began discussions explaining to the Council that she has been approached by members of the public thanking the Board of Education for such low budget increases. The end result of this year’s budget is consistent with the same approach that is done every year since she has been Superintendent. The Board of Education analyzes the components that make up the budget. The budget document reveals savings wherever possible and provides rationales’ for increases when necessary. This year the Board of Education came in with a 1.94% increase which is the smallest increase that has ever been requested. Next year, conditions will be different and the request will be larger than 1.94%. The 1.94% increase represents projections for fewer and less costly
special education outplacements, savings due to retirements and the particular salary cycle within the teacher’s 3-year contract, asking for only what is needed. This type of transparency is a risk because it is an extremely tight budget. The Board of Education has just received confirmation that the original estimates in the Board of Education’s healthcare claims can be reduced due to the positive trends that the Town and Board of Education are experiencing this year. Based on this information, the budget can be further reduced by $438,000 which will result in reducing the proposed percentage increase to 1.29%.
Answering questions from the Council, Dr. Carter explained that the addition of 1.4 FTE’s is proposed for Art which will restore the Art Program to the 6th grade, a Gifted and Talented Teacher is proposed for Math for Grades 3-5, an instructional Technology position is offset in another area because of a retirement and a Mathematics Intervention Teacher in the Middle School. There is an increase in Special Education and an increase in the English Language Learner Position. Another increase of 1.4 FTE’s is for a World
ITEM:
4. A. (Continued)
Language Specialist Curriculum and a part time Guidance Administrator. Other positions added to this budget are Administrator Curriculum Support and a Teacher for P.E./Health.
The Board has very few items under the Capital Projects. The Board of Education has learned to do more with less. Sixty percent of the budget is salaries, 20% covers everything else. Doing less with less would reduce service levels which would result in reduced staffing levels. Dr. Carter explained further that there were a lot of items in this budget that were eliminated before it even came to the Board of Education. Dr. Carter explained that the reduction in Special Education is a combination to reductions in the number of outplacements and the reduction in expenses of those outplacements. The Board of Education gets 80% reimbursement for out of district placement. There are between 58-60 students who are out placed at this time.
Council members and the Board of Education members discussed the reimbursements from the State for Special Education outplacements. Councilor Yagaloff requested to be able to meet with staff regarding this issue in order to get a complete understanding. Chairperson Joy felt everyone would benefit from this discussion. Councilor Yagaloff stated he is interested in the revenue streams that are coming in after the close of the budget, how those revenues streams match up what’s anticipated in the budget, is all of the revenue accounted for in the budget, and are all of the expenditures accounting for in the budget. Dr. Carter stated that a memo can be sent out to clarify the process. The reimbursement rate used for the budget is 70%.
Councilor Mirek stated she is happy with the transparency of this budget and feels investing in enhancement programs is very important. Councilor Mirek then questioned how South Windsor compares to other Towns regarding Special Education.
Dr. Carter explained that she has met with other Towns to see how Special Education is handled. Some districts have chosen to invest in an audit of their Special Education. A lot of districts have had success by cutting para professionals to reinvest in other areas. South Windsor talks about this on a regular basis. The first year of full day Kindergarten has gone well and the First Grade Teachers are eager to see how students do next year. Parents are very happy and students have adjusted well. Mr. Hansen added that
ITEM:
4. A. (Continued)
Teachers are delighted and are able to give students and parents more attention.
Councilor Mirek questioned if the Board of Education has had any success of saving money by using on-line books? Mr. Hansen explained that he does anticipate on-line books being used in the future. A present issue is that you do not get the on-line version of a text book unless you purchase the actual textbook. There are many courses that are moving away from using textbooks and using on-line sources and other materials.
Answering further questions from the Council, Dr. Carter explained that there are eight facilities that are required to have Custodians on-site. They are at any event that happens seven days per week. There is a position that is advertised in the newspaper which was a replacement position that is already in the existing budget. When the Board of Education advertises for positions that could be cut in the budget process, they are advertised as anticipated vacancies. The request for $222,300 in the IT budget are items that are not covered under the referendum money. Slowly it is hopeful that these items will be under the operational budget. There is a lot of testing that is done on computers. Mr. Joy added that this is an area that the Board is interested in. The Board of
Education is having a presentation at the next scheduled meeting concerning technology.
Ms. Chris Chemerka explained that the Board of Education is connected to fiber optics but the request is to enhance the infrastructure. Dr. Carter suggested that the Board of Education IT Manager be included on conversations with the Town regarding the Town connecting to fiber optics at a Capital Projects Meeting. To combine technology with other school systems makes more sense then school systems and Towns. The School system currently works with other school systems to acquire savings for each district.
Dr. Carter explained that one of the largest unfunded mandates is Special Education. Almost every initiative can be tied to unfunded mandates. Mr. Joy added that it would take many hours to figure out how much cost is associated with unfunded mandates. Mr. Joy stated that he would send Town Council members a chart that he has from when Bristol charted how much they spent on unfunded mandates, which can be used to give Town Council members an idea of what is covered under unfunded mandates.
ITEM:
4. A. (Continued)
Dr. Carter explained that there are many advocacy organizations that monitor work loads for mandates as well as costs. Mr. Joy stated that much of the advocacy needs to come from the Board of Education members. If the Board of Education members don’t speak up, nothing will change.
Answering further questions, Dr. Carter said that Special Education is a volatile account, which is working in our favor this year with savings. This fund goes up and down. Last year there were 35 new students that required Special Educational services. These changes can not be contemplated and that is why the estimates may be off. The Personnel budget under Special Education has increased due to the hiring of a Special Education Resource Teacher and Contractual increase for staff.
Increases in next years budget will be due to contractual increases. Also there were approximately 15 retirements that will affect the budget next year due to a savings in salaries for this year. The Custodial staff salaries include seasonal help as well as over time. There are four PE/Health Teachers at Timothy Edwards Middle School which was reduced by .4. There is a Math Teacher position that travels between all five schools for Grades 3-5.
Mr. Galligan did the security issues that were felt to be necessary. Grants usually come back to the General Fund but since security is so important it is felt that funds should be re-appropriated into school security.
Mr. Hansen explained that the State of Connecticut adopted the Common Core Curriculum in July of 2010 and since that time administrators and more recently Teachers have been involved in primarily local on-site professional development related to that initiative. Board of Education has spent the last several years rewriting curriculum to be in line to the Common Core. This past fall the Common Core Curriculum will be implemented fully, which will be revised as necessary. The State expects that everyone is fully prepared by next September. The part of the budget that most directly supports this effort is through Curriculum Writing Funds that has always been in the budget. Also some of the Professional Development budget. There have been curriculum materials that have been purchased over the
past several years in preparation of Common Core.
ITEM:
4. A. (Continued)
Council members and school administration staff discussed shared services between the Town and Board of Education. Dr. Carter stated that there may be some opportunities but most areas that could capture savings have been done and the Town and Board of Education presently work collaboratively. There is an effort in the State to try to get more uniformity to Towns and school districts but this effort has been delayed because it is more difficult then one might think.
Mr. Galligan voiced concern regarding merging the chart of accounts. There is already a lot of shared services between the Board of Education and Town. IT and Finance have been looked at but there are large differences that would need to be merged. The other problem would be that rules that apply to the Town through the Charter do not apply to the Board of Education. There are items that the Board of Education takes care of that the Town staff should not take care of. Ms. Chemerka agreed that responsibilities are very different as well as computer systems to combine and there are no duplicated services. There was further discussion regarding the chart of accounts as well as individual processes for both the Board of Education and Town.
Mr. Hansen told Council members that the Curriculum is developed at the local level but the Common Core is a State standard that was developed on a National level.
Councilor Yagaloff questioned why staffing is flat and not trending downward because student enrollment has decreased? Dr. Carter explained that the 80/20 split between the personnel and program has actually been consistent. Dr. Carter said that there have been decreased in personnel due to retirements and declining enrollment. As fast as the school system might find efficiencies in cutting staff, there are mandates that fill in. If an 8 period day is implemented at the High School level, there would be additional staff necessary. Declining enrollment is not unique to South Windsor.
Councilor Yagaloff felt that there should be a high expectation on the school system because there is a declining student to teacher ratio. The resources being put into the school system will be effectively targeted towards where they need to be placed so that we have a quality school system.
ITEM:
4. A. (Continued)
Mr. Joy stated that when the Board of Education has the ability, elementary positions are eliminated. Last year three positions were taken out of the budget, but this year there is are no positions being taken out. This year there may be a need to hire an additional position if the estimate of students is higher then what is anticipated.
Mr. Joy closed his comments by explaining that a couple of weeks ago, he presented a budget with a 1.94% increase. Final projects came in on healthcare and the request was reduced to a 1.29% increase which represents $882,000 request for the Board of Education budget. The Board of Education has not discussed what would happen if this increase is further reduced. Any kind of significant reduction will involve current staff as well as investments that were discussed.
Ms. Maneeley, Vice Chair of the Board of Education stated that the budget has been reduced by .7% from the previous request which does not cut any programs.
Mayo Anwar felt that the process on the Board of Education’s side has been very efficient and very fair. The Town Council will be putting all of the needs between the Board of Education and Town up front before making any decisions. Educations and public safety are priorities.
5. Executive Session
None
6. Adjournment
Councilor Pendleton made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:20 p.m.; Mr. Stahr seconded the motion; and it was approved, unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah W. Reid
Clerk of the Council
| 
