UNAPPROVED MINUTES

Exeter Region Cooperative School District

Budget Advisory Committee

Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - 5:30 PM

SAU Conference Room – Tuck Learning Campus

30 Linden Street Exeter, New Hampshire

Members Present: Susan Canada, Lucy Cushman, Simon Heslop, David Miller (ERCSD Board Representative), Janice Miller, Roy Morrisette, David Pendell, Elyse Gallo Seeley

Members Absent: Bobby Aldrich (Chairperson), Carl Roberston

Administrators Present: Superintendent Michael Morgan, Business Administrator Amy Ransom

  1. Call to Order

Ms. Cushman agreed to chair the meeting in Chairperson Aldrich’s absence and called the meeting to order at 5:45 pm.

  1. Approval of Minutes

On a motion by Ms. Cushman, seconded by Mr. Pendell, the Committee unanimously voted to approve the October 19, 2011 minutes with the following 2 corrections – 1) Section 4c, 2nd sentence to read “…sections that have >25 students.” instead of 30; 2) Mr. Robertson’s last name spelled correctly.

  1. Collective Bargaining Update -Mr. Morgan and Mr. Miller

Mr. Morgan reported that 5 of the 8 Districts have reached a settlement. He reported the following for the ERCSD bargaining associations:

  1. Administration – has settled on a 2-year contract; highlights include a 2% salary increase each year w/employee-paidhealth premium responsibility increasing to 5% (YR1)plus an additional 5% (YR2) on the HMO; 3% (YR1)plus an additional 2% (YR2) on the PPO. Theend result is an approximate $40K increasein the budget in both FY 12-13 (YR1)and FY 13-14 (YR2)from the current FY.
  2. Teachers – have not settled; negotiations are at an impasse; mediation is in process to perform fact-finding.
  3. Paraprofessionals – still in negotiations.
  1. Staffing Discussions – Mr. Morgan, Ms. Ransomand Mr. Miller

Ms. Ransom explained that because Mr. Aldrich had a conflict and was unable to attend tonight’s meeting, he had spoken with her previouslyand asked her to pass on the following: Mr. Aldrich encourages the Committee to try to reach consensus this evening regarding making recommendations to what the Committee will propose in the budget regarding staffing. Mr. Morgan presented the following for discussion:

  1. Review of Non-Teaching Positions in District –1) there has been some discussion regarding realignment of the CMS and EHS Special Education Administrators positions and roles. Discussions have included a proposal to takeone of the positions and turn it into a Director of Student Services position, and turn the other one into a Director of Special Education for grades 6 – 12 position. These changes would not have any impact on the budget. 2)the Stratham Police Department has funded CMS School Resource Officer Mike Oliveri’s salary for the last 2 years. The recommendation is that the ERCSD fund$15K of his of salary. 3) Discussion regarding the idea of adding a 1.0FTE non-teachingtechnology coordinator position for the ERCSD budgeted at $60K/yr. Currently the ERCSD has only 1 person in IT who is a “behind-the-scenes” hardware and software guru and he is spread too thin.
  2. Other Staffing Requests / Changes – there is a proposal to add 2 additional teachers to EHS staff due to increased enrollment projections for 2012-2013 academic year. These positions would be funded at $100K eachwhich includes fringe. If this proposal is not funded then it might mean increased class sizes and a few position cuts to make it happen.
  3. The total proposed increase in staffing budgetfor the FY 12-13 is $275,000 ($15K for the SRO Oliveri + $60K for a tech coordinator + $200K for 2 new teachers).
  1. Great Bay e-Charter School (GBeCS) and the Seacoast School of Technology (SST) – Mr. Morgan
  2. GBeCS Impacts on the FY 2012-2013 Budget – Mr. Morgan stated that the cost/pupil/yr to attend GBeCS is $8,450. The State pays $5,450 per pupil for charter school students. For the past few years the difference has been paid by the ERCSD which amounts to approximately $431K/yr for 145 students to attend. Mr. Morgan stated that the SAU wants to reduce that amount to about $300K/yr. The goal is to come up withsome formula that determines what percentage of the $3K gap the ERCSD will continue to pay for so that it is reasonable for the Coop but not detrimental to the operating budget of GBeCS. Members of the Public arrived at 7 pm and included a GBeCS staff person and a member of the GBeCS Parents Group. They commented on their concerns about the potential loss of $131K to the GBeCS budget. Mr. Miller and Mr. Morgan reiterated that the ERCSD Board is exceptionally supportive of GBeCS and wants to see its continued success.
  3. SST Impacts on the FY 12-13 Budget – Mr. Morgan explained how SST made its budget cuts effective 7/1/11 due to the reduction in state funding proposed at the time. Since thenthere have been some changes in the state funding so SST and the Budget Office recalculated the cost/student. It actually dropped 16.5% from what was projected in FY 10-11 which is positive news. However, there are still tuition issues with various sending schools. Current policy is that although ERCSD will pay for any SAU 16 student who goes to GBeCS or VLACS to attend SST, other school districts are not willing to do that.
  1. Technology – entire Committee
  2. Discussion of Upgrades and Long Range Plan and the Impact on the 2012-2013 Budget - Discussion ensued regarding how technological advances occur at the speed of light and upgrade alone is a full-time job. The last district-wide technology update was 4 years ago. Discussion ensued regarding how it is decided which technologies are selected as the “right” thing to purchase, which opened discussions regarding leasing equipment versus purchasing equipment and how staffing is affected by which option is selected. Mr. Miller stated that the number of techs the district currently has is grossly inadequate to support the current technology needs, never mind dealing with the constant industry changes and upgrades.
  3. Ms. Cushman stated that technology upgrades should be a regular expense rather than a huge expense when done every 3 or 4 years. Ms. Gallo Seely stated that she would prefer to see the district hire a company to do it all. Mr. Pendell also agreed with Ms. Gallo Seely citing how districts hire bus companies to do just that. Mr.Heslop commented on the importance of cyber-security and protection of staff and students. The Budget Advisory Committee politely requestedthat reps from the Tech Committee attend the 12/14/11 BAC meeting to make technology upgrades recommendations because they are the experts. Based on these recommendations, the BAC would then be able to perform a cost analysis justification for those recommendations.
  1. FY2011-2012 Budget Development – Ms. Ransom presented the FY 11-12 budget. There is a $100K reduction in the overall budget compared to the last FY despite adding a 2.5% increase to support staff salaries.
  2. Admin/Support Salaries– Ms. Ransom requested that this item be tabled to the December meeting.
  3. Special Ed Admin/Support Salaries -Ms. Ransom requested that this item be tabled to the December meeting.
  4. Benefits–Ms. Ransom presented the proposed FY 12-13 health & dental benefits cost projections. They have slightly decreased due to the fact that premiums have been relatively flat.
  5. Non-Salary Accounts – Ms. Ransom asked Principals to reallocate/redistribute line item numbers to reflect more realistic spending and presented the revised budget.
  6. SAU Assessment – the SAU Joint Boards will meet on 12/19/11 to vote on SAU 16 assessed budget.
  7. Updated Budget Summary -Ms. Ransom requested that this item be tabled to the December meeting as the figures have not been finalized yet
  1. Warrant Articles
  2. Identify and Discuss Potential Warrant Articles for 2013 Warrant – the FY 13-14 budget and teachers’ contracts were identified as potential warrant articles. Discussion ensued regarding the CIP Trust Funds, specifically how much per year to put into the funds($150K/yr was proposed), what is reasonable for taxpayers, identifying the fund balance cap and changing the wording of the Trust Fund to allow donations.
  1. Next Meetings
  2. December 14, 2011, 7 pm
  3. January 11, 2012, 7 pm
  1. Other Business
  2. GBeCS Parent Association member informed the Committee that Barnes and Noble was holding a purchasing event with the proceeds going to the Parent Association. The in-store event is Thursday, December 8 from 4 – 8 pm but any online purchases made during 12/8 – 12/12/11 would also count.
  1. Adjournment
  2. Ms. Cushman made a motion, seconded by Mr. Pendell to adjourn the meeting at 8:25 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen Kelley

Administrative Assistant

SAU 16 Central Offices

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