TOWN OF ROCKY HILL
BOARD OF EDUCATION
BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING OF February 1, 2007
Members Present: Neil Geldof (Chairman)
Peter Arico
Nadine Bell
Mark Carberry
Charles McMonigle
Rene (Skip) Rivard
Anne Schmidt
Catherine Vargas
The fourth Budget Workshop for the Rocky Hill Public School district was held on Thursday, February 1, 2007, in the media center of Griswold Middle School. Board of Education Finance Committee Chairperson, Anne Schmidt called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m.
The pledge of allegiance was recited.
I. Responses to Questions from the January 23, 2007 meeting:
Dr. Vautour provided information regarding outstanding items from the previous meeting.
§ Software Licenses - In response to Mr. McMonigle’s question of how the district obtains its pricing for the software licenses, Dr. Vautour using a document provided by Mrs. Boutilier, explained that through Rocky Hill Public School personnel we are able to obtain leases at a cost of $39,792 vs. $42,217 using the RESC Alliance.
§ Athletic Event Police Coverage – Mr. Pitocco and Dr. Vautour met with Officer Dannahey and Deputy Chief Keehner to further define police coverage necessary for athletic events. The most current coverage figures are: fall sports: boy’s soccer – 2 officers, girl’s soccer – 1 officer, football – 2 officers. Winter sports: boy’s basketball – 2 officers, girl’s basketball – 2 officers. Co-curricula: (Various events such as the ring dance) – 1 officer. Dr. Vautour added they are awaiting Chief Custer’s return so there can be further discussions on coverage for weeknight games. He hopes for further reductions in this area. The original request of $21,000 has been adjusted down to $12,816.
§ Art Class Cameras – Can be rolled into the lease, however it will affect the other hardware that they are trying to acquire.
§ Summer School – Dr. Vautour stated since the nature of summer school is remedial, under state laws, the district couldn’t charge parents for bus transportation. It becomes a moot point as will be shown when talks about reductions take place.
§ Defibrillators – The district is looking into grants to complete the acquisition of the defibrillators.
§ Third Technology Lease – Will be looked at more closely after conversations tonight for a better sense of direction.
§ Strategic Literacy Program – Mr. Watson detailed some of the highlights of a document he presented containing data that supports the progress of the Strategic Literacy Program. An analysis of students was taken with help from only the language arts teacher, and then after working with the intervention of the strategic literacy teacher. The results show significant growth. Students who are academically successful tend to end up in the Vice Principal’s office less often. If the kids themselves were polled, they would rate the class favorably because he has personally witnessed the positive changes in the students themselves. Mrs. Bell asked what the qualifications to be in this class were based on. Mr. Watson responded that it is based on CMT scores, and teacher recommendations. Mr. Rivard asked if it was possible the students improved the second time they read a book, simply because they read it twice. Mr. Watson responded yes, it was possible, but they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have read the book twice without the program. Essentially, the students having difficulty would have been left behind.
II. Budget Reduction & Discussion:
Dr. Vautour summarized the original budget request, and provided additional information that has recently presented itself. The original budget request increase was $2,282,608; a 9.41% increase. Since the original request, two events occurred: 1) $60,000 in additional special education tuition costs were identified, and 2) there was a $300,000 increase in insurance premiums due to he unfavorable experience the district had through the end of 2006. Originally, the insurance agent projected a 15% increase, but after the year-end experience data came in, the increase was bumped up to 25%.
Dr. Vautour explained with this additional $360,000 in costs, the requested budget figure is brought up to $2,642,608; a 10.89% increase. He emphasized the magnitude of this budget is greater than expected and he sees the need to explore any and all avenues to bring about cost reductions.
He presented several possible budget cut options:
Early Retirement Incentive Programs: Dr. Vautour requested authorization to approach the bargaining unit of the teachers to discuss an early retirement incentive program. There are a number of individuals whom may be interested in this type of program. But more information is needed in order to get possible cost reduction figures.
Bidding Out / Restructuring of Medical Benefits Plan: He suggested their agent go back to Cigna and try to get cost reductions from them or to go out to bid to other insurance carriers. He also mentioned a restructuring of the health plans to health savings accounts, which typically have higher deductibles, but will provide the district with a cost savings in premiums. This item will have to be discussed with the bargaining units, so may not be able to be done by July.
Conferring with Bargaining Units to Find Other Possible Cost Reductions
Reviewing Athletic /Extra Curricular Activities
Revisiting the Moser School Closure
Dr. Vautour asked the Board to be conservative at this time. He reminded attendees that 93% of the budget is directly related to salaries, benefits, tuition and transportation even before taking the $360,000 additional costs into consideration.
He warned if the $360,000 anticipated rise in costs remains, then the district is looking at significant reductions in programs and personnel.
Dr. Vautour presented two levels of proposed budget cuts:
LEVEL 1
(103,800) Vice Principal
(54,355) Creation of KIP 2 Program (+teacher, -1 paraprofessionals, -10 PT paras)
Dr. Vautour explained this program will be able to proceed by adding a teacher and eliminating one para, and 10 part time paras. He cautioned these positions are to be eliminated, not necessarily the people that are currently in those positions due to seniority and other factors. He anticipates this savings due to reduced tuition costs.
(39,160) GMS Math Books & Curriculum Writing (net of replacements)
(32,735) Move art lab into lease
(39,281) All New Equipment Excluding Special Education, High Jump Pit, Lease
(25,000) Professional Development – restricted to in-district activities
(12,865) Academic Biology Books & Curriculum Writing
(12,061) MY Access and Miscellaneous Support Software
(6,735) Summer School Busses and Curriculum Writing
(4,908) Grade 4 Music Books
(4,860) CMT Academies
(4,388) New Courses (Excluding Digital Multimedia Design)
(4,252) Field Trip Increases
(4,250) Hartford Stage (GMS)
(4,000) HS Social Studies Replacement Books
(3,586) Honors Algebra II Books & Curriculum Writing
(3,300) HS Art Replacement Books
(2,000) Artist in Residence (HS)
(1,617) GMS Vocabulary Books
(1,537) GFS Supplemental Trade Books
(1,200) Lend-a-Paw Transportation – Donation made to cover this expense
(269) Conga Drums (GMS)
($366,159) = Total level 1 Reductions; 9.38% increase
LEVEL 2:
(206,980) Remaining New Staff Excluding WinSchool Secretary (Reductions are: 2 Elementary Classroom Teachers; .2 Reading Teacher (GMS); .4 Math Teacher (HS) .3 Strings Teacher; .55 Secretary for Moser)
(58,000) Grade 1 Teacher (West Hill)
(20,000) Furnishings for elementary portables – Dr. Vautour noted if this reduction is taken, the portable classrooms are off the table for the elementary schools, and 4th grade will be running at maximum guideline class size before the doors open in 2007. (22 students per classroom across the 10 classes), and given past history, those classrooms will exceed the guideline by the time school opens in 2007
(27,117) Remaining New Textbooks
(7,830) Remaining Curriculum Writing (excluding trailblazers & benchmark assessments)
(47,000) Eliminate ESOL Lead Teacher (Net of Tutor Costs)
(9,355) Eliminate Field Trips (Excluding Music, HS Science and Athletics) Dr. Vautour explained that field trips would still occur, but will have to be 100% funded by families.
($376,282) = Total level 2 Reductions; a 7.83% increase
Grand total Level 1 and 2 Budget Reductions: $742,441, which brings the total budget increase to $1,900,167 or 7.83%.
Dr. Vautour hoped they could further reduce budget costs by the additional ideas he mentioned earlier including bidding out the insurance policies and the early retirement incentive program, but that these processes will take time.
Mr. Rivard commented the insurance premiums have fluctuated significantly, considering the premium holiday, and now this premium hike, and asked how often the district was assessed.
Mr. Turansky explained the premium holiday was based on last year’s activity. The increase is based on our increased claims during 2006.
Mr. Rivard commented there were some specific claims that significantly affected the premium, and Mrs. Schmidt noted extraordinary circumstances aren’t supposed to be held into account. Mr. Turansky hopes the district’s experience rating will increase later in the year, and also as discussions elevate to higher levels within Cigna management, there may be more opportunity to gain cost savings based on our long history with the company.
Mrs. Schmidt didn’t expect this type of significant fluctuation, especially after the windfall that happened just so recently.
Dr. Vautour hoped the insurance cost would come down significantly, but felt this number should be shared with the Board at this time.
Mr. Rivard asked Dr. Vautour how he envisioned taking Moser School offline. He noted the reduced programs, remarked the district is supposed to be in the business of teaching kids, and all of a sudden we are in the business of health benefits and salaries.
Dr. Vautour stated in order to take Moser school offline, 5 classroom spaces would be needed. He mentioned the possibility of additional portables, noting Torrington has 10 modulars they may want to sell to Rocky Hill. Mrs. Schmidt asked exactly how much would be saved by closing Moser School. Dr. Vautour stated around $60,000. Unless some other space gets freed up, it probably wouldn’t be worth it to close Moser School.
Barbara Gilbert, Town Manager, stated each portable costs $33,000 per year to lease, and that closing Moser School would actually cost more money.
Mr. McMonigle suggested Mr. Arico, Mr. Cooke, and administration sit down together to see if there are any other ways to reduce costs in regards to the maintenance and upkeep of the facility. He cannot support the removal of a .2 reading teacher. Reading is a very basic skill, and should remain in the budget.
Mrs. Bell had questions on the CMT Academy and GMS books cuts. She wanted to know what the tradeoff was in cutting these items. She stated vocabulary books are basic and needed to prepare kids for the CAP tests. She referenced the No Child Left Behind Act mandates, and noted there could be alternative costs related to long- term services that must be provided to students who fall behind.
Dr. Vautour pointed out no item on the list of cuts was offered up willingly.
Mrs. Bell commented waiting a year or two for textbooks is different than holding back support services, because without the proper services, some children may fall through the cracks, and that is a concern.
Mrs. Vargas asked when the 3rd lease would be looked at, and if the computers could wait another year or so. She questioned the rationale of holding off on books, but purchasing computers.
Mr. Pitocco responded the computers are an integral part of the courses being taught. Dr. Vautour explained there were problems last time they held off on purchasing computers, because some were breaking down, etc.
Mr. Rivard asked Dr. Vautour for his general feeling on the early retirement incentive program. Dr. Vautour stated they have identified 21 possible people interested in this offer. If all of those people participated, his best guess would be around a $500,000 savings. He does not expect all 21 employees to be interested, however.
Mr. Rivard did not propose, but threw out the idea of reconsidering classroom size, and look at decreasing non-tenured faculty. Dr. Vautour responded the district would lose the youngest and brightest teachers unless this would be coupled with an early retirement program.
Mrs. Schmidt stated she does not support increasing classroom size for financial reasons.
Mr. Carberry asked what the make-up was of staff in terms of teachers that have Master’s Degrees. Mr. McMonigle stated that approximately ½ of the teachers are maxed at their salary level. Dr. Vautour stated that in 5-10 years there will be a significant number of staff retiring. Using the criteria of age 50, with 10 years teaching experience, there are 67 staff members that meet that criteria. Of those 67, there are 21 at age 50 and have at least 30 years experience.
Mr. Arico asked what the total increase was for special education tuition. Mr. Turansky responded that it was $464,000 plus the additional $60,000 for a total of $524,000.
Mr. McMonigle asked if the bus company has been approached about any cost reductions. Dr. Vautour stated conversations have not happened yet, but they will.
Mr. Rivard related his experience years ago as a teacher, and that he had been asked to forgo a step increase. He wondered if this would be something that could be a cost savings. Dr. Vautour stated that conversations with bargaining units needed to take place.
Mr. Carberry has heard of the possibility of Moser School being turned into a special education facility in order to help generate revenue. Dr. Vautour said the didn’t think this was feasible, because it puts us in the same situation in regards to those 5 teachers that need to be put somewhere, and also that there are significant costs associated with operating such a facility.
There were discussions about the timeline of the budget process. Dr. Vautour stated much of the data needed will take time to obtain. Further information will be coming that will affect the final figure. Mrs. Schmidt suggested they approve a budget figure tonight, and then make any adjustments as needed.
Mayor Anthony LaRosa stated the Board should submit a budget figure to Town Council by February 15, 2007 per Charter, even if it’s not the final number. He stated the Board could later send the final amended budget as long as it’s in by March 1st. Mrs. Barbara Gilbert, Town Manager, stated she must have this budget information in order to compute the mill rate.
Dr. Vautour outlined his plan to proceed stating the Board could submit a number or a document by the 15th of February. As information becomes available, the Board will instruct the Town Manager the request is being adjusted downward with accompanying reasons. He stressed administrators and the Board are going to get those numbers as aggressively as possible. The final figures will not be available February 15, and may not be available March 1st.
Mrs. Schmidt interjected that in the past, adjustments had been made sometimes in the query stage at the end of April when new developments arose. Dr. Vautour agreed that it wasn’t atypical for that to occur. The letter of transmittal that will accompany the budget to the Town Manager will state there are adjustments, and there are certain areas being investigated that the Board believes could successfully reduce the request, and that the Board will keep the Town posted. Mayor LaRosa stated this is a year when the Town Council and the Board of Education truly have to work together. He added that within 6 months to a year the town is looking at school referendums. The Town cannot raid funds on their side to bring the budget down to 5% because Rocky Hill is already on Moody’s Standard & Poor’s watch list. If the town does raid it’s funds, then has to fund an educational referendum, and Moody’s rating drops, there’s no way the taxpayers can afford that. The Mayor thinks the Board is heading in the right direction, and the Council will be watching, and hoping the Board comes in with a budget that reflects the crisis situation. He also realizes these are hard decisions the Board has to make.
Dr. Vautour stressed this is an extremely unusual budget because there is an $860,000 amount they have not encountered in years past, which has exacerbated the request. He would work with the administrators, faculty, and the insurance consultant to see what they could do to lower these costs.
Resident Kevin Sudell asked if this was the time when serious talks would take place to reduce the budget request line by line. He suggested eliminating the assistant swimming coaches since they only take care of 25 athletes at a time.
Dr. Vautour explained the budget has already been gone through line by line, with justifications and administration is now at a point where they are reconsidering the magnitude of the cuts that may be necessary and it’s up to the Board to guide administration if they want to go beyond the proposed list of cuts. Mr. Sudell apologized for not being present at the first two budget meetings. He suggested reconsidering omitting the budget for the two swimming coaches. He also referred to a $750 per year storage container rental he felt should be eliminated or purchased by the athletic department. He suggested cutting line item #611 – supplies for high school technical education; the requested amount of $18,000 is for only 200 students. He noted the amount is twice that of the junior high level, which has 600 students. He also suggested removing the printing coordinator since as he stated the courses offered have no printing or equivalent anymore. He also suggested the Coordinator of Student Affairs make a lateral transfer to the open Vice Principal position at the high school. With the new art class coming on line, he wondered if the town doesn’t give them the money to do the facility restructure, then, does the school still keep the class?
Dr. Vautour clarified a few items stating the proposed art room goes into room 101, not into the graphics room. In the event that certain programs do not receive the necessary funding, the staffing decisions related to those programs must be made at that time. Presently, there is not an elimination of the digital media art lab on the list of reductions or any staffing associated with it, because from an administrative standpoint, they feel those are valuable programs that they do want to maintain. The level of discussions that will take place going forward will most likely significantly impact the budget. Reviewing athletics and extra curricular activities is something he will be taking on, and a variety of things could occur such as pay for participation, elimination of middle school athletics, elimination of teams, or certain stipend positions. This is not something they are ready to discuss this evening and research is needed to find out what cost savings could be made. He pointed out if in the worst-case scenario they are going to look at a $2 million reduction, it would not be a few assistant coaches, it would be wholesale reductions in programs and staff. He doesn’t feel it’s appropriate to go there tonight, but to try to mitigate as much as possible so the Board can make some decisions in the weeks to come. He is hoping for a large change in the latest anticipated insurance and transportation costs, and that $75 dollars here and there is not going to help achieve the cost savings necessary.
Mr. Rivard requested a copy of Mr. Sudell’s suggestions.
Mr. Pitocco had a hard time listening to these comments after all of the hours put into the preparation of the budget from someone who has no knowledge of the curriculum or the programs, and hasn’t attended any of the previous budget sessions to hear what administration has presented. He finds it insulting and offensive at this stage to talk about cutting an assistant swimming coach, or anyone, and stopping the wheels now to listen to these types of suggestions.
A 10-minute break was taken
Mrs. Schmidt opened the floor to discussions pertaining to the list of proposed cuts.
Mrs. Bell stated she would like to accept the list of cuts with the exception of the CMT Academy, the vocabulary books at the middle school, and the .2 reading teacher, and would like to add another $9,000 cut in police coverage. She explained the Board has worked long and hard to keep classroom size within guidelines, and is not willing to increase class size until more information is received on the pending adjustments.
Mrs. Vargas agreed with Mrs. Bell’s comments, and added she would like to keep the addition of the .3 strings teacher because she is teaching over 100 students.
Mrs. Schmidt mentioned that in past years, when the budget got to this stage, they looked at building repairs and maintenance and the supplies accounts. She asked if there was anything in these areas that Dr. Vautour thought could be adjusted; possibly a 5% reduction in supplies.
Dr. Vautour replied the supplies account is usually used as a variable to balance the budget at the end, but the 5% could be taken now.
Mrs. Schmidt stated philosophically she would like to leave teachers in place and stay within class size guidelines.
There were no more suggestions or discussions at this time, and a 5-minute break was taken for Mr. Turansky to compute the total cuts.
Mr. Turansky reviewed the current budget cuts in total:
(103,800) Vice Principal position
(54,355) Creation of KIP-2 Program (+1 teacher, -1 para, -10 part time paras)
(39,160) GMS Math Books & Curriculum Writing (net of replacement)
(32,735) Move Art Lab into Lease
(39,281) All New Equipment Excluding Special Education, High Jump Pit, Lease
(25,000) Professional Development
(12,865) Academic Biology Books & Curriculum Writing
(12,061) MY Access and Miscellaneous Support Software
(6,735) Summer School Busses and Curriculum Writing
(4,908) Grade 4 Music Books
(4,388) New Courses (Excluding Digital Multimedia Design)
(4,252) Field Trip Increases
(4,250) Hartford Stage (GMS)
(4,000) HS Social Studies Replacement Books
(3,586) Honors Algebra II Books & Curriculum Writing
(3,300) HS Art Replacement Books
(2,000) HS Artist in Residence
(1,537) GMS Supplemental Trade Books
(1,200) Lend-a-Paw Transportation
(269) Conga Drums (GMS)
(8,184) Police Coverage at athletic events
(61,980) New staff .4 Math Teacher, .55 secretary at Moser
(58,000) Grade 1 Teacher (WH)
(27,117) Remaining New Textbooks (Excluding Trailblazers)
(7,830) Remaining Curriculum Writing (Excluding Trailblazers and Benchmark Assessments)
(47,000) Eliminate ESOL Lead Teacher (Net of Tutor Costs)
(9,355) Eliminate Field Trips (Excluding Music, HS Science and Athletics
(29,000) Miscellaneous Supplies
($608,148) = Total Budget Cuts to be voted on by the Board.
Moved by Nadine Bell, seconded by Charles McMonigle, to reduce the 2007-2008 proposed budget by $608,148.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Catherine Vargas, seconded by Nadine Bell to adjourn at 7:45 p.m.
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION CARRIED
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa R. Reed
Recording Secretary
Accepted by: _______________________ Date: _____________________