TOWN OF ROCKY HILL
BOARD OF EDUCATION
BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING OF JANUARY 22,
2008
Members Present: William MacDonald (Chairman)
Nadine Bell
Rafaella Calciano-Coler
Charles McMonigle
Frank Morse
Rene (Skip) Rivard
Catherine Vargas
Jennifer Viggiano
Charlie Wisnioski
A budget workshop for the
Rocky Hill Public Schools was held on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 in the library/media
center of
The Pledge of Allegiance was
recited.
Rene Rivard said some
programs still needed to be gone through.
Rene Rivard turned the meeting over to Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato.
Continuation of Explanation of Programs
Program No. 1 – Administration
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said she wanted to go over the first five programs. She told everyone to turn to Page 1 which was
after the budget detail page. She
highlighted a few of the figures on this page.
This program includes the Board of Education’s secretary. Professional Development is a new figure
which is set at $3,000 because she felt that in the budget there should be
money for Board members to attend seminars, etc. Also included are the Attorney fees for the
Board of Education. The last line is
Dues/Fees and this includes $5,700 for CABE.
Nadine Bell said there had been a discussion with regards to policy renewal
and she wanted to know what the difference would be if someone was a member of
CABE opposed to someone who wasn’t. Interim
Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato explained that it would cost more and she said
that CABE places priorities of those who are members over those who aren’t. She explained some more about this and she
mentioned how audits that CABE does can then be turned over to the Policy
Committee. She said that Finance
Director Greg Turansky had contacted CABE.
Finance Director Turansky said the amount of $5,700 would be for the
first year and this will probably increase to $10,000 for the second year. Catherine Vargas asked if there were costs
for CABE services to conduct an audit of Board policies in this budget and she
said that she understood it would cost more if someone didn’t belong. Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said
there weren’t any costs for an audit of board policies by CABE services in this
budget. She explained some more about
this and she said that CABE gives a quarterly update with regards to new
policies or recommended policies. The
quarterly update would be part of the membership but the audits would cost
more.
Catherine Vargas referred to
Program No.1 – Object 690 and she said that for the year-to-date over $7,000
was spent and only $4,000 was budgeted.
Finance Director Turansky said there were expenditures that were out of
the ordinary this year and he gave more detail about those. He referred to Fiscal Year ’05-’06 and he said
the expenditure was almost $5,000 and the budget was exceeded by $1,000. He said in ’06-’07 $7,400 was spent.
Rene Rivard referred to CABE
membership and he asked if this is based on a twelve month calendar year from
the time someone joins or he asked if this is prorated. Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said
that she would say this is based from July 1st through June 30th.
Charles Wisnioski said the
Board may send back to Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato a request to
modify the budget before a final decision is made on what the budget will be and
he referred to Object 112 and he asked her to consider this. He said the data that was provided to the
Board was on Page 1. He said the Board secretary’s
position hasn’t had any increase and he said an increase for this is not being
proposed. He thought that it was only
fair that all of these kinds of positions get some type of increase in
compensation. Finance Director Turansky
said they have been following the Town’s pay scale with regards to the
Recording Secretary so he said what the Town is paying for these services is
being matched.
Chairman MacDonald asked
Interim Secretary Parmelee-Blancato to help him understand the cost for the Attorney
of $45,000. He asked how this is
determined and if this is gone out to bid for or he asked if a contract is used
for so many years. Interim
Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said her understanding was that the expenses
that were used in the past are looked at.
The Board goes out for the Attorney.
In the past, the Board went out for a RFP and the Board interviewed the
Attorneys. Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato asked Charles McMonigle if a time limit was given with
regards to how many years the Attorney would be used and he said that there was
no time limit on this. Interim
Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato asked Charles McMonigle if there was a range
with regards to the cost of the Attorneys’ services and Charles McMonigle
explained that there was a huge range.
He explained some more about this.
Program No. 2 – General Administration
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said there weren’t too many increases. She explained that the Superintendent’s
salary was the first line. The second
line was for the non-certified employees’ salaries. Finance Director Turansky said these were for
two secretaries and a .45 courier. He
said the mileage decreases were reflective of the Superintendent’s
contract. There had been a lease on a
vehicle for the Superintendent and this has been taken out. Chairman MacDonald asked about the lease and
he asked if there were any termination fees.
Finance Director Turansky explained that the prior Superintendent’s
three year lease for his vehicle ended.
Program No. 3 – Improvement of Instruction
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said this program included the certified salaries for the
subject area supervisors, K-5 coordinator, Assistant Superintendent and the
secretary. There is $16,000 included in
this program for professional development for Staff district wide. She explained some more about this.
Charles Wisnioski said in
looking at the ’06-’07 budget it looked like a lot of the professional
development was not used. Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier said she was reading that $14,750 was appropriated and
$14,444 was spent. Charles Wisnioski
told Assistant Superintendent Boutilier that he would highlight what he was
talking about and give it to her at the end of this workshop. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier told Charles
Wisnioski that he was referring to the funds that were in the building budget
and there was a freeze that was put on those last year so any unexpended funds
at that point were frozen. She explained
some more about this.
Program No. 4 – Planning & Research
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said this is the salary for a position that is .45 for a
Technology Analyst for the data warehouse.
She explained that this person is a full time employee and .55 of the
salary for this will come out of the technology budget. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier explained
that this position was originally a part time one and this person was
responsible for the website. It was
found over time that a support person was needed to set up databases and
maintenance, etc. so that is why this position was added. This person was also responsible this year
for creating the electronic report cards that are used in the elementary
schools. Charles Wisnioski asked outside
of the report cards what type of data there is in the data warehouse. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said
everything is in that. She said this
person’s services and the data warehouse can be utilized to answer
questions. Principal Hayward gave an
example and she explained that for the representation of the various
ethnicities in the AP courses that they wanted to make sure that there wasn’t a
disparity between the percentage of various ethnic groups in the building and
the percentage represented in the AP classes because there is sometimes in high
schools but gladly there wasn’t in Rocky Hill High School. Principal Hayward said the Technology Analyst
can access this data over the last several years based on class enrollments. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said there
is five or six years of data of students in the data warehouse at this
point. This person also helped to
conduct an analysis of one of the reading resource programs. Charles Wisnioski said the budget allocation
for most years is $18,000+ and the actual expenditure in ’06-’07 was two-thirds
of this and he said the same was true in ’05-’06. He wanted to know why this was so. Finance Director Turansky explained that
personnel were switched around and he said there is also a part time Technology
Assistant student and initially part of that salary was here. Chairman MacDonald referred to the .45
Technology Analyst and he asked if this was in addition to the technology Staff
(the three FTEs for computers).
Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said this position was part of that
and she explained that there are three full time positions between Program No. 4
and Program No. 36 and there is also a 19 ½ hour position. The salary for this Technology Analyst is in
both of these programs: .45 is in
Program No. 4 and .55 is in Program No. 36.
Chairman MacDonald said there are really 3.45 positions and Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier said that was right.
Mr. Wisnioski asked out of which program the salary comes for the
website work. Assistant Superintendent
Boutilier said it comes out of Program No. 36.
Program No. 5 – School Administration
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said this program is for the individual principals’
budgets. She said this includes
certified and non-certified salaries, salaries for secretaries, and security,
etc. The other accounts in the program
represent building operation. Charles
Wisnioski referred to the first line and he asked what ADV stood for. Finance Director Turansky said this stood for
advertising and printing. Charles
Wisnioski referred to the handout that was given this evening that listed the
things that are printed. Interim
Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said the things on the list are things that
are done through the printing shop and the other things are done commercially. Principal Hayward explained that the items
listed on the handout are the things that Mr. Brown does. She explained that in the summertime athletic
handbooks, progress reports, etc. are sent out to get printed for an annual
supply. Charles Wisnioski asked if Mr.
Brown doesn’t print the student handbooks.
Principal Hayward said that Mr. Brown does printing if a need arises
during the year for something that wasn’t sent out for or if something was run
out of (i.e. report cards, or printing for a special event that is taking place). Charles Wisnioski asked if any effort has
been made to see if the offset printer on the
thought about an alternate
for this printing. Finance Director
Turansky said there never was a quest for this.
Frank Morse asked if someone
could explain what WinSchool is. Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier explained that WinSchool is the student information
system that gathers all types of demographic information about the students as
required by the State. This system has
been in place at the secondary schools for approximately fourteen or fifteen
years and this has been in place at the elementary schools for the last three
or four years. She said this is basically
a huge database all about demographics about the students. Principal Hayward said this is for anything
to do with keeping track of the students.
Frank Morse asked if this has to be at each school building and he was
told that it does. Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier said there also has to be the contract for the
maintenance so that upgrades can be received.
Charles McMonigle referred
to Account 05-519-2790-01 (Fld. Trp. H.S.) and he said there is $1,000 there
but last year there was nothing. He
wanted to know if this was for busses.
Principal Hayward said that last year Mr. Guerrera donated $1,000 for
Lend-A-Paw busses and this wasn’t being anticipated for this year. Principal Hayward said the cost for a
chartered bus is $600. Charles McMonigle
asked if places like DATTCO were looked at.
Principal Hayward said that she had contacted a private company but she
didn’t check with DATTCO. She said that
she would. Finance Director Turansky
explained how
Catherine Vargas referred to
HOT (Higher Order Thinking). Finance
Director Turansky said that it was decided to no longer participate with this
in which there had been a contract with the State for training. Catherine Vargas asked if this is not going
to be continued with any more. Principal
DiMaggio said that the HOT town meetings are continued at the school but the
school is no longer part of the professional development that was offered. Catherine Vargas asked if whatever costs are
involved for this are in whatever subject areas they would apply to. Principal DiMaggio gave an explanation for
this.
Frank Morse asked about the
typewriters and he asked if these were still being maintained some place. He asked if it cost $2,600 to repair them
every year. Principal Hayward said there
are approximately one to two typewriters in the high school but this money is
used to fix other things. Finance
Director Turansky said these are the only repair funds at the high school for
any type of office equipment.
Catherine Vargas said she
noticed that there are a lot of walkie talkies for the elementary schools. Principal DiMaggio explained about the
lockdowns and it was figured out that it would be best to get these in order to
communicate. She gave an example of
someone getting hurt at gym outside and how the teacher would need a walkie
talkie. This would be for safety
issues. Mr. Morse asked what kind of
walkie talkies these are. Principal
DiMaggio said these are
really good walkie talkies. Vice
Principal Colonghi explained that these walkie talkies have been used for
several years. Principal DiMaggio said
these are professional ones.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato explained that a packet of materials was put together as a follow
up from the questions that had been asked at the last budget workshop. She asked if there were any questions on these
items.
Charles Wisnioski wanted to
know what professional development is given to secretaries at
Charles Wisnioski asked why
a separate post office box is needed at
Charles Wisnioski referred
to the package that everybody was provided with today with regards to the high
school printing jobs and he told Principal Watson that he liked the way he
handled his school. Charles Wisnioski
asked Principal Watson who did all of his printing. Charles Wisnioski referred to the summer
reading print type of jobs and he asked how those were printed. Principal Watson explained that his school’s
printing is sent out. Charles Wisnioski
asked why the printing is not done at the high school. Finance Director Turansky explained that
there used to be two stipends for the printer at the high school. One of these was the school year stipend and
then there was a summer stipend. The
stipend for the summer was declined by the individual doing this and no one
else picked it up. In order to get the
printing needs taken care of, the schools other than the high school go outside
of the high school to get this done. Charles
Wisnioski asked if the person who declined to do the printing is the person who
is presently the one doing the printing for the district. Finance Director Turansky said it is the same
person.
Rene Rivard referred to the
new data that had been given to everybody tonight and he asked Interim
Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato if there was anything that they should be
looking to her for with regards to explanations or he asked if everybody should
just take this data, read it and then ask questions. Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato
referred to lacrosse being played on the football field and she said there had
been a question about the booster club purchasing uniforms and equipment. She said that she contacted the State Title
IX office. The booster club had given
$10,000 to the football team. There is
an equity issue here and if $10,000 was given to the boys’ sports then $10,000
would have to be given to the girls’ sports but it wouldn’t have to be just one
girls’ sport and it could be spread out.
Chairman MacDonald asked if this was a booster club and not a
501C3. He said that this was new to him
but it was a good thing. He asked if
this would also apply if a booster club was to provide a consultant or a
trainer, etc. Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said yes and she gave an example if there was to be a trainer
and she said that person would have to give 50% of his/her time to the boys’
sport and 50% to the girls’ sport.
Principal Hayward said most of the sports are at the high school. She said that the high school would gladly
take assistance if funds were provided to provide a consultant, or coach
etc. Chairman MacDonald said if there are
funds available through a booster club or another organization that could
equally help boys and girls that this is good news and everybody should be
happy because more assistance in the schools can be received at no cost to the
Town.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato referred to the extended duty stipend handout. Chairman MacDonald asked when the last time
was that an analysis was done of the stipends and he asked if there were enough
or if there were too many of these stipends.
Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said these have been
negotiated. Chairman MacDonald said he
was not referring so much to the negotiations of these but instead the need of
these. He explained some more about this
and he said when there is a large list of components like this that he thought
the functions might want to be looked at periodically to see if they could be
combined or if more are needed. He
referred to the track that had been done and he said an additional body was
added because pay had been cut on others.
He asked if an analysis has been done on everything or if it had just
been done on track. Charles McMonigle
thought that if an analysis hasn’t been done that this has resulted in no
change. Chairman MacDonald assumed that
an analysis wasn’t done because he didn’t hear anything. Charles McMonigle said an analysis aside that
the next thing that would need to be done after a detailed recommendation would
be to go to the bargaining unit because this would be an addendum to the
contract. Chairman MacDonald said if
these are added up the total is $400,000.
Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said looking at the stipends
that there are so many at the high school level, middle school level and
elementary school level. She didn’t know
if any of these were unfilled over the years.
Charles McMonigle thought there was a provision in the contract that if
a stipend position is unfilled for a period of time (three years) then it can
be eliminated. Finance Director Turansky
referred to the student activity fund treasurers and he said these people need
to be accessible in the schools because funds are collected on a regular
basis. Chairman MacDonald said that makes
sense but he didn’t think this thought process was gone through for all of the
stipends. He said there are some big
stipends as well as a lot of stipends. He
asked if these have been looked at to change or combine them like it was done
for the track. Finance Director Turansky
said no other than if something is identified as a specific need and other than
that the negotiation process is gone through in terms of looking at those
positions. Principal Watson said at
Charles Wisnioski referred
to the drama coach and he said there was a number one and a number two. He asked Principal Hayward if there was a
difference. Principal Hayward said she
didn’t believe so. Charles Wisnioski
said that his understanding was from being involved with high school drama and
in looking at the numbers that the high school drama coach/advisor does more
than one production. There have been
great numbers of participants in the past.
He referred to the basketball coach and he said there are fewer
participants. He said there has been
difficulty in attracting drama coaches and he asked if they are being fair to
some of these people. He questioned if
this was a relevant issue. Principal
Hayward said it was a good question but she didn’t know the answer. Finance Director Turansky said he believed
that this was more of an issue for the negotiations process. Charles Wisnioski said he thought the stipend
would have some relationship as Principal Watson said to the amount of
participants, etc. Principal Hayward
said that she had no idea how to answer this question. Charles McMonigle said this was also a
function of time too. Charles Wisnioski
said this was his point. He believed
that negotiations were going to be gone into in July 2008 and he asked how
information would be shared by everybody with a relative sense of fairness to
it. He said the best drama coaches,
basketball coaches, etc. want to be attracted.
Principal Hayward said that she would ask.
Rene Rivard said these are
questions that would come up during bargaining and he asked if this was
contractual. He was told yes. He said that everybody could probably move on
at this point now.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato referred to the matrix (Tech Ed.). She then spoke about how the district is ranked. She said the districts were ranked in ’05-’06
and then in ’06-’07. She explained some
more about this. Chairman MacDonald
asked if there was a State average number and Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato told him where he could look for this number.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato referred to the athletic supply account. Finance Director Turansky said he went back
to the ’03-’04 budget to see what the principals had requested then and to see
what the actual expenditures were. He
said the answer to the question as to whether the previous Board’s amounts have
been similar over the years is yes. He
said the overall requests have stayed relatively flat. In a couple of cases the final adopted budget
had been lower than what had been requested by the Superintendent and the principals. This would indicate that there hasn’t been a
lot of room in the past for significant increases in this area. He then referred to the question about the
discrepancy on Page 25a and the tab that is in the back of the budget for
athletics for the high school supply accounts and he pointed out where the
discrepancy was. The tab showed $2,800
and Page 25a showed $1,800. He explained
about this and he said Page 25a accurately reflects the amount so the tab page
will be adjusted accordingly.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato referred to Program No. 29 and said a question was asked
about a comparison between this year and next year and what the difference is. Finance Director Turansky said he took 29f
and compared that to what was adopted in the ’07-’08 budget. He said the major differences are that the substitute
account is being increased by $60,000 and teachers who have obtained higher
educational degrees like master degrees for example would get paid more. This account was increased by $20,000. Chairman MacDonald asked if the salary change
wouldn’t have been reflected in the salary component. Finance Director Turansky said it wouldn’t
have yet because the degree changes for those individuals for next year aren’t
known so an estimate is used. Chairman
MacDonald asked if the $60,000 is due to the fact that there are 30% more
substitutes. Finance Director Turansky
said this figure is based upon actual expenditures that the school system has
had and he explained some more about this.
He said that substitutes cost $296,000 last year. He went on to say that the early retirement
incentive is set at $128,500. Chairman
MacDonald asked about the severance for $49,000. Finance Director Turansky said this is the
amount that is going to have to be paid for people whose contracts allow for
the payment of accumulated sick leave.
This is typically spread over two to three years. Charles Wisnioski asked if a lump sum is
paid. Finance Director Turansky said
this is not paid in a lump sum and the payment process has been extended to
either two or three year spreads and then it becomes the Board’s choice. Charles Wisnioski asked if the $49,000 is an
identified obligation or if it is just an estimate. Finance Director Turansky said it is an
identified obligation.
Charles Wisnioski said there
was some earlier mention about the crossing guards going back to the Town. Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said
she has only had an informal conversation with Town Manager Gilbert about
this.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said there were questions about the copiers. Finance Director Turansky said there had been
a question about the performance guarantee.
He said these copiers are being guaranteed to function properly over the
life of the contract. Chairman MacDonald
asked if the copiers are meeting the performance guarantees. Finance Director Turansky said he hasn’t
received any documentation indicating that they haven’t been. He said that Principal DiMaggio’s secretary
is compiling information for the company with regards to the copiers that are
felt are not living up to their guarantee.
Chairman MacDonald asked if all the schools can do this because he said
a lot of money is being spent for copiers.
He said it might be the schools’ obligation to document and inform
whoever because the better this is done then the better the schools will get
their money’s worth for these copiers.
He asked if these were leased.
Finance Director Turansky said there is a five year lease agreement and
he believed that there were 1 ½ years left.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato referred to the technology inventory. She said if the prices of the computers are
lower then more can be bought. Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier told the Board members that they have a printout of what
had been requested last year and what was purchased. Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said
that one hundred computers were allocated for and she recommended that the
purchase information be provided to the Finance Committee in the future. Chairman MacDonald asked if one hundred
computers are being requested now.
Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said yes and if there are additional
funds then items that are requested by the Staff can be purchased. Chairman MacDonald confirmed that it would be
one hundred computers plus twenty laptops. Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said yes and then she referred to more buying power. Chairman MacDonald told her that she knows
there is more buying power and he told her that he would appreciate more
disclosure in the documents. Interim
Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said there was no narrative in this year’s or
last year’s budget but there was one in ’05-’06. She said the Board should be informed of what
is purchased with a lease and she said this could go through a Budget Committee
or it could be on a Board agenda.
Chairman MacDonald said less money could even have been asked for
too. He said that he would rather have a
full transparent discussion over how many computers are needed and if there
should be a lease or if these should just be purchased. He said that he didn’t know but he was
hesitant on the lease. He thought that
this would need to be taken to the Town Council with regards to whether these
should be leased or not. Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said more and more school districts are leasing. Chairman MacDonald said debt is being
incurred this way though and he argued about the Board not having the authority
to incur debt and he said that this needs to be discussed later. He said that maybe he doesn’t want to pay the
4% and 6% interest rate that is being paid.
Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said by law that these can be
leased and other districts do this.
Chairman MacDonald said he was in favor of technology but he questioned
what the schools needed for technology. Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier said there has always been a list of evolving needs
that varies from year to year but the requests of the schools are worked
from. She said certainly something that can
be done is that this final purchase list which is given to the schools can be
brought to the Board and she also mentioned that something that can be done is
the Board can chose from this list and then this could be brought to the
Finance Committee in June.
Charles Wisnioski said the
Board had asked for a custodial agreement that goes with the lease and he asked
if access to this will be provided.
Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said yes. Charles Wisnioski gave his take on this and
he said $150,000 is actually being spent for $137,000 worth of equipment and he
asked how everyone benefits from this. He
said that someone is actually being paid a financing fee and this is not done
on anything else and there is no need to do this. Finance Director Turansky guessed this was a
matter of opinion and he said when they found themselves in need of a
significant amount of equipment this was the fastest way to get the equipment
to the district. Charles Wisnioski said
this is no different than the other $28,000,000 that is trying to be obtained
from the taxpayers and he said that tax rates are being made higher by
financing this in this way.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato told everyone that they had copies of the technology
inventory, facilities budget and the auto tool inventory. Chairman MacDonald asked about the computers
that are being retired and Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said that she
didn’t know if these computers have been taken off of this inventory and she
also didn’t know if the computers that are being purchased have been added onto
this. Chairman MacDonald asked if the
computers that were purchased in September 2007 aren’t on this list. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said that
she didn’t believe so because some of them weren’t deployed yet. Chairman MacDonald asked how many aren’t
deployed yet and Assistant Superintendent Boutilier explained how many. She said that one of the things they do is
referred to as the domino and she said things are taken and moved around and
around so it adds to the labor. Chairman
MacDonald gave his personal opinion about the new thirty-six computers that
haven’t been deployed. Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier said this is a manpower issue. Chairman MacDonald said maybe no more new
computers need to be purchased until the computers that there are, are
deployed. Assistant Superintendent
Boutilier said three years ago there was no lease so no new computers were
bought but the following October there were no computers to replace the ones
that were broken. Principal Hayward said
there were business labs with twenty students in them and only sixteen
computers were working so four students just sat there. Rene Rivard asked how many computers die
every year that have to be replaced.
Principal Hayward said it depends and it varies every year. She said it depends on the weather, the age
of the computer, etc. Assistant Superintendent
Boutilier said another thing that they find happens is that some of the
computers can’t run newer software.
Chairman MacDonald suggested that Fred Ames be requested to deploy the
new computers. Chairman MacDonald said
he found this unsettling as a taxpayer and as a Board member. Principal Hayward explained that the tech
people are flat out 100% of the time. Chairman
MacDonald said he was not discounting the effort or all of the hard work but he
said there is a capital asset that is being financed for over three years and
it is sitting on a shelf. He asked what
manpower would be needed to deploy thirty-six computers. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said for
outsourcing through CREC it would cost between $400 to $800 per day depending
upon what people are asked to do and she said there is no funding for
this. Charles Wisnioski said he didn’t
understand why it would have to be CREC.
Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said to install these computers is
much more than just plugging in a computer like someone would do at home. Chairman MacDonald referred to the high
school room that has all of the computer parts, etc. He said he had a hard time balancing this
with the requests the Superintendent is making for technology. Rene Rivard asked if there was a possibility
of outsourcing for the repair of the problem computers instead of
outsourcing for the installation
of the new computers and then Fred Ames can install the new computers. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said the
$400 to $800 range included this and she explained about the problem with a
smartboard that needed to be hung. She
said it is a matter of “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. Chairman MacDonald said there are smartboards
in this year’s budget and he asked if there is manpower to deploy these
items. Assistant Superintendent
Boutilier said if the new position is funded there will be. Rene Rivard questioned what would happen if
the new position is not funded.
Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said one of the three tech people was
off line this summer because of the creation of the elementary report cards and
now this is done so hopefully this person will be back and will be able to help
with some of the repair things. She said
the problem is personnel.
At this point there was a
break that was called by Rene Rivard at 7:06 p.m.
The budget workshop
reconvened at 7:26 p.m.
Rene Rivard said there were
two more documents to go through and he said these were the facilities budget
and the auto inventory. Chairman
MacDonald explained that this was a different format. Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said
the Board had asked them to come up with a rationale as to why the items were
on this. She said they had a hard time
prioritizing the items. A revision will
be provided to Town Manager Gilbert once it is approved. Rene Rivard asked if this should be forwarded
over to the Government Operations Committee seeing they are part of the Joint
Facilities Committee and Chairman MacDonald said yes.
Charles Wisnioski referred
to the auxiliary power for the server room and he asked if power is lost there
what is required for the computers and he asked what there is for them prior to
the loss of power. Principal Hayward
said there is a back-up system so data won’t be lost if power is lost. If power is lost, she said they lose contact
with the students (i.e. how many students are in Room 325). She said that the administrative computers
can’t do anything. Charles Wisnioski
asked if the auxiliary power is a small generator that is separate from the
larger generator. Principal Hayward said
it is an alternative source of power. Charles
Wisnioski asked if anyone has identified the cost related to this item. Principal Hayward said that she hasn’t but
she said that Rich Cooke (Facilities Director of the Town) asked her to
specifically put this item on the capital improvement list. Charles Wisnioski asked where the server room
is. Principal Hayward said it is in the
library in a tiny room. Rene Rivard
asked if there is still a problem with heat there and Principal Hayward said
there isn’t because air conditioning was installed over the summer. Rene Rivard asked if the capital improvement
budget can be given to Councilor Moriarty who is the Chairman of the Government
Operations Committee and the Joint Facilities Committee. Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said
yes.
Rene Rivard asked if there
were any questions about the auto inventory and the last document. Charles Wisnioski asked if any grants were
available (homeland security) that he has had correspondence from Interim
Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato and Town Manager Gilbert about and he asked if
these are the same that are in the CABE book.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said yes. Charles
Wisnioski asked if these were going to be applied for and Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato said they would be if the Town comes up with the money
because 60% of what is being applied for has to be come up with. Charles Wisnioski asked if this included
enclosing the West Hill secretary’s office as well a PA system for announcements
if someone is inside the school and the students are outside. Principal DiMaggio said when she read this
she took it to mean that the office area would be enclosed. She didn’t read anything about a PA system.
Jennifer Viggiano referred
to the equipment in the budget and she asked Principal Hayward if this was the
last equipment needed for certification.
Principal Hayward said no and Jennifer Viggiano asked if additional
equipment is needed. Principal Hayward
said absolutely. Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier said there is a hefty price tag for the
implementation. This first year is to do
a study to see what is needed and where it can be obtained and then a request
would be made to the Board. Jennifer
Viggiano referred to the ASA certification tests and she said there are eight
different ones and she said it is pricey.
She asked if the students are paying for the theory portion of this test
or she asked if it is free. Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier said they are not even that far yet and next year they
will be looking at what is required in terms of equipment, etc. This is a
package that will be brought forward after it is found out what donations can
be received from the community. Charles
McMonigle asked if the equipment requests are related to moving forward on the
certification and he was told yes. Charles
McMonigle said this is not everything and he asked if there are more equipment
components beyond what is being committed to on these requests and he was told
yes. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier
said what is being committed to here is what was wanted as the natural
improvement of the course. In addition
to this there is a very lengthy and pricey list that comes with the
certification. Charles McMonigle asked
if this is not decided to go forth with next year because it is too expensive
if this equipment listed can still be used and he was told absolutely. Jennifer Viggiano believed that there are fifteen
students per class and the advanced class has eight students. Principal Hayward said there are sixteen
students and the advanced class has eight plus there are a number of
independent study students.
Rene Rivard told everyone
that after reviewing the documentation for the last week or so that there are
probably additional questions so he opened the floor for additional questions
and clarification. Nadine Bell wanted to
know how long it would take to get the new computers out if the new Technology
Specialist that is in the budget was to be hired. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said CREC
is going to be coming in to do an audit with the technology Staff. The hope from this is that the efficiency
will be increased. She explained some
more about this. Nadine Bell asked if
this new person were to be hired if it would take six months to clean up the
“log jam”. Chairman MacDonald asked if
an assessment has been done to what it would take the clean up the current
inventory and to deploy all of the computers.
Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said this is a difficult question to
answer and she said their expectation is that the additional person will just
be doing repairs and staying on top of things.
Nadine Bell said her concern is if there was to be this Tech Specialist
and there was to be a second lease if everything would get back to the
situation that there is now. Assistant
Superintendent Boutilier said their hope is that with this additional person
that everything will be able to be stayed on top of.
Charles Wisnioski said there
must be students or graduates who could help with the installation of the
computers. He asked if the budget is
approved in May or June when the equipment would actually be purchased or
received. He was told this would happen
in September. Assistant Superintendent
Boutilier said the process would be started on July 1st when the
funds are available. Charles Wisnioski
said there may be another alternate to adding a FTE and it might be a one time
thing because everybody is looking to get the job done.
Rene Rivard referred to the
donations from
Rafaella Calciano-Coler said
at her hospital that they don’t even donate computers because of the private
information that is stored upon them and she said the other thing is that
people don’t want to get involved because there are limited resources for IT everywhere. If anything goes wrong with the computers then
whoever is donating them doesn’t want to be held responsible.
Chairman MacDonald referred
to the healthcare coverage and the 14%.
He asked if this was delivered when the budget process was started in
October. Finance Director Turansky said
this was probably in November at some time.
Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said she spoke to Bob Lindberg
with regard to this and he will have information for the Board of Education’s
February 7, 2008 meeting. Chairman
MacDonald said it has been a few months since the 14% was received and it
wanted to know how this was running.
Catherine Vargas asked for
clarification on the extended school year program. She referred to the $45,000 and Dr. Riggs
said this was for the actual expenses last year. This is a four week program that is mandated
by the State and federal government. Catherine
Vargas asked if this was a summer program for the Special Education students
and she was told that 10% of the Special Education students are eligible for this
program. Dr. Riggs went on to explain
that there are six teachers, four tutors, fifteen providers and ten
paraprofessionals who are involved with this.
Catherine Vargas confirmed that this was paid through a grant last
summer. Catherine Vargas asked if last
year was the first year this program existed and she asked Dr. Riggs if she or
Special Education teachers identify the students who should be in this
program. Dr. Riggs explained that the
teachers are the ones who identify the students who should be in this
program. Catherine Vargas confirmed that
if a student is identified that the parent of that student can opt to not have
the student in this program but if a parent wants one of their children in this
program who is not identified for it then that can’t happen. Dr. Riggs said that was correct. Catherine Vargas asked when the teachers
start identifying these students and Dr. Riggs said the teachers start
identifying these students by the end of April.
Catherine Viggiano referred
to
Charles Wisnioski referred
to the foreign languages in the elementary schools and he asked how this
worked. Assistant Superintendent
Boutilier said hopefully there will be one full time position for each of the
school buildings. The first step would
be to get one person between the two schools.
She said the thinking is to take a seven hour day and break it into
twenty minute blocks so then there would be seventy-two teaching blocks
available to that person. This would be
divided between two schools and two grade levels. She said that this person would go into the
classroom and the teacher of that classroom would stay there. This person would use a cart to go between
the classrooms. The hope is that for the
following year an additional Staff member would be added, the grade levels
would be expanded and the work for the sixth grade curriculum would begin. She explained some more about this.
Frank Morse asked what the
requirement is in the high school for foreign language. Principal Hayward said that currently there
is no requirement for graduation but a secondary improvement plan has been
rolled out by Commissioner McQuillan and this advocates that two credits of
world language would be required statewide for graduation. Frank Morse asked if all of the students when
they get to the high school would be able to test out of Spanish 1 with all of
this language coming up through.
Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said it is not a matter of testing
out but it is a matter of having the number of credits in the language that are
needed to get into a particular college and to make the graduation
requirement. She said one of the pieces
of the secondary improvement plan that still needs to be worked out is that the
study of algebra or a language in the middle school would count towards the
high school credit requirement and she said this has not been the case in the
past. She said the five year plan for
the budget proposal that she gave everyone has an impact all the way up the
line and she said ideally the students will reach a higher level of language
usage and understanding because they will be starting much earlier. Principal Hayward explained that students can
take French or Spanish in seventh or eighth grade right now and if they do well
enough teachers recommend them for moving on in the curriculum to Spanish II or
French II. She said there will probably
be a larger number of students reaching higher levels of proficiency by the
time they graduate.
Charles McMonigle referred
to the middle school math textbooks. He
asked if everyone could get away with only new sixth grade math books. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said yes
this could be done but she explained the reasoning for the seventh and eight
grade math textbooks. She said the
teachers are very enthusiastic about making a change so that is why the request
has been made for the new math textbooks.
Charles Wisnioski asked if just the sixth grade math textbooks can be
purchased if the budget is cut and Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said
yes. Principal Watson said he has
requested the materials for the seventh and eight grade teachers that they
would need in order to prepare for the ensuing needs. He explained some more and he said that it
wouldn’t only be sixth grade cut off but some other supplemental materials for
the seventh and eight grade teachers and the training would go along with this
as well. He said the professional
development would go for all of the math teachers and not just the sixth grade
teachers. Charles Wisnioski asked if
four texts are being looked at, not one of which is Trailblazers. Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said that
was correct and she said that Trailblazers does not go into the middle
school. She said she believed this has
been narrowed to two texts now and she explained some more about it.
Nadine Bell asked Principal Hayward if she had any sense of how many students
were interested in participating in lacrosse and if these would be students who
shifted from other sports. Principal
Hayward said the last time a survey was done was last fall and there were approximately
seventy-five students who expressed an interest in lacrosse. They are assuming about one-third of these or
more would show up on the field. The
first year there would be a coed club to develop skills. Hopefully for the second year there will be
two Junior Varsity teams. She said that
it would be hard to say if students would shift from other sports to this
because it is a spring sport. Charles
McMonigle confirmed that this would start as a coed club and he wanted to know
how long this would stay at the club level.
Principal Hayward said it would stay at the club level for one year and
the intention would be to move to a JV girls’ team and a JV boys’ team for the
second year. It would stay at this level
until it takes as many years as it does to be competition ready.
Charles McMonigle referred
to the internal suspension and he said this is set at $34,000. He asked if this would be for one full time
person with benefits. He said if he
looked at the part time paraprofessional rate as it is exists now then that is
one-third of what this is budgeted for and he asked if different skills are
being looked for, for this person.
Principal Hayward said she is looking for one person with a certain type
of skills in order to have one person for the whole day for the sake of continuity.
Charles Wisnioski said there
are two hall monitors and he asked Principal Hayward if she can explain what
these hall monitors do and he asked if there was any way that the position of
the internal suspension person and the hall monitor could be merged. Principal Hayward said there is one male hall
monitor and one female hall monitor and these people are absolutely
wonderful. They patrol the halls and the
perimeter of the buildings inside and outside and she explained about some more
things that they do. Charles Wisnioski
asked if they carry walkie talkies or cell phones. Principal Hayward said they carry walkie
talkies all day long. She said there is
a walkie talkie in the office to communicate with them. The hall monitors are truly a valuable double
set of eyes.
Rene Rivard asked where the
internal suspension room is going to be and if it is going to cost money to set
it up. Principal Hayward said it is
going to be in the training room and no conversion is needed.
Nadine Bell referred to the
part time secretary at
Chairman MacDonald said
there had been a question the last time with regards to how the transportation
costs for Special Education students are going up because of the fact that fewer
students are being transported. Dr.
Riggs said there are not fewer students but there are a lot of vans. Chairman MacDonald said the transportation
for children programs out-of-district went up but the numbers went down from
twenty-nine to twenty-four. Finance
Director Turansky said the in-district number is going up and the
out-of-district number is relatively flat.
There was a brief discussion about this.
Jennifer Viggiano inquired
about the transportation costs for Special Education students. Finance Director Turansky said it costs $109
a day for a car and approximately $200 a day for the wheelchair van.
Charles McMonigle referred
to the guidance counselors at the middle school and he asked if a part time
position would be workable compared to the full time position. Principal Watson said he supposed it would be
but he didn’t know how many available part time positions there were. The preference would be to have one assigned
per grade or he said a person could travel for three years with the group of
students. He said that he would probably
be back next year asking for the part time position to be increased to a full
time one. Charles Wisnioski said one of
the explanations for having guidance counselors at the middle school is for
course selection at the high school.
Principal Watson said this is part of it and he explained some
more. He said that even the students at
East Catholic, etc. go through this guidance department. The guidance counselors serve as the conduit
between the teachers, parents, etc. He
said they have played with the model to try to make this as efficient as
possible.
Charles Wisnioski asked
Principal Hayward if there was seasonality with regards to guidance work at the
high school. Principal Hayward said it
used to be that there were high points and low points and now it is one big peak. In the fall the guidance counselors
concentrate on schedules. Then after
that they have to write college recommendations and they have to tell students
to get their applications in, etc. She
said there is seasonality but it is one big peak. Charles Wisnioski asked if there was some way
to allocate another guidance person to the high school. Principal Watson said the middle school has
so many students with so much going on in their lives and he explained some
more. Charles Wisnioski asked if there
was a special certification and he asked Principal Watson and Principal Hayward
if their guidance counselors had this.
He was told that they did. Principal
Watson was asked if there is a ratio of guidance counselors to students at the
middle school and he said there is one guidance counselor for every 304.5
students. The Board’s policy ratio is
one counselor for every 250 students.
Principal Hayward said the ratio of guidance counselors to students at
the high school is one to 189.25.
Rene Rivard referred to
technology and he told Principal Hayward that she is preparing for the NEAS accreditation. He said the self-study hasn’t been done
yet. He asked her if she felt there was
anything that would impact the NEAS accreditation in a negative way. Principal Hayward said everything is okay and
she said there is a constant influx of things that have to be fixed. Rene Rivard asked her how the onsite
evaluators would look at the fact that there is technology in the boxes that is
not set up. Principal Hayward said that
she wouldn’t want to guess at that. Rene
Rivard asked her about the student interviews
and he asked her if she had any idea how the students might interpret
technology. Principal Hayward said that
they would say it is hard to access a computer.
One of the issues that the library media specialist calculated is the
percentage of time that the computer lab is offline because it is assigned to a
particular class and she said this is essentially 80% of the time. She said this would mean that the computer
lab is available for one period each day.
She was asked if there are laptop labs.
She said there is one in the science department and there is one in the
world language department. Teachers can also
sign out a whole lab for use in their classroom. Charles Wisnioski had made a suggestion as to
there possibly being other places in the high school where laptops could be set
up. Rene Rivard asked if the laptops are
wireless and Principal Hayward said they are.
Rene Rivard asked if this was true for the entire building or if there
are restricted areas. Principal Hayward
said it is not so much that there are restricted areas. Charles Wisnioski asked how the students can
get onto the computers and he asked how this is controlled. He asked if they can get onto the
internet. Principal Hayward said they
can get on the internet and she said there is a filtering system but this isn’t
perfect. She explained some more about
this. Charles Wisnioski asked about the thirty-six
new computers and Assistant Superintendent Boutilier said these computers are
supposed to go in offices (non-instructional areas). The computers that are being replaced by
these are supposed to go somewhere.
Possible Final Approval of Budget Document
Chairman MacDonald said
everybody received fifty pages of documentation and he said that he needs time
to go through the information that was received and he needs to get a better
understanding of everything. Rene Rivard
said he opened this up to the full Board for discussion. He said there is a motion and he will second
it for discussion to accept the Superintendent’s budget as presented and he
asked who was in favor. No Board members
responded. Rene Rivard said another
meeting will be scheduled for further discussion and possible cuts. He mentioned that Chairman MacDonald had
requested that the meeting scheduled for this coming Thursday (January 24,
2008) be postponed because he will be out of Town. Rene Rivard felt that it was very important
to have all Board members present for discussion. He asked everybody to cancel the meeting for
this Thursday and to maintain the meeting for next Thursday (January 31, 2008)
which is booked presently as a Special Board of Education meeting (to be made
now into a Finance Committee meeting) and for them to try to schedule an
adoption meeting for the first week in February if a consensus can be reached. He said that he respects everybody’s
schedule. He asked if the budget has to
be turned in on February 15, 2008.
Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said yes but the Staff has to
work on it before that date. Rene Rivard
said hopefully there can be a meeting the first week of February to adopt
it. He said the regular Board meeting is
scheduled for February 7, 2008.
Jennifer Viggiano asked
Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato if she had a list of recommended cuts
and she said that she didn’t have a list.
Charles McMonigle asked if the budget is going to be cut to a realistic
number. Chairman MacDonald told the
members that each of them has to take the budget document and go through it and
make decisions based upon the conversations today, etc. He said he didn’t know how this was done in
the past but he recommended this. He told
the Board members they need to feel comfortable where they can present a budget
that meets the needs of the district, meets the needs of the children, and continues
the initiatives that have happened in the past.
In the past, Rene Rivard from his experience said that they were told
what the number was that they should target.
Charles McMonigle said this is what the top end would be that the Town
Council could afford, not that they would give the whole budget, and he
explained some more about it. There was
a brief discussion that followed. Rene
Rivard thought a priority list was being looked for but he said the Board
didn’t have one. Catherine Vargas said
the Board has put things on the table in the past and then they went to the
Administrators. She didn’t think that
the Board ever went back to the Administrators to ask them what they needed out
of everything without giving them any guidance and she said that she wasn’t
comfortable with that. Jennifer Viggiano
said that she would be looking at things a lot differently than the
Administrators and she explained some more.
Charles McMonigle thought at the next Board meeting that the Board
should come up with its cut list and present this to the Administrators. Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato
asked if this may necessitate another workshop after this evening’s and she was
told that it may. Chairman MacDonald
said by then there will be the individual positions plus “flavor” from the Town
side and then these can try to be merged together for what is best for the
budget. Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato asked if all of this would be accomplished in one night. Chairman MacDonald said that everybody has
until February 15, 2008 to deliver the budget.
Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said Finance Director Turansky
needs time to turn the budget around. Chairman
MacDonald asked Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato if there was to be an
agreement about the budget at the Board’s meeting on February 7, 2008 if this
would give them enough time. Interim
Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said there could be two meetings on February
7, 2008 and one could be a special meeting before the Board meeting.
Charles Wisnioski told the
Administrators that from them having prepared budgets for years that they know
there are some items in the budget that will get cut. He hoped that they would go back on their own
to address the items that deliver services to students. He gave more detail about this. Interim Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato said
the Administrators need to know a number so then things can be
prioritized. Charles Wisnioski told her
that the Board was here to support whatever they bring back to them that is
educationally responsible. The Board was
told that typically they have given a number to the Administrators so that they
could prioritize. Chairman MacDonald
said the Board would have a number by next Thursday.
Rene Rivard told the
Administrators that as Chairman of the Finance Committee that the work they
have done as dedicated professionals taking care of the most prized possessions
(the children in Town) is certainly acknowledged and respected. He said in concept that the Board supports
every item that they want to bring forward but he told them that they know what
the Board has to deal with. He
personally thanked them for the work, time and dedication that they put into
this.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato asked about the next workshop. Rene Rivard said that the Board has to get a
number and come back with that number and work on it from there coming up with
line items as to how they might get to that and then they will present this to
the Administrators. Principal DiMaggio
asked if a number could be given to them prior to the next meeting. Chairman MacDonald said the Board could get a
number within the next few days and they could give it to Interim
Superintendent Parmelee-Blancato. There
was a brief discussion about this. Chairman
MacDonald told everybody that with regards to the number they are trying to
shoot for that they should see if they can get it from some of the bigger
items. Nadine Bell said sometimes it is
a combination of a handful of things. Catherine
Vargas spoke about the deductions that came out of last year’s budget
book. She said that it is a culmination
of everything. Rafaella Calciano-Coler
asked if historically through the years the cut has been 2% or 3%, etc. Charles McMonigle said it is whatever number
that comes from the Town Council.
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato made a suggestion and she said that she will meet with the
Administrators.
There was a brief discussion
that followed and then there was a discussion with regards to the meeting
schedule. The meeting for January 24,
2008 will be cancelled and there will still be a meeting held on January 31,
2008 that was originally scheduled.
There will also be a rescheduled meeting in place of the meeting that
was supposed to be held on January 24, 2008 and this will be held on February
4, 2008 to hopefully adopt the budget.
The meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m. and they will be held at
Interim Superintendent
Parmelee-Blancato told the Board that the information they asked for tonight
will be sent out to them.
A motion was made to adjourn
the meeting at 8:57 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Recording Secretary
Accepted by:
____________________________
Date: ______________________