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HomeMy Public PortalAboutBrewster School Committee -- 2014-03-20 Minutes . APPROVED Brewster School Committee March 20, 2014 Brewster Town Hall Present for the Committee: Trish Hill,Marie Enochty, Dave Telman, Brenda Cazeault,Donna Kalinick(7:15 p.m.) Present for the Administration: Dr. Richard Hoffmann, Superintendent, Keith Gauley,Assistant Superintendent, Gio+vanna Venditti,Director of Finance and Operations, Dr.Ann Caretti,Director of Student Services, Principal Denise Fronius, and Principal Joanna Hughes Call to Order—Chair Telman called the meeting to order at 6:55 p.m. Executive Session—On a motion by Marie Enochty,seconded by Trish Hill, it was voted by roll call vote to go into 5 Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with union personnel,not to return to open session. On a roll call the vote was as follows: Marie Enochty-yea,Trish Hill-yea, Brenda Cazeault-yea, and Chair Telman—yea The Committee came out of Executive Session at 7:26 p.m. and convened in open session. Recognition Dr.l-loffmann recognized the Brewster Elementary Schools for their increased participation in the Breakfast Program by 31.5%. Principal Fronius indicated that approximately 45 students come for breakfast and that Donna Drown has done a great job with this program. Citiens Speak { Nonje Priority Business Peter Blatz,Brewster Whitecaps addressed the Committee regarding the annual request for permission to begin field maintenance and the placing of fertilizers, grub control and Dimension on the field as in the past. Mr.Blatz indicated he did not know if it was an organic turf management product but could find out for the Committee. He stated the applications would be placed on the field 5 days before students come back to school. Motion: On 4 motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Trish Hill, it was voted unanimously 5-0,to allow the Brewster Whitecaps to spread their turf products on the Whitecaps Field. Administrators' Reports— It was noted that Principals' reports were in the packets. Ms. (azeault asked if there would be training for Educational Assistants in Tools of the Mind. Principal Fronius indicated that there is training four times a year for Educational Assistants and she has not heard what trainings will take'place next year. She also indicated that the Educational Assistant in the Kindergarten room will attend the fourth session of Tools of the Mind training and then all Educational Assistants will be trained. Principal Fronius stated that any staff that work in Kindergarten will have all the training. Principal Fronius announced that she has one retirement. Ms.Kalinick announced that the Community Read Day was fantastic,well attend,and a nice event. She also attended the Cotuit Art Center where students' showcased their artwork. Ms. Young did a fantastic job! Ms.Cazeault inquired about the Parent Survey. Dr. Hoffmann indicated that Principals were working on summarizing responses and that at the Joint School Committee meeting it would be on the agenda. The benchmark survey will be posted to the website along with each schools analysis of the results. Individual comments will be sent to the Committee. Brewster School Committee 3-20-2014 Page 1 I Assistant Superintendent's Report was included in the packet and Mr. Gauley highlighted the Student Learning, Curriculum, Instruction,and Assessment portion of his report. Dr.Hoffmann's report on his conference was also included in the packet for School Committee review. School Choice Dr.Hoffmann reported next year's project enrollment in grades K-5,noting the average class size is 18-20 students. He recommended that the Committee not participate in the School Choice Program this year due to the class sizes. He also indicated that Wellfleet and Eastham voted no to opening seats for School Choice and that Orleans has tabled the discussion twice. Gr. 1 —80-20 students per class Gr.2—71 — 18 students per class Gr.3—79—20 students per class Gr.4—78 students— 19-20 per class Gr. 5—70 students— 17-18 per class Ms.Hill stated that the School Choice program would increase access for students and families. Ms. Enochty indicated that the Committee usually did not open seats for school choice students in the upper grades and did not support opening seats for school choice students looking at the class sizes. Ms. Cazeault indicated that Brewster has a representation of students from different backgrounds and likes the diversity gr ty in Brewster. Motion: On a motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Donna Kalinick, it was voted 4 yeas and 1 nay(Trish Hill)not to participate in school choice for the 2014-2015 school year. Policy Update Project—Sections K and L Motion: On a motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Donna Kalinick, it was voted 5-0 to approve Sections K, School Community and Section L,Education Agency Relations, for"approval in form"for a first reading. Motion: On a motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Donna Kalinick, it was voted 5-0 to approve Section J, Students,for "approval in form"for a first reading, with the exception of the policy regarding fundraising. Motion: On a motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Donna Kalinick, it was voted 5-0 to approve Section G,Personnel,for "approval in form"for a first reading,with the exception of the policy regarding School Committee and Staff Communication. Ms.Hill indicated that she would attend the next Policy Subcommittee meeting on April 2,2014 at 4:30 p.m. FY14 Budget Update Ms.Venditti,Director of Finance and Operations,reviewed the expenditure reports noting that the balance at Stony Brook Elementary is$5,319. She reported that there is$56,088 of available funds from the rental account,$30,609 and the FY14 Circuit Breaker Account of$20,160. She indicated that she and Principal Fronius will meet to create an end of year spending plan. Ms.Venditti indicated that Eddy School has a balance of$66,713. She reviewed items that had changed in the past month in the expenditure report. Ms.Hill inquired about the change in the Tutor Account and she indicated that the Brewster School Committee 3-20-2014 Page 2 tutoring was for a child who could not attend school for medical reasons. Ms. Venditti indicated that she will look at cafeterias, profits and loss, and make an entry that will include end of year spending. Ms.Kalinick requested a report on the HVAC,Electrical Maintenance and Capital Accounts at the next meeting. FY15 Budget Dr.Hoffmann reviewed the budget reductions with the committee that have been voted and gave a recap of the budget. The following information was included in the School Committee packet. FY1,5 budget on 12/19/2013 =7,065,542 Lest Reduction of$40,990 FY15 budget on 2/25/2014=7,024,552 Add: SN Tuition Collaborative(Eddy)42,668 Add: SN Out of District Transportation(Eddy)-27,000 Less: Salaries Ed Assistant: (23,000) Revised FY 15 Version 2 Budget 2/25/2014=7,071,220(4.89%) He reviewed the new developments to the budget that included: NR$D Amounts to Brewster Elementary School-20,144 SN uition Collaborative(Stony)-46,628 SN Transportation(Stony) 27,150 Add: Salary of Educational Assistant-23,000 Town Budget Target=6,874,123 Difference—(126,175) Additional Revenue Sources: FYI4 Circuit Breaker Funds— 15,546 and YMCA Rental Account—5,739 Difference—(104, 890) Chair Telman asked the Committee if they had questions and if they were ready to vote the budget. Ms.Kalinick indicated that the committee should apply the Circuit Breaker Funds and the YMCA Rental Account funds to the budget. She stated that she still has reservations about account 5015, Salaries,Educational Assistants and account 5060 Special Needs, Salaries,Educational Assistants,account 5024,General Supplies, account 5021,Textbooks, workbooks,software,media, account 7024,General Supplies, and account 7022,Other Instructional Materials. She indicated that these accounts have been depleted the last couple of years and that she was not sure she was ready to cut Ole entire amount. Ms. nochty indicated she wanted to vote the budget and that items can always be put back in the budget. Ms.!Hill agreed with Ms. Kalinick. She is concerned that the educational assistants are always looked at and would like ito look at other options that would not impact students. She does not want to cut materials to support teachers because they have been cut in the past. Ms. Cazeault noted that the figures keep changing and suggested holding off on voting the budget. She stated that people are valuable and once they are cut, it is hard to get them back. She indicated she was uncomfortable with the impact to programming if an educational assistant is reduced. Ms. Enochty suggested voting the budget line by line and reminded members that they can put items back into the budget until town meeting. She indicated she would like to get to the target number. Ms. Kalinick asked about line items#5015 and#5060 and the impact on directed reading groups. Principal Fronius indicated that groups would be increased by one and in some cases 2 students per group. NTSS happens in the afternoon and then the Kindergarten educational assistants would be available. Kindergarten Grant funding was discussed and Principal Fronius indicated the Money is applied over four people for 3.5 hours per day. Principal Fronius consulted with teachers about the Stony Brook reduction list and has not heard any concerns. She also indicated that this plan has the least impact on students. She stated that so much is going on in technology that they are getting away from consumables. Creating the budget was done working with the teachers and she feels confident going forward. She also stated that she and Brewster School Committee 3-20-2014 Page 3 Principal Hughes have worked very hard on the reduction list and feel confident that this has the least impact on students. Chair Telman stated that the Principals have done an outstanding job on this and that the Committee should trust that they have brought forward items that would least impact the programs and students. Ms.Kalinick suggested that it is still early to vote the budget and recommended that the following items not be considered: 5024—General Supplies $3,000 5021 —Textbooks 400 5015—Salary-EA 10,127 5060—Salary SN-EA 10,127 7024—General Supplies 1,000 7022—Other Instructional 1,000 $25,704 Selectmen Peter Norton stated the Board was aware of the Committees' hard work and commented that budgets are never easy. He also mentioned that the Board of Selectmen has not voted any major budgets yet. He indicated it was not uncommon to vote at town meeting and that this is a difficult year. He did not see harm in waiting on some of the reductions and also stated if the Committee gets close to the target,the Board of Selectmen could perhaps find a way to make up the difference. Motion: On a motion by Trish Hill,seconded by Brenda Cazeult and voted unanimously(5-0) to cut the$75,738 from the budget that has been presented with further discussion on 5024,5021,5015, 5060,7024 and 7022 at a future meeting. Ms.Kalinick indicated the committee is$29,152 short of the target but felt very good about the progress and would like to wait a little longer to see what happens. Dr.Hoffmann indicated that the Committee must vote on using potential reserves. It was the consensus of the committee to use the reserves. Motion: A motion was made by Donna Kalinick, seconded by Marie Enochty and voted unanimously(5-0)to use the Circuit Breaker($15,546)money and the YMCA Rental Account($5,739)money toward the FY15 budget. REPORTS AND INFORMATION Preschool Enrollment—no change Cape Cod Collaborative—Ms. Hill reported the meeting went very well and that she has some questions for the Superintendent's office. PTO—Ms. Hill reported that the PTO will be sending home a note to parents indicating how money is spent. They average$23,000 per year in fundraising to help the students in our schools. They are really trying to make it clearer as to what their operating budget is so that people can be aware of how much time and effort the group puts into supporting the schools. They are losing two board members and are looking for a President and Vice President for Stony Brook. Ms.Hill indicated that schools could not function to the level they are at without the PTO fundraising. She further stated the PTO does remarkable work. She thanked the PTO for the Book Fair and Read a thon and especially thanked Michele Grey and Jennifer Smith. Policy Subcommittee—the meeting is April 2nd at 4:30 at the Central Office Building Needs Subcommittee—Chair Telman reported that the Committee met with the Recreation Department Brewster School Committee 3-20-2014 Page 4 ti and Chris Seager and indicated they will impact them as little as possible. The subcommittee is hoping to get HVAC shipped on a timely basis. A walk through has been scheduled for bidders on April 2nd. The subcommittee has added in replacing the shaker shingles on the gable end to bids. If the cost is too high,they will deduct it. If people have questions about the roof replacement project,they were urged to contact one of the school committee members. Playground Update—Mr. Gauley reported that the demolition took place on March 2nd. The installation will begin next week and he thanked Ms. Venditti and her assistant, Sandy Foley,for the work they did on the bids that saved thern additional money. He mentioned that Greg Morris has been there for three days along with Nauset Disposal. He also thanked John O'Reilly who did all the surveying. The tables and benches have been delivered. Volunteer Day'will be announced. Barry Schofield has been working very hard on this project. He also stated the structure would be going up in the next few weeks. The Subcommittee plans to recognize people who played a huge role in the project in conjunction with Field Day. Transportation Subcommittee—no report Ms. Venditti indicated she and legal counsel looked at all options for the bus transportation contract. The bids for a second year were not as favorable as she had hoped. It was decided that they would continue the second year and option to renew with First Student. She will reconvene the transportation subcommittee after the fiscal year and put bids out again. Approval of Minutes On a motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Donna Kalinick it was voted unanimously, 5-0,to approve the minutes of February 27,2014. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 9:37 p.m., subject to payment of bills. Respectfully submitted, Ann''M. Tefft Included in the Packet: Administrators' reports,Preschool Enrollment,Expense Reports,Reduction Lists, Custodial Accounts,and minutes Feb. 13,2014. Brewster School Committee 3-20-2014 Page 5 f t II