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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm 10/17/2017Approved 10-24-17 Mansfield School Committee Financial Workshop Minutes for Tuesday, October 17, 2017 Superintendent's Office A Financial Workshop Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Superintendent's Office on Tuesday, October 17, 2017. The open meeting session was opened and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at 6:03 pm. Members Present: Others Present: Kiera O'Neil Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Tenn Walsh Edward Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Lauren Scher Debbie Scott, Financial Administrative Assistant r m Liz Christo, Finance Committee Members Absent: Linda Fernando r� >cn 1 rnM r,V 0 0 Review best practices for reporting per MASC and MSBO —t q -rt Lynn Cavicchi and Jean Walsh will work with Edward Donoghue to see what we alrq3�y haven pMe and what we need to change moving forward. Ed had the following updates on items that he kas reviewed based on the MASC recommendations: rn 1. Budget Calendar has been identified and distributed. 2. Ed will create a survey of applicable departments and compare fees with neighbor districts. He will include facilities, athletics, champs, transportation, drama, little hornets & parking. It has been some time since some of the fees have been raised. Lynn Cavicchi noted that we do not have an established process for reviewing fees on a regular basis. Debbie Scott noted that internally, the business office does a review of fees during each budget season. The district attempts to balance the budget without raising these fees. Kiera O'Neil inquired on fee impact. What percent of services do we pick up and what percent is paid for in fees? As an example, parking fees are used to pay for shoveling and a parking attendant. There are no limitations on our ability to raise or lower fees. 3. If we under spend in salaries but overspend in operating (item transfers), should school committee be voting on? Ed's prior experience is that no, that is typically managed with Superintendent. MASC allows principals to manage schools but there is some oversight by school committee. Deb Scott felt that schools were given autonomy to transfer between those two items. Lynn Cavicchi and Jenn Walsh would at least like some explanation on variances. Ed would explain any significant variances on the quarterly report. Ed Donoghue is reviewing our current 5 Year Narrative. The budget process has begun. Several meetings have been setup next week with principals and department heads to start reviewing. The Facilities Capital Plan was discussed. 1. Ed will review with Matthew Jacques, Director of Facilities. Teresa Murphy met with John Stanbrook, Interim Town Manager, to look at last year's CIP which is spread over 5 years (Document provided.) The district would apply annually to state for repairs (statements of interest SOL) Lynn Cavicchi noted that some items cannot be submitted to MSB. We would need to factor these items into the budget. Page 1 of 4 Approved 10-24-17 Mansfield School Committee Financial Workshop Minutes for Tuesday, October 17, 2017 Superintendent's Office 2. Liz Christo defined the high level capital process. The town sets an approximate dollar amount that will be available. The town works with departments (including the school) to create a priority list. When the final dollar amount is made available, a line is drawn on the priority list of what is approved. 3. Ed discussed the status of a dump truck. The school is in need of a new dump truck. Matt Jacques took an old sanding truck for a repair estimate but the frame is rusted and will not be repaired. Ed Donoghue discussed this with the town. At present, they are in need of a pickup truck. We will swap vehicles for winter. The town is looking for new dump truck next year. The old town truck can be transferred to the schools at that time. 4. Teresa discussed the special education bus storage issue. They can no longer be housed at the DPW due to space issues. The district has looked into several alternate locations but has had no luck. Temporarily, the busses will be housed at the end of the JJ parking lot. Ed is working on signs to reserve those spots. Liz Christo recommended looking at the regional dispatch center in the future. 5. Michael Connolly noted that the track was resurfaced for a quick fix approximately five years ago but a more permanent resurface will be needed. Debbie Scott noted that there could be other new items once Ed meets with departments. 6. Teresa noted the need for textbooks. Kiera pointed out some issue with textbooks. They may not fall into capital since they don't fit the true definition of the life of capital items. They have been approved in past but not always. 7. Kiera noted we have band aids throughout the district. Can we start discussions about various items that are in disrepair such as auditorium, science labs, playgrounds, visitor check in area / security, etc. What do we want our campus to look like in 10 years? What needs to be done so that we don't have to replace a building in 10 years? Guidelines regarding special education stabilization fund Debbie Scott provided handouts on the article voted upon last year. It looks like in FY20 there would be money to support this fund. The district needs a process so students are not identified; determine where the money will be pulled, ensure money is properly allocated and usage is transparent. Town meeting needs to vote to add money. School committee/selectmen can take money out. This is money beyond circuit breaker money. For example, an unexpected student move in that was not considered in budget. Lauren Scher asked how this money would impact our budget. The district can still ask for additional funding from circuit breaker if our costs exceed our original budget. However, it would have to be an extraordinary increase in cost in order for us to do so. Since the stabilization fund would be used only for unexpected outplacement, those expenses would not have been part of the original budget. Discussion on fund amounts: The committee would likely seek $100,000 to $200,000 which would be created over time. Setting this dollar amount should be a next step. Liz Christo will talk to FinCom for recommendation and Ed will research local districts already using this fund. It was determined that the committee should spend this year creating a plan so we are ready for FY20. Circuit breaker percentage is likely to be lower this year. We were conservative on our forecast so we should be ok with our budget. Student activity accounts, gifts and grants Teresa Murphy and Lynn Cavicchi are tasked with this review for the year. In the past school committee was not provided dollar amounts coming in from grants. Teresa is working to make this more visible. Page 2 of 4 Approved 10-24-17 Mansfield School Committee Financial Workshop Minutes for Tuesday, October 17, 2017 Superintendent's Office She is also working with Deb Scott on new grants that may be available for us including a new grant of $7000 that will be used for professional development; grade levels; STEM. Deb Scott noted that we need to reach out to private schools in Mansfield that are eligible for some of the grant money that we receive. At Noor, St Marys and Montessory are now participating in some of our grants. Liz Christo questioned our budget process related grants. Specifically, how does the district plan funding for efforts next year if a grant used this year? Per Teresa, we look at it as a one-time deal that we may not be able to use in future. We want to make sure we don't rely on grant money so much that we cannot continue a position or effort in the future. Kiera pointed out how important it is to report out the grants, since that money should be considered as part of our overall operating budget. Title 1 money was greatly reduced this year. If further grants dried up how would it impact us? We should be having conversations on the best way to report on these funds. An example of money returned to town. Perhaps a small portion of this could eventually be used for sped stabilization Gifts: Teresa is working through best methods. Should it continue to be on agenda or can it be a monthly report to school committee? Policy will be written to determine. Activity Accounts: policy, audit report should go to school committee. Fund raising policies require review for items such as "DonorsChoose." These rejects are not really monitored or funds recipients accurately identified. At times a teacher would raise money for something that maybe didn't make sense to our district view. Corporations may donate to these but we can't control which donors contribute (tattoo parlors, tobacco....) Many districts are banning "DonorsChoose" efforts. Chanties expected to school budeet process The process will likely be the same this year. The committee requested more detailed information on budget reports and presentations. Although specifics were not provided, the team did discuss the following processes to follow: 1. The committee and superintendent should have discussions on priorities as part of goal setting. 2. The 5 year narrative should be reviewed annually, so we can pull projects from this list. Time frame for this review will be set into the operational calendar. Items that are not approved for the budget can be moved to the 5 year narrative. It is important to keep track of unapproved items so that they can be considered for the following year. 3. School improvement plans will also provide basis for budget. /`6nappe p opnfpd fn fnwn whip hudapf nrnrpee in hpn of.cnhenmmittee dishnndine How should we move forward now that the Board of Selectmen disbanded the Budget subcommittee? In past it was a way for School Committee to be kept informed of the budget. Plan may be for entire committees to get together and meet. Finance committee still attends School Committee budget meetings. John Stanbrook comes to all FincCom meetings. FinCom is inviting Ed Donoghue to meetings as potential benefit. John, Ed, Teresa (and new town manager) will continue to meet to discuss detailed budget items. It was proposed that the budget parameters are set in a meeting with all in attendance. Then internal subcommittees and town administrators will continue to meet. Finally, there will be meetings of the three boards to discuss options that are worked out by individual groups. Kiera O'Neil will discuss options with Michael Trowbridge of the Board of Selectmen. Any items that may be of issue durine current year Any red flags? The Quarterly report is currently being prepared. Ed does not foresee any drastic issues. Page 3 of 4 Approved 10-24-17 Mansfield School Committee Financial Workshop Minutes for Tuesday, October 17, 2017 Superintendent's Office Need to review student activity accounts first. Section D is on the list of priorities. Documents Referenced: Town of Mansfield FY 18 Capital Project Requests and Funding Sources Advisory on Special Education Stabilization Fund Article 20 Special Education Stabilization Fund detail Motion to adjourn: At 7:56 p.m., Motion to adjourn by Lynn Cavicchi / jenn Walsh. Motion U.C. 4-0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 4 of 4