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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm 11/14/2017Approved 12/5/17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 14, 2017 REV&Mfill, Room tab TOWN CLERKS OFFICE 2011 DEC -I P 3: 28 An Open Meeting of the MansfieldNAN@(CiQ&ttee was held in room 2AB of the Town Hall on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. '1'hAsl GWAMgTs1Ssion was opened and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at 7:32 pm. Members Present: Kiera O'Neil Lynn Cavicchi Linda Fernando Jenn Walsh Lauren Scher (arrived at 8:10pm) Members Absent: None Others Present: Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Edward Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) John Stanbrook, Town Manager Board of Selectmen: Michael Trowbridge, less Aptowitz, Frank DelVecchio, Steve Schoonveld, Finance Committee: Walter Wilk, Scott Feely, Liz Christo, Brian Eagle, Michael O'Brien, Yogen Chemburkar. Michael DeSantis Discuss FY19 Budget Parameters John Stanbrook reviewed the budget assumptions for FY19. Annually, John reviews the prior year budget and forecasts it ahead based on three parameters: Conservative, moderate and aggressive. John feels that total receipts are near a max amount and would be relatively flat. Initial budget preparations will be reviewed on December 1�t. John suggested that we should be conservative in our initial budget presentations. In the past, departments tended to start high and make cuts. He would like everyone to come in as close as possible to a balanced budget. Kiera noted that the school budget would need to target $40,559,340 + 9,883,750 as noted in John's projections for a total of $50,443,090. Discussion was held on a board's ability to add to budget dollars once approved in December. It was the School Committee's understanding that once approved the amount could not be increased. Walter Wilk noted that money could be added during the early spring but within some limits. John noted that the Governor's budget will come out in late January which would then give us an idea of state aid. In this year's free cash, the town must fund 1) Full day kindergarten year 2. 2) A DPW worker and 3) initial funding for the Special Education Revolver Fund. A brief discussion on health care resulted in a change of projected cost increase from 5% to 7.5%. FY19 Budget Steps for moving forward Kiera suggested that the school district continues to review the numbers and that Teresa Murphy should work directly with John Stanbrook on fine-tuning the budget. Michael Trowbridge suggested that tonight's group (School Committee, Selectmen and Finance Committee) come together in late January for another round of reviews. Page 1 of 4 Approved 12/5/17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 14, 2017 Town Hall, Room tab Lauren Scher entered the meeting at 8:10 pm. Health Insurance Task Force Update Steve Schoonveld provided an update on what the task force has completed to date and what is expected in the future. First, he suggested reviewing the health care plans of the town more frequently than currently exists. He suggested that there is little we can change in the upcoming year but that we can look forward to more significant changes that might provide cost savings. However, the task force is recommending that for this year we request improved services from our current healthcare provider such as online access. There was agreed upon concern that health benefit costs could significantly impact our budget and regular review of the options is critical. Lynn Cavicchi reviewed the timeline for the task force. To date, the task force has met several times including meetings with potential new service providers. The task force intends to finalize recommendations by November 2711, and will provide those recommendations to each board. A vote by each group may be required but has yet to be determined. At 8:30 pm, The Board of Selectmen and Finance both closed their open meetings for the evening. Liz Christo and Scott Feeley of the finance committee remained at the meeting. FY19 Capital Improvement Project Priorities Teresa Murphy and Ed Donoghue reviewed next year's Capital Priority list. Since the last meeting, Ed and Teresa have broken down the items and reprioritized. 1. Replacement of JJ Generator: Ed is meeting with various Air Conditioner companies to discuss options. It is important to replace this so that the schools have a reliable backup. Additionally, this school serves as a shelter location in a town emergency. 2. District Wide Paving: School Committee is looking for a more detailed breakdown of this project. Of note: Is there any cost savings in completing the project at once? Would it be more prudent to break up the project and do it over a couple of years? 3. QMS Chair lifts: There is an increase in student needs this year. There have been several maintenance issues. 4. Replacement of Plow Truck: Our 1993 truck is beyond repair. Mark Cook of the DPW is providing a dump truck for us to use. In return, we are loaning out a pickup truck. DPW is considering the purchase of a new dump truck and can likely roll the old one over to us rather than trade it in. 5. District SPED minibus: This is a replacement for the oldest vehicle in our fleet (2010). It will be a wheelchair bus. 6. Reading program: This item sparked a lot of discussion of what should and should not appear in capital. Typically books are not considered capital. An argument was made that the curriculum program would have along life (Last one put in place was 2008.) Teresa noted that the district is still in the process of identifying which reading plan will be used. Kiera asked if the reading program Page 2 of 4 Approved 12/5/17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 14, 2017 Town Hall, Room 2ab could be phased in due to the high cost. Teresa noted that it is too early in the process to make that determination. 7. District Technology: The committee felt that this was too broad of a category. They would like to see more detail on how this number was determined. Discussion was also held on what technology should be placed in CIP versus the operating budget. Lynn asked if the district has done a high level technology review to ensure we have the bandwidth, staff and support for the increased number of chromebooks. Additionally she was concerned about the increased number of students who will complete online testing. Michael Connolly has met twice with Lori Letendre and they felt that the district would be able to meet the increased demands. The bigger question is how long a time frame do we need for testing given the number of chromebooks we have available for students. 8. MHS and QMS HVAC controllers. Currently the controllers do not effectively monitor and control all classrooms. With these repairs, the district can see energy savings and decreased maintenance costs from our HVAC contractors. 9. Unit Ventilators: 10. MHS Track resurfacing: In 2013 the track was patch resurfaced with latex after the completion of the new turf. The new surfacing would be with polyurethane and would have a longer lifespan. The goal is to spread out upgrades to the track and turf so they are not needed at the same time. Turf will likely need replacing in 2022 or 2023. 11. QMS underground oil tank: No longer being used. No immediate concern, but should be removed as an environmental cleanup. Scott Feeley of the finance committee spoke. He suggested that Matt Jacques, Mark Cook and Mike Ahern meet annually to discuss vehicle replacements. He felt that by working together the town could look at efficient use of vehicle sharing or transfer. Regarding the paving he encouraged us to look at the cost savings of doing this project in one shot. It is possible that by doing so, the town could borrow the cost and take advantage of low interest rates. Scott noted the reluctance of the finance committee and CIP committee to place books into CIP. However, he was not opposed to pulling out the technology portion of the reading program and adding it to CIP. He also encouraged the board to review what is currently in our operating budget for technology. Perhaps some of that can be moved to capital making room for the reading program in our operating budget. He also suggested splitting our technology request into smaller requests. The $250,000 blanket amount is a large number for the CIP to consider. However if split and prioritized, then there is more likelihood of some of the projects passing. Scott recommended the board reduce the CIP request amount from $2+ million down to $1 million. Given the current state of the Mansfield budget, that is a more reasonable amount. The committee, Teresa and Ed discussed the CIP items and made the following changes: 1. Cut MHS Track Surface replacement and QMS underground oil tank for a total savings of $320,000. 2. Reduce spending for paving from $800,000 to $200,000 for a total savings of $600,000. This will limit the scope of the project. 3. Increase the technology budget to $300,000 for an increase of $50,000 and break it down into smaller, identifiable components. 4. Keep priorities in the order noted. Page 3 of 4 Approved 12/5/17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 14, 2017 Town Hall, Room 2ab 5. Postpone any MHS auditorium project. Scott Feeley suggested anew approach on this project. Devise an overall project needs assessment and plan. Bring before boards and public to get buy in on the project. This cuts $230,000 from the CIP listing. 6. New CIP total is $1,215,000.00 Motion to approve the CIP total request of $1,215,000.00 by Lynn Cavicchi/Jenn Walsh. Motion Passes 5 — 0. Gifts (taken out of orderl: Teresa announced that QMS PAC has purchased 60 chromebooks and 2 charging carts for a total of $13,620. The chromebooks were delivered last week. PAC used funds from their annual fall fund raiser to fund the purchase. No vote required. Quarterly Report from Finance & Operations: Ed Donoghue reviewed the first quarter report. There are no issues to report at this time as itis early in the year. Transportation costs are slightly higher than projected as is out of district special education placement. The outplacement should be partially offset by circuit breaker funds. Documents Referenced: Town of Mansfield FY19 General Fund Revenue Summary Town of Mansfield Health Insurance Task Force Timeline Town of Mansfield Health Insurance Task Force Overview FY19 Capital Improvement Requests Draft Proposal (Schools) FY19 Quarter One Financial Update (Schools) Motion to adjourn: At 9:59 p.m., Motion to adjourn by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion U.C. 5-0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 4 of 4