| MSC Preliminary Minutes February 23, 2009 |
| DRAFT PRELIMINARY MINUTES MIDDLETON SCHOOL COMMITTEE FULLER MEADOW NATHAT MEDIA CENTER REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 23, 2009 The Regular Meeting of the Middleton School Committee was held on Monday, February 23, 2009 at the Fuller Meadow Nathan Media Center, 143 South Main Street, Middleton, MA. Members Present: Teresa Buono, Chairperson; Deirdre Donarumo and Rock Mastrangelo Absent: Richard Harris and James Pearl Others Present: Steven Greenberg, Director of Finance and H.R.; Mike Stucka, Salem News; and Mary Farley, Recording Secretary Absent: Dr. Bernard Creeden, Superintendent T. Buono called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. A. ROUTINES: 1. Remarks from the Public: None 2. Reports from Other Committees: • The MSBC will be meeting at 7:30 p.m. this evening. T. Buono and R. Mastrangelo will be attending that meeting. That is the reason for the early start of this meeting. Tonight the MSBC will be talking about the approach they hope to take with regard to the new school building. When the MA School Building Authority (MSBA) Board meets in March, hopefully, they will have a favorable recommendation for us. The MSBC needs to discuss what will happen in March and whether we should go forward in May, or if we should wait until the fall because of the economy, and the fact that we need to do a lot of outreach. If the MSBA does not meet in March, we will not be going forward in May. B. REPORTS: None C. NEW BUSINESS: 1. FY 2009 Financial Overview: From the state’s perspective, it is budget shortfalls. The FY 2009 budget has a potential shortfall caused by the state’s cut in local receipts of $35,000. S. Greenberg asked the Middleton School Committee to vote to decrease the budget by the amount of $35,000 overall. He feels this will be okay. If it goes to Town Meeting in May, they will reduce our budget by $35,000. This way, they can access that money right away, contingent upon the Superintendent’s review. We have had a positive experience in our budget. This would be a cut in the FY 2009 budget. D. Donarumo moved to tentatively approve the reduction of the FY 2009 budget by $35,000 subject to the Superintendent’s approval. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Motion carried 3-0-0. 2. Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Development: • FY 2010 Budget Development: We have a meeting scheduled with the Finance Committee on March 2. After meeting with I. Singer, S. Greenberg put together the latest numbers. He sat with G. Dow of the Finance Committee last week and overall G. Dow was pleased that we are level funded for next year, although we have certain contingencies in our budget. Some of what we budgeted for Sped will cover some of the potential costs for next year. We need to talk to the Finance Committee to see if there is enough of a buffer. S. Greenberg stated that G. Dow is pleased with the budget. He asked if we should we carry the additional classroom teacher in our budget because it is a continuing cost. By doing this, we will reduce the buffer for Sped. The other piece from I. Singer’s perspective is that if we leave our profile the way it is, we risk going to an override. We can carry it in our budget, but reduce it by $62,000. The big item is the $75,000 for the gym. The School Committee may want to consider continuing the investment strategy of working with the Flint Library or a less expensive option. If we are going to maintain a Library at Howe-Manning, we are going to have to do something different. Space is critical at the Howe-Manning School. M. Fitzpatrick feels having one-half of the gym will work. At Howe-Manning, we are full to capacity now. With the fourth grade class coming in next year, we are going to need another classroom. There was discussion about maintaining the library as it is and using the Art room for the extra classroom. It would be less expensive, but we would have to go to art-on-a-cart. This is something we should to talk to the Finance Committee about. The School Committee needs some feedback from the Finance Committee on this. The other item for discussion is whether the new classroom should be a Warrant Article or if it should be put back into the budget. T. Buono feels we should keep it on a Warrant Article so people will be aware that we still need space. If the Warrant Article does not pass, then we will have to work with larger class size. Fifth and sixth grade classes are now beyond School Committee Policy on class size. If we took the Art Room and had art-on-a-cart, we would not have to do anything to the gym. We reached maximum capacity in 2005. We have pushed them to the limit. • FY 2010 Capital Plan: S. Greenberg stated there were no changes in his two handouts. The numbers were adjusted to what I. Singer agreed with, mostly rounding the numbers off. The document handed out tonight is the document that we will be discussing with Finance Committee. Their main focus is the new school and what will happen to Howe-Manning. S. Greenberg will send out a copy of our budget prior to the meeting on Monday with Finance Committee. One question that will come up will be the Adjustment Counselor. We did turn back almost $50,000 in unused Warrant Article funds at the beginning of this year. So, we should be okay with this. 3. MSC Open Forum Meeting and Format: The Open Forum should be held more towards the end of March. If T. Buono does a presentation at Town Meeting again this year, she should talk about the budget and what we see for next year with level funding; and the Warrant Articles. She should also talk about space, the focus on student population and special education population, as well. People do not realize what is mandated by the state and is unfunded. Since we put in the Gifted and Talented program, people have not been as outspoken about special education. The Open Forum should be an informative overview with questions from the public. We should also explain the District Goals. A flyer could go home with the information about the Open Forum. A Connect-Ed message could also be sent out. A date should be set for the end of March, after the upcoming meeting with the Finance Committee. 4. Correspondence: None 5. Other: It was suggested that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance be put on the top of the Agenda and the date of the next scheduled school committee meeting be put on the bottom. M. Fitzpatrick asked if Nature’s Classroom could be put on the agenda for the next meeting. D. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the previous meeting were not available for approval. 2. Bills and Payroll: D. Donarumo moved to approve the following Bill and Payroll Warrants. Second by R. Mastrangelo. Payroll Warrant dated 3/5/09 in the amount of $234,453.79 Bill Warrant #09-16 dated 2/23/09 in the amount of $46,889.58 Motion carried 3-0-0. E. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At 7:15 p.m., D. Donarumo moved to leave regular session and enter into Executive Session for the purpose of Preparation for Negotiations with Represented and Non-Represented Personnel and to return to regular session for the purpose of adjournment only. On a roll call vote, the motion carried 3-0-0 (R. Mastrangelo – yes, D. Donarumo – yes, T. Buono – yes). F. ADJOURNMENT: At 7:26 p.m. on a roll call vote, the Committee returned from Executive Session for the purpose of adjournment only. R. Mastrangelo moved to adjourn. Second by D. Donarumo. Motion carried 3-0-0. Respectfully submitted, Mary Farley Recording Secretary |