TOWN OF ROCKY HILL
BOARD OF EDUCATION
BUDGET WORKSHOP OF
Members Present: Nadine Bell (Chairperson)
Peter Arico
Kirk Bostwick
Neil Geldof
Charles McMonigle
Francis Palazzolo
Anne Schmidt
Catherine Vargas
Members Absent: Jennifer Viggiano-Grosse
The third budget workshop of the Board of Education was held
on
Mrs. Schmidt brought to the Board’s attention that each member has a packet in front of them that Dr. Vautour, and Greg Turansky put together in response to the questions that had been asked to them at the last budget workshop. Dr. Vautour said the first item he was going to address was the question of running the digital design course in art without adding the .2 FTE. Mr. Pitocco had indicated it might be possible depending upon what the course tallies prove to be. Dr. Vautour stated that depending upon what the course selections made are, the Digital Design aspects of the course might be melded into one of the existing offerings, and then the addition of a staff member would not be required. Dr. Vautour said the Mr. Pitocco also noted that presently there is a .8 FTE, and there is a risk that this teacher might seek full time employment.
Dr. Vautour spoke about the next item concerning the stoves at the high school. There are five stoves in the family and consumer science department, and he went on to explain when the stoves were purchased, and their ages. In the budget submitted to the Board, the stove is mistakenly labeled as a gas stove, but an electric stove is needed. Dr. Vautour said high quality stoves are usually purchased because of the amount of use that is involved with them. Mr. Pitocco said the $1,500 for the gas stove, could probably be decreased to $1,000. One of the electric stoves will probably need to be replaced in the 05-06 budget because it is over thirty years old, and another electric stove will probably need to be replaced in the 06-07 budget because it is over thirty years old too. As far as running the new family and consumer science AP UCONN course, this would not be possible to do without the addition of a .2 FTE.
There are no course offerings currently in place that would allow for the replication of the UCONN course. Another item dealt with Project Lead the Way, and Dr. Vautour said the scope and sequence for Project Lead the Way is part of the packet of paperwork the Board members have in front of them. This includes a display of the courses. Introduction to Engineering Design can be taken in the 9th grade, Principles of Engineering, Civil Engineering and Architecture, or Digital Electronics can be taken in the 10th grade, and there is a similar display for 11th grade, and then 12th grade. The expectation for this is the student would take a single course in 9th grade, another single course in 10th grade, two courses in 11th grade, and then another single course in 12th grade. As far as the Capstone Course is concerned, the students would be using most of the same equipment and supplies that they use in the existing Project Lead the Way courses, and the only anticipated costs would be the supplemental texts ($300), a required training of an instructor ($3,300), and the instructor’s laptop which is subject to review ($1,500).
The next item Dr. Vautour spoke about was the $700 that was set aside in the athletic department for coaching. Dr. Vautour stated that coaches must receive five modules of training every five years with a new set of five modules in each subsequent five year cycle. The athletic director not only has to be trained to instruct these modules, but this person is also required to enroll in them. This would be a recurring cost that will show up in the budget, because coaches must take one module per year, every year.
Dr. Vautour asked the Board members to look at the third page of their handout, and he explained this is an object summary for all equipment (Object #730) and everything is listed out by programs, specifying the amounts, and on the next page there is Object #730 by item, and this page lists out the location, the cost associated with it, and the actual item involved. The total is $151,767.
Mr. Watson provided the next document in the packet of paperwork, and it is a clarification of Object Code #611, the appropriation of $4,500. Mr. Watson said
the $4,500 was broken down last year into a few different categories. He said one category is for the classroom-gymnasium/replacements equipment (spot markers, dacon electronic ball inflator, flip chart-type scoreboards, tote bags for equipment, ball racks, slot organizers, and UV extreme protective eyewear) which totals $1,688.55. Another category is for the Grade 6 Cooperative Games (specific 6” and 9.5” soft sense balls, speed sticks, and storage container) which came to $343.45. The other category is
for the lifetime sports and fitness (deluxe portable gyms) which came to $1,538.50. In next year’s budget for the lifetime sports and fitness are the digi-walkers, medicine balls, and pulse monitors. Mr. Watson said Mr. McMonigle had questioned the $1,600 for the pulse monitors, etc.
Dr. Vautour said the next item concerned the request for information on the replacement cost for consumables for the Trailblazers Math Program. Mrs. Boutilier, and Mr. Turansky prepared a grid. Mrs. Boutilier stated that the consumables appear to be the trend with the textbook companies, and she projected out what the cost would be for the consumables. In the upper grade levels series they have a hard cover book so the consumable replacement cost is considerably less. Chairperson Bell asked about grades 1, and 2, for the consumables, and Mrs. Boutilier said they are using those up this year so the dollar amount is already in the budget for next year for grades 1, and 2. Mrs. Schmidt asked if there was any way to defray the shipping costs associated with Trailblazers. Mrs. Boutilier said there is no way to defray this cost, because this is what the textbook companies require.
Dr. Vautour next spoke about the cost deferrals in special education due to the Clinical Day Program. He said the Board members received a document earlier when the program was initially approved, and this document gave a projection of students that would be brought back, and how those monies would be used to fund the program. Five students were used as the critical mass, and these five students have been brought back, and since that time Dr. Vautour said three additional students have become enrolled in the program. He said if the Clinical Day Program did not exist, there would be a tuition for student A of $28,085, Student B of $27,470, and student C $33,355. All of these tuitions costs were avoided because of the Clinical Day Program. Mrs. Schmidt stated that it should be noted in this number, that was not originally budgeted for, if we had to incur these numbers they would have been additional outlays therefore tasking the budget situation, and Dr. Vautour said this was correct. Chairperson Bell asked if there was any opportunity for expansion in the Clinical Day Program. Ms. Levy said we are at capacity right now in the program with eight students. Dr. Vautour said if this needed to be expanded, there would need to be a second program set up, and he hopes we will not see students with these sorts of needs that a second or third program is needed. He did note that at the preschool level there is a major increase in autistic students.
Dr. Vautour said a request was made with regards to an analysis of Object Code #111, (Certified Salaries By Program), specifically to identify instances where the percentage increase exceeded 8%, and to provide explanations as to why. In certain areas of the budget, when Object Code #111 is looked at, there seems to be an exorbitant increase. Some of this was discussed at the last budget workshop when it was explained that some teachers are out on leave, and the substitute teachers salaries are much cheaper, and the budget future reflects the substitute as being in place, with the anticipation of the regular teacher’s return, therefore the budget is built with the more accurate number. Dr. Vautour had the Board members look at the paperwork he handed out with regards to this, and he explained some more about this. Dr. Vautour also explained about step differential. Dr. Vautour said if a teacher is at the top of the salary schedule in Rocky Hill, he/she will receive a 3.66% salary increase next year, but if a teacher is working his/her way through the steps from a MA1, or BA1, the difference between the steps may be greater than a 5.4%. Also Dr. Vautour said a teacher can be at a BA5, and move to a MA6 the next year.
Mr. Turansky spoke about science at the high school, and said a .4 FTE vacancy was filled for the honors physics course so the position was budgeted in the current budget with nothing allocated, but it is filled for next year. Dr. Vautour went into a little more detail about this for the Board members. Mrs. Schmidt asked about the honors physics class, and asked if it carries one lab. Dr. Vautour said it could potentially carry two labs, and explained that this gets up to a .4FTE because this course would be taught by a member in the Math department who is currently teaching two math courses. Per contract, Dr. Vautour said a high school teacher has twenty-five teaching periods per week, but science teachers that carry lab courses were carrying twenty-seven, twenty-eight, or twenty-nine courses per year. This was starting to take a toll on these teachers, so staff was added to the science department a year ago to balance out the general workload. Mrs. Schmidt inquired about the math teacher who would be giving up two math classes, and instead of teaching ten periods, would be teaching six, or maybe seven, depending if there are one, or two lab periods, and she asked what this particular teacher would be doing for the other three or four periods. Dr. Vautour said this particular individual would be teaching three Science course with labs, and a math course, so the individual would be teaching twenty-four sessions. Mrs. Schmidt then spoke about how there weren’t enough students with this offering of honors physics to run it, and she said she assumed there weren’t enough students because it was offered so late, and Dr. Vautour said that is correct. Dr. Vautour said this all plays off of the final tallies.
Dr. Vautour explained the next document in the packet was relating
to a request to clarify the FTE differentials from the proposed 04-05 budget,
to the actual. He said there are 6.85 FTEs
present in the actual budget that were not present in the proposed budget at
the time it went over to the Town. He
said in the proposed budget there was a request for additional secretarial time
in the guidance department (approximately 15 hours per week). When this position was coded, it was put in
as a .45 FTE, because anything up to 19.5 hours is coded as .45FTE, but this position
is not going to get paid more than the 15 hours per week allocated for it. In the second situation, there was an
original request for .6FTE in world languages based on projected
enrollments. When the final tallies were
in, there was only a need for two additional sections for world languages. There was the dollar value for .6 FTE. For math, when the tallies came in, there was
the need for an additional section of math.
With no dollar impact present, there was a decision to add the section
in math, and run one less session in World Languages. Dr. Vautour explained that there was no
impact on the number of FTEs, it was just how they
were deployed between world languages, and math. With regards to the media services in
elementary classes, Mr. Turansky said it is just a reclassification of an
assignment of a full time paraprofessional.
Dr. Vautour then spoke about the Honors physics course, and said it
shows up as an actual instead of proposed because it got into the whole process
after the budget was submitted to the Town.
Dr. Vautour spoke about the additional half time Psychologist that is a
function of the Clinical Day Program.
Mr. Turansky explained about
All of this accounts for the 6.85FTE differentials.
Dr. Vautour then said a question was asked about how long
Mr. Turansky said there was a question about the twenty-five
hours that are assigned to paraprofessional time, and he said there is a
correction on Page 29F that needs to be made.
He said the twenty-five hours per week of paraprofessional time should
read twenty-five hours per day instead.
Mr. Turansky said this is a reflection of what the current non-special
education part-time paraprofessional assignments are, and stated there are no
benefits associated with these assignments, and he summarized what the
assignments are. Mr. Turansky said there
was also a question about paraprofessionals being assigned to the media centers
in the elementary school, and he said there were some part-time hours assigned,
and he explained what these were. He
also mentioned that Stevens and Moser have a portion of their full-time
paraprofessionals who work in the library as well. Mrs. Schmidt asked if there are 3.25
additional paraprofessional hours per day over last year’s budget, and Mr.
Turansky said in last year’s analysis there was an error in, because one
position had been omitted in the paraprofessional count so he said we are
really running closer to the twenty-five hours this year. Mrs. Schmidt asked what the number should
have been for last year, and Mr. Turansky said it should have been 24 instead
of 25. Mrs. Vargas asked about the media
person, and asked how come at West Hill there is not an Object Code #112, under
media. Mr. Turansky said it is budgeted
in the Program 29 he said. Mrs. Vargas
then asked what was in Media under Object Code #112. Mr. Turansky said for
Mr. Turansky said there was a question about the information technology analyst, and if there was a duplication of this salary. He said Program 4 (Planning and Research) contains the part time salary of the Information Technology Analyst, and in Program 36, (Computer) the salaries of the Technology Specialist, the Information Technology Specialist, and the newly requested Technology Assistant so he said there is no duplication of salaries. He pointed out on Page 36E there is redundant wording in Object #112 regarding the technology analyst.
Mr. Turansky spoke about the question of there being a duplication of music chairs at West Hill, and he said there was a duplication. This amount was listed both in Program 16, and Program 29, so he said the $332 for the chairs can be removed from Program 16.
Dr. Vautour said the Administration was asked to provide
some information about the HOT initiative (Higher Order Thinking Schools), and
they were asked specifically what the financial commitment was that was
expected of Rocky Hill Public Schools for each of the six years in this
project. Dr. Vautour told the Board
Members they had paperwork with regards to the layout for years one through
six, and there is an increase in the cost associated each year. Dr. Vautour said for a total investment over
the six years of $48,177, the Connecticut Commission on The Arts commits over
$240,000 per the district for the funding of professional development,
residencies, etc. Mr. McMonigle
questioned the cost of the summer institute.
Mr. Turansky said there are two components. One is the summer institute cost and the
other is the residency cost so these two figures need to be added
together. Mr. McMonigle asked what the
summer institute is. Mr. Pear said it is
a program that is held at
Dr. Vautour said the final document answers the question that was asked about the deployment of the paraprofessional staffing for the ’04-’05 year. The individuals names, and school, whether the individual is with regular education, or special education, the assignment that individual has, the grade level, maximum hours per week, the cost, daily hours and funding source is all listed in this document. Dr. Vautour said this would fluctuate during the school year, primarily in Special Ed depending upon PPT activity.
Mrs. Schmidt said she believed there was a request for the current retirement plan payout chart. Dr. Vautour said the administration would have this ready for Thursday.
(There was a recess commencing at
Dr. Vautour said six more programs still had to be reviewed, and that would end the overview of the budget. He started with Program #1 (Board Of Education). There has been an increase of $1,000 for supplies, and a decrease of $1,000 in memberships. Mrs. Vargas asked which membership we weren’t renewing. Mr. Turansky said the money wasn’t needed in that particular account so the $1,000 was taken out now as a more accurate reflection.
Dr. Vautour said Program #2 (General Administration) has a net change of $100. He said page 2A is the summary, and Object #111 is the salary for the superintendent, and Object #112 is the salary of the Director of Finance, and central office secretaries. Mrs. Vargas questioned Object #690, and wanted to know what was going on in it. Mr. Turansky explained that in the 2002-2003 year, purchases had to be made regarding the building move, and in the 2004-2005 year, there are the funds that were necessary for the renovation at the Student Loan Foundation for the Clinical Day Program. Mr. Geldof wanted to know why this account does not reflect the salary for the assistant superintendent also. Dr. Vautour said because of the assistant superintendent’s position is largely devoted to improvement of instruction, and because of past practice.
Dr. Vautour said Program #3 (Improvement of Instruction) reflects the assistant superintendent’s salary. He said there is no change in FTEs, and the total increase is $9,384 of which the salary increase is $3,790, and the non-salary increase is $5,594 (this represents additional curriculum work). Mr. McMonigle asked about Object #330, and wanted to know if these are new topics. Dr. Vautour said he believes this is the third, possibly even the fourth year for those topics, because when the Board’s goals were adopted, it was said that three consistent themes were going to be stuck with, so that they were done right. Mrs. Boutilier said she believes we are on the fourth year, and she said the topics are pretty generic.
For Program #4 (Planning & Research) the only item in this is the salary for the information technologist analyst. Mr. Arico asked if the figure listed would be integrated into the permanent position, or if the need would still be existing. Dr. Vautour said the need will continue to exist, and said the new position is a totally separate position. This individual will maintain the website, and the data warehouse. Mr. Arico asked if the new position could take part of this responsibility. Dr. Vautour said we would end up with only half of an Assistant for Fred Ames if this were to happen. Mr. Arico asked about the students filling in, and Dr. Vautour said if we get a Technology Assistant, the money in the budget for the students will be taken out. Mr. Arico asked where this is reflected, and Mr. Turansky said in Program #29.
Dr. Vautour said in Program #5 (School Administration) there
are no changes in the FTEs. The total
increase is $32,394, of which $21,756 is salary increases, and $10,638 is for
non-salary increases ($3,200 represents an increase in professional development
fund). Dr. Vautour said there is a
request for a postage meter ($2,275) at
Dr. Vautour discussed Program #29 (Other), and said this is the final program to be reviewed. He said this program covers whatever couldn’t be fit into the other programs. There is a total decrease of $29,582, and the certified salaries are down $91,211. The non-certified salaries are up $68,978. There is a request in this Program to replace the furniture in the staff lounge at the high school. Mrs. Vargas asked if the staff lounge is on the first floor, and Mr. Pitocco said it is. Mrs. Schmidt asked what types of appliances are in the staff lounge, and Mr. Pitocco said they have a microwave, and a refrigerator. Dr. Vautour asked if there were any questions on Page 29B, and there were none. For page 29C, Mrs. Vargas asked if object #690 is for the normal rotation of furniture. Mr. Pear said there is a cycle, and they replace one, or two classrooms per year. There were no questions about pages 29D, or 29E. On page 29F, Dr. Vautour said there are such items as Saturday detention, teacher mentors, teacher substitutes, degree changes, teacher substitute amounts, and teacher turnover. Dr. Vautour said that by the time they finish new hires this summer, they will be running $75,000 less in the salary line for personnel, than they are currently. In this program, there is an amount of $8,600 for unsettled contracts, and $80,000 for the early retirement incentive program. Dr. Vautour spoke briefly about the non-certified personnel. He then mentioned there is $12,000 for potential unemployment claims. Object #560 deals with tuition for a student at Middletown Vo-Ag, for 16 students at the Academy for Performing Arts, and for 24 students at the GHAMAS facility. Dr. Vautour said this account has a net of $103,000 that is expected to be received as a function of the Choice Program tuition. There is also a miscellaneous line of $4,000. Chairperson Bell asked if ERIP is version 2, year 2, or if it is year 1. Mr. Turansky said this is year 2 of the plan, but it is the first year of the payment in the latest plan. Mrs. Schmidt said last year was just benefits. Mr. McMonigle asked about the substitutes for the secretaries, and asked if these are more long-term, or if they are per diem. Mr. Turansky said this would be a combination, but he believes that it would be short term more often. Mr. Watson said it is usually a day-to-day substitution. Mrs. Schmidt inquired about the $80,000 for the ERIP, and asked if this is the salary portion, and she asked if the benefit portion is carried under benefits, and Mr. Turansky said that was correct. Councilperson Sylvestro made a comment about how someone looking at Page 29F could become confused. He said there is the $75,000 savings from turnovers, and then the Early Retirement Incentive Program is costing $80,000. He said that people could look at these two numbers and believe that the Early Retirement Incentive Program is costing $5,000. Dr. Vautour said this is not the case because the Early Retirement Incentive Program is addressing individuals who have already left the school system, and the $75,000 in turnovers is in anticipation of individuals who are currently employed, who are not eligible for ERIP, and they leave the school system.
Dr. Vautour said this completes his overview of the budget.
(There was a recess commencing at
Mrs. Schmidt said Board members have been deliberating the various components of the budget. The Board is going to raise their questions, and issues, and talk about their concerns with regards to the budget.
Mrs. Vargas spoke about the math implementation specialist (.6 FTE), and said she has been included in discussions with teachers as to why a position like this is needed, and what this person would be doing. She based on the write up in the budget book, there are misconceptions as to what the math implementation specialist would be doing. Dr. Vautour mentioned how the need to improve the ability to supervise and develop curriculum has kept resurfacing in prior conversations, and it was mentioned how Districts have used a variety of strategies. Everyone has been in agreement that to get the best results, individuals are needed who can focus their attentions on their areas of expertise, and assist the general Staff in responding to those curriculum areas. Dr. Vautour said this budget was constructed upon the fact that the area of math is receiving a lot of attention in this current year, and will be receiving a lot of attention in years to come. Mrs. Boutilier did surveys of surrounding towns, and got job descriptions. Mrs. Boutilier said they are going to look for someone who has a level of expertise, and who can focus attention on a particular content area (math), and the school system needs a specialist who knows math, inside, and out, and who can help move the teachers forward to the next level. Mrs. Boutilier said the school system has being using consultants, but Mrs. Boutilier believes the math implementation specialist is the next step, because all the work has been done with the curriculum. Mrs. Boutilier said someone is needed who can work with the staff, elementary through 12th grade to help them take the curriculum and move on to the next level. The immediate need is for the Trailblazers Program. Chairperson Bell spoke about the effectiveness of the consultants that have been used in previous years, and asked how the school system could move further along in curriculum development by using a consultant instead of adding to the staff. Mrs. Boutilier said this would be limited because of the availability of the people involved, and she said they don’t have enough time in their schedule, and she also mentioned how consultants are borrowed from other districts. Mrs. Schmidt spoke about looking at the curriculum side of this, and asked if it is expected that the person for this position would come in after the curriculum mapping has been done to implement what should be done, or she was wondering basically if this individual’s expertise is going to be used to look at how math is currently being taught, and if this person is going to look at the consistency of how the material is being delivered. Mrs. Schmidt feels all of this would be part of the person’s obligations. Mrs. Boutilier said the curriculum mapping process for math is not up for review yet so it has not begun yet. She said the person for this position would sit down with the staff to help with the curriculum. This person won’t be an administrator, but will be more of a coaching model, and a peer-to-peer model. Mrs. Schmidt said she really wants to support the math implementation specialist, but her concern is that this person would be .6 FTE as a specialist, and .4 FTE as a teacher, and she does not want to see this individual teaching. Dr. Vautour said this position is constructed as it is (.6 FTE for specialist, and .4 FTE for teacher), because in order to attract someone who has the caliber necessary for this, it would be more difficult to do if only a part-time position is asked for instead of a full-time one, and he said this person would be teaching two classes. Mrs. Schmidt asked if this person was not going to be teaching the two math classes if there was someone who could assume the teaching responsibility for these two classes, and Mr. Pitocco, and Mrs. Hayward said there was no one who could. Mr. Geldof asked if this position was to be full-time, would it eventually be taken away, and asked if another specialist would be needed in another discipline. Dr. Vautour said ultimately other specialists would be needed if the state, and federal expectations were stagnant, but he doesn’t see them as being stagnant in the near future. Mr. Geldof asked Dr. Vautour if there is a cycle in education where one position would be satisfactory to him to be able to develop curriculum in various disciplines. Dr. Vautour said he might perceive a need to have improved supervision of curriculum in the future, using subject area specialists in core academic areas, and one approach might be to add a person for math one year, and then a person might be needed for language arts the next year, so maybe this could be done incrementally. Mrs. Boutilier said after doing the survey of surrounding towns, there is a greater need in the math area for supervision of curriculum at this time. Mrs. Schmidt asked if there is a possibility of foregoing subject area stipends for subject area supervisors if a specialist were hired. Dr. Vautour said two different functions are being looked at. Mrs. Boutilier said there would be a loss in terms of continuity, and she also spoke about the leadership team. Mr. Pitocco added that the area supervisors are the leadership team in the high school. He said they help with the orientation of teachers, they help with the budget for each year, and they meet with the administration at the high school on a monthly basis. Dr. Vautour said administration will think about the questions being asked tonight, and get back to the Board on Thursday night. Chairperson Bell mentioned on one hand the Board members are advocates for the children, and on the other hand they represent the taxpayers also of Rocky Hill. Dr. Vautour said that some times conversations began, and it took two or three years to achieve the goal being looked at. Mrs. Vargas said she just wanted clarification of this position, and said she would rather be proactive, instead of reactive. Mrs. Schmidt said she is cautious, and wants to see some product for this, and would like a potential guess for a timeframe that the Board will see some true deliverables. Mrs. Schmidt asked if this person were to become full-time as a math implementation specialist, would the administration have to come back to the Board asking for a .4 FTE in math, and Dr. Vautour said yes. Mr. McMonigle said he is concerned about this math implementation specialist teaching for two periods, because during this time, that person would be unavailable. Dr. Vautour asked if the Board would give administration the permission to look at finding the .4 FTE dollar value in some other way, so there is the 1.0 FTE math implementation specialist, and the Administration would come up with the money for the .4 FTE in some other ways in the budget. Mr. McMonigle asked if the math implementation specialist becomes a 1.0 FTE if this position would attract a contractor, compared to an employee, and he also wanted to know if these curriculum people are single subject specialists. Dr. Vautour said they would be, and said people have to be careful when it comes to talking about contractor, versus employee. Mr. Geldof said the Board is being very reactive to this. Everyone on the Board seemed to be in consensus about the math implementation specialist.
Chairperson Bell next spoke about the technology account, and asked if one of the technology leases were to be deferred, what would that mean, and what impact would that have. Dr. Vautour said if the technology lease were to be deferred for one year, the replacement cycle that Fred Ames has laid out, will stall for one year. The equipment would be one year older. Dr. Vautour even mentioned that he feels that the technology assistant is so important that they would give up the lease for one year. Chairperson Bell said she assumes that the donations the schools have received are not current technology, and Dr. Vautour said this is correct. He said if the technology assistant was to be acquired he would look at the $11,100 of student assistance. Mrs. Schmidt asked if the Board put into consideration the tech analyst position to help Fred Ames, if there is any possibility that this position could be filled by the same person who does the website, and if this person could be moved to the full-time position therefore reducing the budget by the part-time position, and potentially using this same person to work on the website one, or two days per week. Dr. Vautour said this possibility could be looked at, and he said he wants administration to look at the current configuration of staffing at the library and media centers at the middle school, and the high school. He said a discussion has to take place concerning the validity of the current existing job descriptions relative to the assistants, and he explained a little more about this. He said of the two positions present in the middle school and high school dealing with library media, maybe there is a need for only one, and then the money that would become available from this one eliminated position, plus the money that would be available from not using student assistants, would give the bulk of the money to fund the new position. Mrs. Vargas asked if there was some way to consolidate the equipment or have someone keep track it in each school. Dr. Vautour said this is why he is going to ask administration if they can have one person working between two schools, and use the technology assistant also. Mrs. Schmidt said centralization would accomplish the maximization of use of the equipment and would also accomplish accountability. Dr. Vautour some of this has been addressed by using Fred Ames, but he can’t do it all. There was a brief discussion that followed on this. Mr. Palazzolo believes there should be an inventory of all the equipment in each school, and Dr. Vautour said there is one. Mrs. Boutilier explained that some of the equipment is available for use every single day, whereas other equipment is used by some departments long term. Mrs. Vargas said this is not conveyed in the documentation. Mr. Pitocco explained a little more about this. Dr. Vautour said we are seeing more applications of technology now. Mr. McMonigle mentioned how the pricing for technology is so varied. Dr. Vautour said a lot has to do with definition (i.e. DVD recorder, DVD built-in). Mr. Geldof said based on all of the discussion now, there would never be a year that the technology lease could be deferred. Dr. Vautour said that Fred Ames needs assistance. Mr. Geldof asked where all of the computers are deployed, and Dr. Vautour said the current technology is dispersed to the high school first, and then works its way into the other schools. Mrs. Schmidt asked if the Administration can look again at the requests in Object #730, and revisit if there aren’t any opportunities to share equipment, reduce the cost of the equipment, or centralize the equipment.
Mrs. Schmidt said two teachers have been requested at the elementary level, and she was wondering if the enrollment remains the same, and if the classroom guidelines are only exceeded by one student, could the staff be redeployed. Dr. Vautour said he would have to check the grades, and said there is a request for a 2nd grade teacher at West Hill, and a 2nd grade teacher at Moser. He said if a choice was made to reduce the number of teachers, there is a 1st grade class, and a 3rd grade class that would have a class size that exceeds the guidelines, but it would be less than a factor of one student. Dr. Vautour said it could be traded off.
Chairperson Bell spoke about the defibrillators in the budget, and asked if there is an opportunity to look at the ones listed in the budget for deferral. Dr. Vautour said the presence of the four defibrillators is where we will end up because of the public’s understanding of the current capabilities the school system has, but these could be delayed by one year. Chairperson Bell said the school system has received two grants over the past two years for defibrillators, and asked if there was a possibility that more grants might become available for these, and she was also wondering if the price of defibrillators might come down in the next year. Dr. Vautour said there is a possibility.
Mrs. Vargas asked about the new course requests at the high
school. She spoke about the four classes
being offered in history at the honors level, and asked if two of the four were
to be chosen out of these four, which would be picked, and why. She also inquired about
Mrs. Schmidt inquired about the mileage account, and asked if all the money in there was by contract, and asked if there was any possibility to bring this to last year’s level. Mr. Turansky said most of the Object #580 accounts are driven by contract. He said when the mileage accounts are looked at overall for the whole budget, it is up by $700, and this is reflective of the administrators’ contract which calls for a $100 increase in the conference accounts. Dr. Vautour said when previous expenditures are looked at there might be money left over, and Dr. Vautour said for example that he has not gone to a conference in the nine of eleven years he has been in Rocky Hill, but the contract calls for that to be in the budget for his use.
Mrs. Schmidt asked if the Board proceeds with the request for the math implementation specialist, if the textbooks at the secondary level that are being requested could be purchased next year instead. Dr. Vautour said this is a reasonable request. Mrs. Schmidt said maybe textbooks in general could be reviewed. Mr. McMonigle asked if there is a possibility of implementing Trailblazers in just grade 3 for next year, instead of in grades 3, 4, and 5, and if this is possible, he wanted to know what this would do for the need of a math implementation specialist. Dr. Vautour said there is also work at the middle school and high school level that needs to be addressed. Mrs. Schmidt asked the administration if they could bullet proof what the responsibilities would be for the math implementation specialist.
Chairperson Bell asked if the field trips were able to be held at the level they are at now, and if the cost wasn’t increased, what the impact would be to the students. She also wanted to know if there was a good curriculum related field trip that could take place that is not in the budget, if it would be possibly for families to pay for that trip.
Mrs. Schmidt spoke about Object #611, and asked if this account could be brought down to the $300 level this year.
Chairperson Bell spoke about the difference in cost for the summer school program going from a 2, two week program to a 1, three week program. She asked for some discussion on this. Mrs. Boutilier said ten more hours of instruction would be added for approximately 150 students. She also mentioned more staff would need to hired also. Also included in this would be $1,700 for curriculum revamping for the additional ten hours of instruction, and then money would be given to the paraprofessional who process the applications that come in for this program (was volunteer work previously). Mrs. Schmidt asked if the administration could see if they could remove the associated cost of $2,400 for this (see if the 1, three week program could be run for the same amount it costs to run 2, two week programs).
Mr. Arico brought up the engineer consultant on page 14A, and asked if there is a possibility the need for this could be put into the newsletter so that possibly a parent, who is a retired engineer might want to do this on a volunteer basis. Mr. Pitocco said he would find out. Mr. Arico said as far as the furniture for the staff lounge is concerned, maybe something could be mentioned in the newsletter so people in town could donate some of their used furniture for the staff lounge.
Mrs. Schmidt thanked Mr. Turansky for all of his hard work he did, and it is appreciated. She said the Board deeply appreciates all the efforts that everyone put in, all the deliberations, and all the considerations. Mrs. Schmidt stated the Board wants this to be a collaborative effort. She thanked everyone for their time. Dr. Vautour said Thursday, the Administration should be presenting ideas as to how to cut his budget down.
Moved by Mrs. Vargas, seconded by Mr.
Bostwick to adjourn the budget
workshop at
FAVOR: ALL
MOTION
CARRIED
Respectfully submitted,
Jo-Anne Booth
Recording Secretary
Accepted by: _________________________