DRESDEN SCHOOL BOARD
BUDGET PRESENTATION
TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2006
7:03 P.M., RICHMOND SCHOOL LIBRARY
Present: Board members Asmus, Bruce, Carter, Chamberlin, Cheney, Fleischer, Gray, Kaplan, Pilchman, Sachsse, Vitt (8:03); Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Gillespie, Finer; and seven members of the public.
1. Call to order
Chair Cheney called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.
2. Report of Chair
1. Board Calendar - The Chair announced that this meeting is the first of three budget meetings in January. The second meeting will be Tuesday, January 17, and the third on January 24. The Board discussed a location for the January 17 meeting with consensus being that the meeting should take place in Norwich. Therefore, the January 17 meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Marion Cross School Library. The January 24 meeting, which will be a regular meeting, public hearing on the budget, and the budget adoption, will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Richmond School Library.
2. District Meeting - The Chair announced that the Annual School District meeting will be held on Thursday, March 2, 7:00 p.m., at theFrances C. Richmond School Gymnasium. This will be the discussion phase of the meeting, no voting will take place at the meeting. The voting phase of the meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 7, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., at the Richard W. Black Community Center in Hanover for Hanover voters, and at Tracy Hall, Norwich, for Norwich voters.
3. District Filings - Chair Cheney also announced that the Dresden School District has filing dates from Tuesday, January 17 through 5:00 p.m., Monday, February 6. Filing for School District Officers can be done with either the School District Clerk, Deborah Carter, or at the SAU Office, 45 Lyme Road, Room 207, Hanover. She said that the positions open are Moderator, Clerk, and Treasurer for one year each, and Auditor for three years.
3. Report of the Superintendent
Superintendent Gersen spoke about the tremendous amount of work that was accomplished over the holiday break at the high school and praised various individuals who worked very hard over the break to get the school ready for students on January 3. He also said that, while he had hoped to invite the public to a community open house before the January 24 Board meeting, the open house is now tentatively being planned before the February Board meeting.
4. Business requiring discussion
a. Presentation of 2006-07 proposed budget - Assistant Superintendent for Business, John Aubin, presented the proposed 2006-07 budget of $19,684,134 with an overall 5.15% increase. He highlighted two changes to the draft budget since it was distributed to the Board and Finance Committee, those being a sabbatical added to the Dresden budget and a correction to the 6th grade tuition computation which resulted in a reduction to the Dresden assessment. Mr. Aubin reviewed the substantial changes to the budget that included a decrease of 2.6 FTE’s at the High School, a .4 increase in administrative support at the Middle School, a 10% increase in health insurance, and increased special education costs. Mr. Aubin also discussed the highlights of the tentative agreement with the teaching staff. The salient points of the agreement are salary, health insurance, a study of the track and step pay system, and changes to the wording in the reduction in force language. He then reviewed the highlights of the tentative agreement with the service staff that focus on three components: salary, incentive pay, and health insurance. (Summary attached to the original minutes of the meeting) Dresden Contract Settlement
Members of the Board asked questions about various line items in the proposed budget, enrollment projections, the number of tuition students, and the impact of lower enrollment numbers on all areas of future budgets.
Members of the Dresden Finance Committee expressed concerns about the teacher contract and encouraged the Board to evaluate the budget with wider goals in mind.
After further discussion, the Board asked John for the following for the January 17 meeting:
a. A closer look at encumbrances in current year’s accounts
b. Impact of enrollments on budgets six years out (per pupil costs)
c. The number of maintenance and custodial personnel in the budget versus the number proposed during the presentation of the building proposals.
d. Information on the food service budget
b. School District Warrant - Superintendent Gersen reviewed an edited draft of the School District Warrant for the annual meeting of the Dresden School District. The Board decided to withdraw the Article appropriating funds to the Maintenance Reserve Fund. The Board will review the Warrant at the next meeting and will be asked to vote to approve it at the January 24 meeting.
5. Business requiring action
a. Acceptance of grant
Linda Gray moved and Nancy Carter seconded a motion to accept a $1,200 grant from the Community Partnership of Orange/Windsor to underwrite the efforts of the Hanover High School Suicide Prevention Committee. The motion passed unanimously.
6. Adjournment
John Chamberlin moved and Mary Sachsse seconded a motion to adjourn at 9:10 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary B. Davis
Recording Secretary
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