NORWICH BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS
BUDGET DELIBERATIONS
THURSDAY JANUARY 10, 2008
7:00 PM, MARION CROSS SCHOOL
Minutes
Present: Board members Gray, Sachsse, Vitt, Williams; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Edson; and 7 members of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order –Chair Mary Sachsse called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m.
2. Report of Chair
Chair Mary Sachsse announced that the next regular Board meeting is scheduled for THURSDAY, January 17, 7:00 PM at the Marion Cross School Library, which will be the third of three budget meetings held in January. It will be the meeting for the Public Hearing and Budget Adoption.
There are three (3) Board seats that are open in March, two (2) for three year terms (Linda Gray and Geoffrey Vitt) and one (1) for a two year term (Stan Williams). Filings take place any time from now until January 28, 2008. Candidates must present a petition with 35 signatures to the Norwich Town Clerk.
The Dresden School District has filing dates from Tuesday, January 15 through 5:00 PM, Monday, February 4. Filing for School District Officers can be done with either the School District Clerk, Deborah Carter, or at the SAU Office, 41 Lebanon Street, Suite 2, Hanover. Open positions are: Moderator, Clerk, Treasurer for one (1) year terms; two Auditor positions, one for a two (2) year term, and one for a three (3) year term.
3. Public Input
Terry Boone, an organizer of Town Eating Day, (set for March 1) spoke to the Board. Breakout sessions are planned for this event, one of which will include the school board. The Superintendent noted that he had a commitment at the Hanover School Meeting on that day.
The Norwich Finance Committee submitted meeting minutes of its most recent meeting that will be included in the next School Board meeting packet. The Finance Committee minutes will also be included at the town meeting discussion.
Treasurer Cheryl Lindberg was asked about the Quarterly Investment Report that had a school checking account with a 4 percent interest rate, with the Board questioning the use of Mascoma Savings Bank given they are Ms. Lindberg’s employer. Ms. Lindberg noted that the funds were deposited on September 13 and were going to be used so it was thought the funds were too short term to invest in a longer term account. She believed interest earned in the school district accounts is more beneficial to taxpayers as compared to having funds in town accounts. Stan Williams suggested that the distribution of the funds be reviewed to see if it was possible to earn more interest in longer term and higher interest bearing accounts and/or through “laddering” the funds. He felt that if such a change would net $10,000, we should change our investment strategies.
Ms. Lindberg wanted to make it clear that the decision to use Mascoma Savings was made prior to her becoming treasurer.
4. Business Requiring Discussion
2008-09 Budget Deliberations
John Aubin, Assistant Superintendent of Business reported changes to the proposed budget since the last meeting. The vocational tuition and medical insurance were lower than presented which resulted in a net budget decline of $9,563.
A notice was received from the state that the educational tax rate was lowered 85 cents and the non residential rate was lowered to $1.34. These changes improve the impact of the budget, but Mr. Aubin emphasized that the budget does not include the Dresden contract settlement, which he believed would add about three cents to the Norwich rate.
Rob Edson pointed out that the Tuition from Patron should include an additional student as a result of action taken at a recent Board meeting. John Aubin stated that if $50,000 were invested in the Building Management and Special Education Reserve Funds it would add $33.01 to a $400,000 property. The .2 FTE PE teacher ($12,700 plus benefits) proposed by the Principal and supported by the Superintendent would add about $6.60 to a $400,000 property and .1 percent in the tax rate.
The expansion of the PE teacher’s schedule would help meet Vermont standards and enable Marion Cross to match the PE curriculum with the Ray School in Hanover.
The Norwich Finance Committee plans to meet on January 11 to discuss its budget endorsement. The staff will inform the Finance Committee about the Dresden contract settlements and other longer term talking points provisions.
Irv Thomae suggested that the transfer to the two reserve funds be $30,000 each. The staff will apply this amount to the budget for the next meeting. Transfers to the reserve funds would require articles on the warrant. The Board also discussed various budget line items that would best describe the proposed budget to the public. The budget is tied to the excess spending threshold and the per pupil costs and both of these parameters are lower than last year’s budget.
4. Adjournment
Linda Gray moved and Stan Williams seconded a motion to adjourn at 8:25 PM.
The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM. |
