NORWICH BOARD OF SCHOOL DIRECTORS
BUDGET DELIBERATIONS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2005
7:00 P.M., MARION CROSS SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Cheney, Gray, Kaplan, Sachsse, Vitt. Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Edson; and seven members of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order
Chair Sachsse called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m.
2. Communications and Reports
a) Report of Chair:
(1) Calendar - Chair Sachsse announced that the next regular Board meeting would be Wednesday, February 2, 7:00 p.m. at the Marion Cross School Library.
(2) Board Positions – There are two Board positions that are up for election in March (Linda Gray’s and Geoffrey Vitt’s) and they are both three year terms. Filings for School District Officers take place any time until January 24, 2005. Filings for School District Officers can be done with either the School District Clerk, Deborah Carter or at the SAU Dresden office, 45 Lyme Road, Room 207, Hanover. The positions that are open include the moderator, clerk and treasurer for one year respectively, and auditor for three years.
3. Business requiring discussion
a) Assistant Superintendent Of Business John Aubin reviewed highlights of the proposed budget document and Board members and staff discussed various aspects. John Aubin reported that the equalized per pupil count has increased slightly since the previous week. He wants to look into how the state views the State -placed Norwich students who attend Dresden Schools. State-placed Norwich students are currently counted as .4 FTE and John believes the district should receive full credit for those students. He considered the partial allotment a practice that could be altered without legislation. Aubin cited that there was $93,340 available to spend that is the district was that amount below the excessive spending threshold. The net spending increase in the 2005-06 budget is 2.3 percent and the regional CPI inflation rate is 3.8 percent from November to November. The nationwide CPI is 3.3 percent for the same period.
In response to a question raised by the public about health insurance costs, the Board replied that it would try to affect the cost savings in that area during the next round of negotiations. John Aubin noted that the Dresden teachers/staff pay a higher co-pay amount than most other education Bargaining units in the region. The Finance Committee members reported their vote was 4-2 in support of the budget. There was a brief discussion about the challenges posed by next year’s budget and reserve funding allocations. Linda Gray moved and Margaret Cheney seconded a motion to approve the Norwich School District 2005-06 budget in the amount of $4,081,909, to be place on the Warning and voted on at the March 1 Australian Balloting by Norwich voters. The motion passed unanimously.
b) The school district warning articles were discussed and no changes were made.
Linda Graymoved and Margaret Cheney seconded a motion to approve Norwich School District Warning Articles for the February 28 and March 1 Annual School District Meeting, as attached to the original minutes of the meeting, and further to authorize the Administration to make whatever technical changes are necessary in order to ensure that the Warning is legal and that the intent of the Norwich Board of School Directors is conveyed. The motion passed unanimously.
The Board recognized Rob Edson for doing a great job as principal and thanked him and the administration for helping budget deliberations to go smoothly. The budget mailer will be drafted by Margaret Cheney and Linda Gray, who volunteered to help coordinate the mailing with the administration.
8. Adjournment
Deb Kaplan moved and Linda Gray seconded a motion to adjourn at 7:56 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m. |
