Armenio - I know this is position related, what impact will this have on the district?
Sabolinski - other districts are adding this position, we are cutting this. That is one impact. We will try and spread some of the reporting around.
Armenio - these are not options, these are requirements
Sabolinski - yes, this will be difficult
Armenio - we're zeroing this out, this will be more of a capital item. When you look at social studies they only went up to the Vietnam War.
Sabolinski - we are replacing books this year that are over a dozen years old.
Cafasso - can you tell me how this is up after years of being down?
Goodman - each school got their allocations and depending upon how they used it at their level, the schools across the board the got the same amount as they got last year, it is their discretion on how they are using it.
Armenio - question on field trips, this was taken out years ago
Goodman - this is a coding issue, all transportation should be in the 3300 series, any non-school to home transportation should be here, so visits between schools, to TriCounty these fall here
Cafasso - Where is this coming from?
Goodman - this is a growth from year to year, there is a contract in place, we have added a bus, some of this is offset with the pay-to-ride fees but this is still underfunded.
Cafasso - This is a philosophical decision that we are not fully funding the cost of the transportation.
Sabolinski - that becomes a bigger philosophical decision when you come to high school sports, those are not fully funded either. the entire population effectively subsidizes the few who use it
Cafasso - my question was designed to see if we were seeing cost increases in the contract?
Rohrbach - Can someone explain what it means?
Waters - We have approx 70 students, a small percent of the total population. There needs are such that we can not provide within the district. Those tuitions can range from 25,000 to 200,000 per student. The total is 3.8 million. We are actually doing better than elsewhere. For a district our size, to have only 70 out of district is good. We have increased programs to keep students within the district here where possible.
Armenio - we are notified of tuition rate increases around Dec 15th?
Waters - The out of district schools can apply for an increase to the State at any time, we have no control over that.
Greydon Smith, citizen - what is our responsibility for special education?
Waters- special education is federally mandated as well as at the State. The students have a right to education, the decisions are made by the team. The number you see is legally mandated.
Citizen - and what is the funding for this?
Ogden - explains that we don't get direct funding for it, the State does participate with "circuit breaker" funds
Goodman - we get reimbursed about 20%
Roy - we have options with what we can do for the public hearing. we can close it for tonight, or continue it to a future date?
Cafasso - I would move to continue the hearing to a future date.
Motion to continue the hearing until June 9th
Passed 6-1
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Live reporting - FY 2010 Budget Q and A
Armenio - will the schedule rotate?
Light - we are still working out the details but yes it will rotate
Armenio - fees won't go away, participation may go down, I'm not happy with the fees. What about enrollment?
Light - we are estimating an increase of about 50-75 but things are still in flux
Kelly - The elementary numbers changed from the 3/24/09 presentation, can you explain the difference?
Minkle - The numbers are closer to actual but have been changing; April 30th enrollment, May 15th kindergarten enrollment, with a teacher reduction of 20 (versus 30 prior)
Cafasso - What will happen now with the library space? What will they be used for, how will the students use them?
Sabolinski - Assistance to checkin/checkout books will still exist, teachers can still bring their classes, there just won't be instruction in the library
Cafasso - Hard to predict what extracurriculars will be offered depending upon the teachers remaining and the student interest
Wittcoff - The middle school programs change each year depending upon the teachers and the student interest
Cafasso - Are any left in the district?
Ogden - Yes, elementary level
Cafasso - What is the role of CET in our district?
Wittcoff - They provide support to teachers in instructional practices
Ogden - There is a hope that some of the stimulus funds can be used to restore some of these positions outside of the budget.
Cafasso - Would you like to add anything to this discussion?
Wittcoff - The corner stone of the middle school model is teaming, by teaming, the teachers are sharing the same students. This allows the teachers to share and identify the students for help as required. This level is second only to the elementary level in rate of brain growth. This is a critical period, this model has been in use for 50 years, anything less than this would be a step back in time.
Cafasso - I don't see a fee cap for a family?
Ogden - We did not reach agreement in the subcommittee
Cafasso - I am disappointed with where we are, at a time when the President has announced the first Latino women in an appointment to the Supreme Court, schools are supposed to be the safety net for kids.
Rohrbach - What will PE/Health look like next year?
Ogden - Peter Light (High school principal) has not completed collecting data from the students. I can say it will look different, there will be less. The high school will look more like the elementary model where they get it once a week.
Light - we are still working out the details but yes it will rotate
Armenio - fees won't go away, participation may go down, I'm not happy with the fees. What about enrollment?
Light - we are estimating an increase of about 50-75 but things are still in flux
Kelly - The elementary numbers changed from the 3/24/09 presentation, can you explain the difference?
Minkle - The numbers are closer to actual but have been changing; April 30th enrollment, May 15th kindergarten enrollment, with a teacher reduction of 20 (versus 30 prior)
Cafasso - What will happen now with the library space? What will they be used for, how will the students use them?
Sabolinski - Assistance to checkin/checkout books will still exist, teachers can still bring their classes, there just won't be instruction in the library
Cafasso - Hard to predict what extracurriculars will be offered depending upon the teachers remaining and the student interest
Wittcoff - The middle school programs change each year depending upon the teachers and the student interest
Cafasso - Are any left in the district?
Ogden - Yes, elementary level
Cafasso - What is the role of CET in our district?
Wittcoff - They provide support to teachers in instructional practices
Ogden - There is a hope that some of the stimulus funds can be used to restore some of these positions outside of the budget.
Cafasso - Would you like to add anything to this discussion?
Wittcoff - The corner stone of the middle school model is teaming, by teaming, the teachers are sharing the same students. This allows the teachers to share and identify the students for help as required. This level is second only to the elementary level in rate of brain growth. This is a critical period, this model has been in use for 50 years, anything less than this would be a step back in time.
Cafasso - I don't see a fee cap for a family?
Ogden - We did not reach agreement in the subcommittee
Cafasso - I am disappointed with where we are, at a time when the President has announced the first Latino women in an appointment to the Supreme Court, schools are supposed to be the safety net for kids.
Rohrbach - What will PE/Health look like next year?
Ogden - Peter Light (High school principal) has not completed collecting data from the students. I can say it will look different, there will be less. The high school will look more like the elementary model where they get it once a week.
Live reporting - FY 2010 Discussion
Salary a big chunk
Health care, Transportation, and Out of district tuition account for the bulk of the remaining amount.
Elementary level $210
Middle Schools $225
High School $355
This is the apportionment of the budget on a per pupil basis
Some of the budget line item changes can be directly attributed to these amounts flowing to the schools
Overall reducing 42-25 positions with this budget
High School
Asst Principal, Secretary, Librarian, and four teachers = total of seven positions
Class sizes can remain manageable with a change in the schedule from 7 period rotating to a 6 period schedule. 60 minute per period.
Middle Schools
2 grade 6 teachers
4 grade 7 teachers
4 grade 8 teachers
2 music
1 librarian
1 Math curriculum enhancement teacher
Class sizes remain significantly high
Elementary Schools
18.5 classroom teachers
2.5 librarians
1.2 specialists
Class size will be much increased, 21 of the 30 class groupings will exceed School Committee guidelines
User Activity Fees
As announced previously, the fees will increase over the next three years to bring the fee revenue into a 50/50 support level with the budget assumptions
Athletic fees, pay-to-ride, extracurricular fees are the three areas covered.
Page 9 depicts the fee schedule for the next three years
A calculation of the fees shows a "typical" family with students at the High School could amount to $3,000 per year. This would be about 60% of the average property tax amount.
The budget reduction targeted 3 million has come within 1,489,233.
The Senate budget differs significantly from the House and Governor's budget. That amount is not reflected in the numbers shown here.
Summary
Health care, Transportation, and Out of district tuition account for the bulk of the remaining amount.
Elementary level $210
Middle Schools $225
High School $355
This is the apportionment of the budget on a per pupil basis
Some of the budget line item changes can be directly attributed to these amounts flowing to the schools
Overall reducing 42-25 positions with this budget
High School
Asst Principal, Secretary, Librarian, and four teachers = total of seven positions
Class sizes can remain manageable with a change in the schedule from 7 period rotating to a 6 period schedule. 60 minute per period.
Middle Schools
2 grade 6 teachers
4 grade 7 teachers
4 grade 8 teachers
2 music
1 librarian
1 Math curriculum enhancement teacher
Class sizes remain significantly high
Elementary Schools
18.5 classroom teachers
2.5 librarians
1.2 specialists
Class size will be much increased, 21 of the 30 class groupings will exceed School Committee guidelines
User Activity Fees
As announced previously, the fees will increase over the next three years to bring the fee revenue into a 50/50 support level with the budget assumptions
Athletic fees, pay-to-ride, extracurricular fees are the three areas covered.
Page 9 depicts the fee schedule for the next three years
A calculation of the fees shows a "typical" family with students at the High School could amount to $3,000 per year. This would be about 60% of the average property tax amount.
The budget reduction targeted 3 million has come within 1,489,233.
The Senate budget differs significantly from the House and Governor's budget. That amount is not reflected in the numbers shown here.
Summary
- No late bus
- High school scheduling changes
- Split teams at the Middle Schools
- Larger elementary class sizes
- Programing changes (Music, library, PE/Health)
- Fewer extracurricular activities
Live reporting - FY 2010 Budget
This is the budget document from the packet for the meeting this evening
FY 2010 Budget 5/26/09
View more Microsoft Word documents from Steve Sherlock.
Live reporting - Cafeteria takes deferment
The cafeteria workers voted to take the wage increase deferment for this year.
Live reporting - School Committee 5/26/09
Attending: Armenio, Cafasso, Kelly, Mullen, Roy, Rohrbach, Trahan
Missing: none
1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - remove warrants from the agenda for tonight
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the May 12, 2009 School Committee Meeting. Motion to approve, passed 7-0
Payroll Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: 1. Letter from Ms. Barbara Hiss
Missing: none
1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - remove warrants from the agenda for tonight
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the May 12, 2009 School Committee Meeting. Motion to approve, passed 7-0
Payroll Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: 1. Letter from Ms. Barbara Hiss
live reporting - presentations
Mary Cole - high school track athlete broke the 2 mile record at 11:31
(pictures later)
(pictures later)
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