Town of Becket Finance Committee
April 3, 2008 Minutes
Present: Mike Falk, Ann Spadafora, Jeremy Dunn, Amy Fyden, Steve Labelle
Also Present: Richard Furlong
First hour of meeting: Bill Cavanaugh, Doug Walter
CBRSD: Dr. Donna Harlan, Bob Tensel, Jim Stankowicz, Marge Balzotti
School Board: Susan Carroll-Lombardi, John Les, John Yates
The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm.
1. Presentation by CBRSD staff; Questions & Answers
a. Quite a lot of information was distributed by CBRSD staff, including the FY09 Operating & Capital budgets; description and calculation of Foundation Enrollment; Enrollment statistics by town; Points of Information giving many facts about the school district, staff, etc. MassDOE report on fiscal conditions in Mass. School Districts, etc.
b. Dr. Harlan reported that 2 small ads were placed in local papers (@ $300 each) that generated a lot of interest from parents in nearby towns for sending their children to Becket-Washington school.
c. In response to the question “is there any reason for optimism on 13-year trend of declining school enrollments”, Dr. Harlan responded No, they are just trying to “hold steady”.
d. CBRSD is working with other rural school districts to influence Mass. Legislators to change the Wealth Formula so it is not to the disadvantage of local towns
e. Dr. Harlan is recommending development of 5-, 10-, and 15- year strategic plans for CBRSD. Among the issues to be addressed are the Bylaws and status of the 7-town Agreement. There might be substantive changes in the 5-10 year timeframe, including transportation, possible mergers with other school districts, etc. However she believes that mergers are not a good idea; CBRDS is more efficient in the current structure, and that any changes would be very unpopular with parents. The existing “plan” does not really address these issues: it’s more reactive than proactive.
f. John Les pointed out that several months ago the Berkshire Eagle reported that Mass. had some of the top schools in the nation; another article made particular note of Becket/Washington school. He feels it is important to keep the school open.
g. In response to a question about whether the 28 students in pre-K at Becket/Washington implied a future expansion of 1st, 2nd, etc. grades, Dr. Harlan explained that some of the pre-K students come from other towns and were likely to return to other elementary schools.
h. Dr. Harlan reported that negotiation with the Teachers’ union has reached a difficult stage. Teachers are currently on “work-to-rule”, contributing no extra hours. This has resulted in cancellation of many extra-curricular activities. She provided additional information on the status and issues of the negotiations, including salaries, comparison between teachers and administrators, health insurance, etc.
2. Wahconah Study committee
a. The School Committee will vote on the proposal on 4/10. The original desire was to have the proposal voted on by all 7 towns at their ATMs. But the timing might not work out.
b. If it were passed by 7 towns, work would begin soon, but not hit the town budgets until FY2010. The amount has increased somewhat due to revised estimates. Becket’s 9% share is ~$1.4M. The bond can be any period up to 20 years. If passed, a portion would be offset by the completion of the existing Wahconah Roof bond, which has 5-6 years left.
c. There was substantial discussion about the timing of the school committee vote vis a vis mailing the warrant, the Annual Town Meeting, etc. Whether an article could be included in the Warrant was not clear; it might end up being presented at a separate Special Town Meeting. The pros/cons of this were debated for some time.
TASK: Richard Furlong to determine which is the best solution
There was additional discussion of this issue after the CBRSD staff and School Committee members left:
d. An Article must be written because of the Bond; but if Debt Excluded it must be presented on the town Election. The article can be written with or without debt exclusion. It seems to make sense to write the article contingent on the debt exclusion being passed at the election.
e. It was not clear, if the School Committee did not write the article in the best way, if it could be legally modified.
TASK: Richard Furlong to ask Sally Bell this question
TASK: Richard Furlong to get actual $ amounts impacting Becket, from Bob Tensel
f. After further discussion, it was realized there was no time to get this item on the Warrant. If the School Committee passes the recommendations, the Article will have to be Moved on the floor of the ATM, probably by a FinCom member.
3. Changing Treasurer & Tax Collector positions from elected to appointed
a. Mike spoke with a Berkshire Eagle reporter. She wrote a story and promised he’d get to review it, and that it would run close to the ATM. However the story was run immediately, without editing. It was ok, but not as good as possible
b. The Country Journal does not have editorial staff. They will accept letters to the editor.
TASK: Mike to write a letter to the editor of Country Journal, in a few weeks time
4. Approval of minutes- 3/13/08, 3/20/08, 3/27/08 were Approved
5. Finance Committee tentative meeting on 4/10/08 was Cancelled.
6. Audit – no updates.
7. Transfers between accounts – none
8. Seat-Belt Policy – signed by all FinCom members
9. Changes to the Warrant, compared to prior meeting:
a. one additional child for Vocational Ed seems likely. This would add $13k Tuition; no additional transportation. The budget can be passed as written: students are not accepted until June/July. Finances will be addressed at the end of the fiscal year.
b. Select Board agreed to not fund Berkshire South community center. This will need to be an amendment on floor of ATM, to be raised by FinCom member
c. Article 1, approving Rates for the various boards, was removed per request of the Town Moderator.
d. Special Town Meeting, Articles 5 & 6 (accepting land, approving land for auction) were combined.
10. Yokum Pond Rd. bridge.
Len Tisdale will address the ATM on the need for repairs; Richard Furlong will speak on the Finances
11. Warrant Explanations
TASK: FinCom members to review the explanations and send any feedback to Richard Furlong
12. Memo from Town Clerk re access to Public Records was reviewed. Impact on FinCom is minimal – our only public records are the Minutes, which are published on the Town website.
13. Introductory Comments for ATM
TASK: Mike to draft his introductory remarks, and send to FinCom for review
Meeting was adjourned at 8:36 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeremy Dunn
Clerk
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