Budget Planning Team

August 28th - Minutes

Minutes (Prepared October 5, 2006)

Meeting Date: MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2006 Ð 6:00 P.M.

Meeting Location: MOHAWK MIDDLE SCHOOL

Committee Attendees: David Purington (Chair), Susan Flaccus, Paula Consolo, Cindy Smith, , Bob Szafran

Committee Absentees: Tom Lively

Guests in Attendance: Michael Buoniconti (MTRSD Superintendent), and Joanne Blier (MTRSD Business Manager)

Agenda

  1. minutes
  2. discussion about the reporting deadlines and reporting
  3. discuss what other information we need to develop besides just cost savings
  4. review in detail the following items:
    1. pink student-population
    2. pink budget worksheet (the K-5 regional elementary model)
    3. the white sheet showing key assumptions that went into the pink model.
  5. review the budget scenarios we are being asked to model and develop a priority ranking
  6. set next meeting date/time

Meeting ran from 6:00 to nearly 8:30 pm.

Bob Szafran was introduced and accepted as a new appointee to the committee. Bob had signed up to join us at the very beginning, but had been mistakenly dropped from the invitation list. In consideration of this, of the size of the committee, and of the relatively early-stage that much of our work is still in, it was agreed to have him join us as a full member.

Minutes of the prior two meetings (9/11 and 9/29) were reviewed and adopted with minor corrections to typographical errors.

We reviewed the details of the student population numbers that are being used in developing staffing projectrions and asked for review of whether there is a predictable drop in students leaving district after 6th grade and/or 8th grade. In particular, 8th grade transfers to the Tech School are not indicated on the projections, and need to be considered.

Discussed the most recent version of the K-5 regional elementary school and the summary sheet provided. Generally agreed that the summary sheet captures most of the important information and that some of the smaller detail items on the full budget worksheet are too small to worry about right now.

Agreed that we will continue with our plan to deliver our findings as budget summaries, supported by SWOT format only for those situations where we have a particular need to write down a compelling note into the SWOT format.

Agreed to ask business office to develop pro-forma budgets for the following scenarios:

First Group – K-5 regional, all one year, K-5/6 regional over three years closing Heath, then Colrain, then Sanderson {this sequence being chosen with consideration of size and ease of moving students, and in realization that other task forces may have other preferences} and K8

Second Group – Three different 2-school consolidations

Third Group – Close BSE

Agreed to begin developing listing of other questions that budget will be responsible for betyond savings. Items suggested included:

  • Per pupil costs
  • Whether moving 6th grade into middle school affects foundation budget and thus State funding
  • Building costs after mothballing – who responsible, who owns buildings?
  • When loans are paid in a few years, can State still dictate what uses we choose?
  • Do salary cuts truly balance one-to-one against unemployment costs?

At end of meeting, agreed to schedule another meeting for Monday October 16nd at 6:00 in the event that that a Steering Committee meeting is not convened that night.

 
 
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