Board of Education Finance Committee Meeting Minutes

December 9, 2008

ATTENDANCE: Bruce Kimmel, Glenn Iannaccone, Rosa Murray,

STAFF: Sal Corda, Superintendent of Schools, Dan Cook,

OTHERS: Board Member Shirley Mosby; Mr. Mellion, NFT Union President; Mrs. Haney; Board Member Jody Bishop- Pullan; Board Member Jack Chiaramonte

CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Kimmel called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.

DISCUSSION OF POSSIBILITIES OF MID-YEAR BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS.

Dr. Corda reminded everyone that the Mayor had asked all of the City departments to identify dollars that would come back to the City in order to address the deficit that the City is dealing with. He said that it was too early in the school year to identify any potential fund balance because there are too many things that can happen between now and the end of the school year to speak with any certainty. One of the variables is health insurance, which accounts for about 26 million dollars or so. With the District being self funded program, the expenditure is directly related to the expenses that are incurred. This is monitored and currently the District is where the projections predicted. If this trend continues, there may be some dollars left that could be returned to the City’s fund balance. But it is still too early to tell. The winter is just beginning, and although there has been a decrease in fuel costs, the District will be going out to bid in a few weeks. However, the amount of fuel consumption will be directly related to the severity of the winter. This is another area of major expenditure. The District has received $126,000 as a result of legislation that the State passed that provides assistance to Districts to help pay for the fuel. When the legislation was adopted, the oil was at a rate 60% than it is currently. These funds were not anticipated. It is important for the Board to communicate to the City that the District intends to be as frugal as possible and will try to generate a fund balance to be returned to the City or be used for other purposes. Dr. Corda said that it seemed to him that it would be an appropriate gesture on the part of the District with the concurrence of the Board to advise the City that funds that will be deposited into the City’s Treasurer’s account should remain there on a effort on our part to contribute to offsetting the deficit. At the Executive Committee, while planning the agenda, it was decided this item will be on the agenda for discussion in order to hear the recommendation of the Committee and also have time to consider this and deliberate over it as a full Board. Mr. Kimmel asked Mr. Cook if he had anything to add. Mr. Cook said that while he was pleased with the health/hospitalization, but also cautioned everyone that things could change very quickly. He suggested that perhaps it would be good to have this discussion again in January and to keep the item on the agenda for the next meetings. Mr. Kimmel then asked if any Board member had any comments. Hearing none, he then asked if anyone from the audience had any comments. No one did. Mr. Kimmel then asked Mr. Cook about the update on the year to date spending for the Board of Education, which was broken out by object codes. Mr. Kimmel wished to know if Mr. Cook thought there might be any savings in some of the broader object codes. Mr. Cook replied that he hoped that there would be, but pointed out that there were so many factors that could change quickly, it would be hard to know. He said that the District was working with the City very closely to reduce costs. He then reported some suggestions that were made regarding the bidding process, copier costs, mailing costs in dialogs with the City. Ms. Mosby said that while she felt that partnerships were great, it was more important to insure that the District is taken care of. She said that there was a history of things not working and wanted to be sure that the District’s needs would be met. Mr. Cook said that he had these discussions at his former job, also, and they were able to work things out appropriately. Mr. Iannaccone said that he had concerns about the use of the Central Kitchen as a central clearing house, rather than having the schools receiving their supplies separately. Dr. Corda commented that this was being worked on. Mr. Cook then reviewed the details of the site and where the supplies would be stored with the Board. Discussion about the details of bulk buying and the storage of the various items then followed. Mr. Kimmel then asked if there were objections or concerns about allowing the City to hold onto the $126,000 for the time being. No one expressed any objections or concerns. Dr. Corda then said that he wished to discuss the fund balance. He said that many people believed that if there were surplus funds, the money would automatically go back to the City, which has happened in the past. There have been occasions in the past where the District has worked with City regarding the fund balance, usually during budget reconciliation. Usually, the discussion has entailed using the fund balance to purchase items and therefore reduce the budget for the upcoming year. Flexibility and the effective use of the fund balance can have a positive impact on the District. At this point, it is too early to tell, but perhaps the District can work with the City to use the fund balance creatively. Mr. Cook commented that there were some items that had never been put into the budget, but that if there were purchased for the District, it would result in large cost savings. He then gave an example of revamping the three cooling units, which could result in savings in utilities and water within two years. Mr. Kimmel said that he wished to get a sense of what the Board would like to see or could expect to see in regards to possible spending increases or decreases. He pointed out that most of the contracts were still in force and the net costs were about 3% per bargaining unit. Having the budget at a zero increase would be devastating for the 50% of the budget that is not covered by the contracts. Dr. Corda said that at the November Board of Estimate meeting, the BET made it clear that during 2009-2010 the District and the City would be entering a budget year that would be one of the most challenging in the last fifteen or twenty years. The implications of unemployment rates cut across the economic spectrum. The budget development process has been approached with this in mind, in order to minimize the budget on the tax payers. Every element of the budget is being examined. A 10% increase in health insurance would be 2.6 million dollars, which equals almost a 2% increase in the total budget. Dr. Corda said that it would not be possible at this time to predict the final number because the work was still ongoing. Alternative ways of doing things have been requested. There will be some deferment of items simply because the District will not have the funding to support them. All positions are being examined, also. The budget will not be accomplished without some pain and Dr. Corda said that he was hoping that the final number would be in the 3% area. On the 16th of December at 7:00 p.m., the District will hear from the public about their suggestions. There may be suggestions from them that may help. Dr. Corda said that he hoped to have the budget in the hands of the Finance Committee before the Christmas vacation in order to allow them to examine it. Mr. Cook said that in all the years he had worked on school budgets, this was the first time he had seen such wide spread economic problems across the United States. Ms. Murray then asked Dr. Corda for a sense of timing regarding when the budget would be released to the Board and whether the process could start sooner. She said that she felt there wasn’t much time between the budget being given to the Board, the public hearings and the City’s deadline of January15th. Dr. Corda said that the meeting with the public was scheduled for the 16th and that the intent was to deliver the budget to the Board on the 19th. There is not a lot of time and there is a two week school recess this year. The budget development process started in October with the gathering of student enrollment. All proposals are in the process of being reviewed. Dr. Corda said that the budget deadline is determined by the City Charter and that he felt that another two weeks would be helpful for the District, which has the largest budget in the City. The first budget hearing is scheduled for January 6th followed by another on January 7th and a final one if necessary, on January 8th. In terms of presentation historically, it has only taken two nights. This leaves the 8th, the 9th and the 12th for further discussions and revisions. On January 13th there will be a Special Meeting to adopt the budget in order to allow the District to deliver the budget to the City on the 15th. Mr. Iannaccone asked when the District would have a clear idea of the number of retirements. Dr. Corda stated that currently there were fifteen that had already been submitted. There are a series of dates that are used as trigger points to help with early notification. Mr. Cook then reviewed those dates with the Board. The budget estimate is 24. With the state of the economy, some people may decide to defer their retirement due to losses in retirement accounts. Mr. Kimmel then had several comments about the upcoming budget reconciliation and stated that he would like to see the District’s final number in the range of 3%. He then has several questions about the budget schedule and expressed concern that the public has opportunities to express their views. Dr. Corda said that the District would follow the wishes of the Board and said that he hoped that the District and the Board would be at the point of agreement at the end of the second or third day as to what the finalized budget would look like. Ms. Murray asked about the difference between the public hearings scheduled and the other meetings. Dr. Corda explained that this budget would be difficult and that he did not want to lose sight of what the ultimate goal was. Mr. Kimmel said that he would rather come in low early. As elected officials, it would be important to remember that people will be advocating for particular programs or positions and to allow for that. This means to maximize the opportunities for public input. He said that this was healthy for the Board and for the City. By allowing the public to speak on the 7th and the 8th, Mr. Kimmel felt that this should allow for all the concerns to be expressed. He said that he would like to see public participation on the 13th, also. Mr. Kimmel said that the recent report indicated that there might be some need for additional personnel. The report indicated that there might be future savings by increasing the personnel. He then asked what the thinking was regarding this report. Dr. Corda said that while this had been considered, the District is mindful of the fact that not everything can be done. There are some recommendations that can be done without a dollar amount attached to them. Other recommendation had dollar amounts associated with them and the District will try to do what it can. The District has tried to maximize the use of grant funding, but there are guidelines that have to be adhered to. Ms. Haney then came forward and distributed three information packets to the Board about the Strategic Profiles in the State. She said that she wished to make the Committee aware that in 2000, there were 93 special education teachers and in 2005 when the number dropped to 74 special education teachers, along with the percentage that the number decreased each year. She indicated that while the teachers decreased, the costs increased. She then reviewed some of the figures in the report with the Committee and said it would be important to review why more money was being spent and whether or not it was being spent as efficiently and effectively as possible. Mr. Kimmel then had a question about the figures included in the document, which Ms. Haney reviewed with him. Discussion then followed about these figures. Mr. Kimmel then commented that the earlier that the Board received the suggestions from the NFT, the better it would be. Mr. Mellion commented that there had already been discussions. Mr. Kimmel said that he expected that there would be public input on the 13th and that there were no objections to the calendar. However, he pointed out that there was a meeting with the BET scheduled, and that the BET had indicated that they wished to attend the budget presentation. Dr. Corda commented that the District has always extended an invitation to the BET and to the Council to attend the budget presentation.

The next item for discussion was next year’s capital budget. Dr. Corda said that annually the District requests $875,000 for technology. Given the funding that was available this year because they were not needed to purchase computers, the Board approved the District spending the funding on Smart Boards. This coming year, because of that purchase, the technology request will be for $675,000. Dr. Corda then referred to a handout, which contained an analysis of how the funding would be spent.

Ms. Mosby asked when these items would be given to the Board in writing. Dr. Corda stated that this information would be included in the Friday Report that the Board will receive on the Friday prior the January 16th meeting. Ms. Mosby said that she wanted to make sure that the agreement between the City and the District was clarified in the documentation. Dr. Corda then reviewed the five year Capital Project Plan for technology with the Board. Discussion about the Capital Project Plan then followed.

Mr. Mellion suggested that technology be one of the four areas of the operational budget be summarize for the upcoming Board meeting. He then had two other suggestions for clarification on the technology budget. Discussion about the technology replacement process then followed.

DISCUSSION OF THE FUTURE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ESTIMATE AND TAXATION

Mr. Kimmel said that he had been in touch with Mr. Wilms, the Chair of the BET, and Mr. Wilms had extended an invitation for the Board to attend the BET regularly scheduled meeting on January 5th. Mr. Wilms thought it would be helpful for the Board to hear the City’s update on the financial situation and also to continue the discussions that were started at the last meeting regarding the creation of a working group to explore the issue of duplicate functions between the City and the BOE.

Mr. Kimmel said that he had also spoken to Mr. Hilliard, the Chairman of the Council’s Finance Committee. The Finance Committee will be meeting next on December 11th. Mr. Kimmel said that he felt that the BOE Finance Committee would be invited to attend the Council Finance Committee on the second Thursday in January.

Ms. Murray said that she would like to continue to meet with the BET, perhaps on a quarterly basis. She said that she would not like to see anything presented at the BET meeting that had not already been presented to the Board. She said that it would be important that the budget items be discussed with the Board first. Mr. Kimmel said that he thought that the meeting on the 5th with the BET would most likely focus on the other issues he had mentioned earlier. Discussion about the protocol involved followed.

The discussion then moved back to the salaries for anticipated positions in the Finance Office.

Dr. Corda said that the organization chart that had been developed suggested that there would be two positions. Ms. Murray said that the organizational chart that was before her was not the same organizational chart that left the Finance committee the last time. Dr. Corda said that the document was an earlier draft and that his recollection was that the elements that were on the chart had been discussed. The difference was that the other chart had a listing indicating the reporting relationship of the Human Resources Officer, which had not yet been finalized. Ms. Murray said that she would like to have the other document before continuing the discussion.

Mr. Kimmel said that there had been a discussion in committee about the reorganization and the possible addition of a position. The full Board has not had a discussion about whether or not this would be the direction that the Board wants to take. Mr. Kimmel said that he had some concerns about discussing salaries knowing that the full Board could vote the entire position down. It will also require a corrected organizational chart with the Human Resources Officer included.

Dr. Corda said to the best of his recollection, that when it came to the salaries, the negotiations committee would be handling it. He said that it would be important to develop a more formalized job description because the job description will need to include what the job qualifications are. The qualifications will have an influence on the terms of compensation. Ms. Murray said that the item had not been presented to the Board. Discussion on the process of approval then followed.

At the conclusion of the discussion, Mr. Kimmel announced that on Tuesday, the Board would discuss the position and the discussion of the reorganization would continue. At the following full Board, Mr. Kimmel said, there could be a possible vote. Mr. Iannaccone asked if the January 6th meeting would be a regular meeting. Dr. Corda said that it would and that the Superintendent’s Report would be the presentation of the first part of the budget.

CONSTRUCTION FUND UPDATE & POTENTIAL USE OF REMAINING FUNDS

Mr. Cook then spoke about the Norwalk Public School Facility Audit And Analysis and Priority Needs Assessment Report, which was compiled by Mr. Gorian, Mr. Lo and Mr. Shamas. It lists all of the needs for each of the school in the District. Mr. Gorian and Mr. Cook then prepared a three page report for the Finance Committee about issues in schools that had not been addressed at this time with priorities. Mr. Cook then gave an overview of the priorities in the report, which were limited to the funding available for them.

Ms. Murray said that she would like to have full copies of the main report available for any Board member who wished to have one.

She then asked why West Rocks was appearing so high on the priorities need list when major work was put into the facility in the late 1990s. Mr. Kimmel said that he was on the West Rocks Building Advisory Committee. He said that when the West Rocks project was underway, the Board decided to not follow through on some of the project. Mr. Iannaccone recounted how a significant amount of money was spent renovating a woodshop which was converted into a team room within a few years. Mr. Iannaccone then suggested solar energy be considered for one of the projects involving converting the electric heat at Jefferson.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan joined the meeting.

Ms. Bishop-Pullan asked when the report was compiled. Mr. Cook replied that it had been compiled over the last year. Dr. Corda reminded everyone that last year, it had been decided by the Board some time ago to develop the next stages of the long range plan. When these discussions were held, the City requested that the work be done in collaboration with the City in order to take advantage of the expertise the City had to offer. There was also a question regarding the remaining six million dollars and whether any priorities had changed over time. At that time, Mr. Gorian began to work with Mr. Shamas and Mr. Lo on this report. Dr. Corda said that he did not know if there have been discussed with anyone other than Mr. Shamas and Mr. Lo on the City. He also said that he would like to distribute the draft copies with a cover letter stating it was work in progress as Ms. Murray had suggested. It was also pointed out that the building principals had not seen the document yet either. Discussion about this followed.

MONTHLY DISCUSSION OF SCHOOL LUNCH ACCOUNTS

It was stated that in the October 27th closing report, there was around $38,000 of uncollected funds. As of earlier today, the amount was at $57,000. This is an increase rate of $18,000 to $19,000 a month. Numerous attempts have been made to work on this program. Most of the photo identification cards have been handed out and these are helping with the tracking of the meals, but will not help with the collection of the outstanding balances.

Calls were made to the homes of 710 students where it was known that that there was an outstanding balance. There are 2,552 student homes that need to be contacted. A sample document was distributed to the Finance Committee for review. Mr. Kimmel pointed out that that number of students who were listed as being in debt since the last time this was discussed had increase by over 250. Mr. Kimmel asked if there were other schools in this part of the country that were running this kind of debt. The food service administrator said that the other schools were running debts but he did not know what it was dollar for dollar. Mr. Kimmel said that it would be impossible for the food service administrator not to know because this was his business. The food service administrator said that he did not have that information available.

Ms. Murray said that this conversation had been held before. She said she would like to see this discussion taken to the next level. She said that the District had tried not to serve different lunches to those who couldn’t pay, but this was evidence that the District could not continue in this manner. She said that there needed to be a recommendation to the full Board about this in order to have a full discussion about this issue.

Mr. Iannaccone asked if there was a break out of the various schools. The food service administrator said that there was and that the majority seemed to be in elementary school. He also explained that one of the reasons it was difficult to answer Mr. Kimmel’s early question was that there is no policy that states once a certain outstanding balance is reached, a different type of lunch will be served to the students.

When asked how the food service administrator would solve the problem, he replied that when a threshold amount was reached, the student would be served a cheese sandwich rather than a full service lunch. Dr. Corda said that he did not think that a policy was needed and that it could be done immediately. A letter could go out to the parents with outstanding balances before the holidays. He added that there were additional steps that could be taken by the District if the balance continued to increase. Dr. Corda then outlined the steps that could be taken. Discussion then followed.

Ms. Murray requested that the Finance Committee turn this issue over to the Policy Committee because there could be legal consequences to collecting the outstanding debts and the District needs to have a policy in place rather than a practice. Dr. Corda said that while he agreed that a policy needed to be in place, it could take a month or more for it to be approved. Therefore, he would like to send a letter to the parents before the holidays about this. Ms. Murray had concerns about setting the thresholds before the Policy Committee had determined what those thresholds were. It was agreed that a letter would go out without set threshold amounts. Discussion then followed about how to handle this issue.

Mr. Kimmel then asked Ms. Bishop-Pullan if the Policy Committee could take this matter up. Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that the Committee would.

A parent spoke up about how she received a bill for $65.00 at the end of the school year without any prior notification. She said that she had given money to her child, which he did not turn in. She said that she never knew what her account balance was and request for balance information resulted with reports that were weeks old. She then asked how the District could continue to let her child eat for free. While she had made attempts to pay, she felt that the system needed more work and that there was a communication gap. She said that she didn’t receive a receipt or any kind of documentation about the balance.

The discussion then moved to how to get 100% participation from each school. The food service administrator then reviewed some of the details in terms of monitoring this issue. Mr. Chiaramonte said that he felt that the important thing would be locating a school that had a successful collection policy and follow their lead.

Copies of a survey were then handed out to the Committee with information about the disconnect of information and responsibility.

Mr. Iannaccone said that a family member has a card like a credit card where amounts could be deposited and the card was scanned when meals were eaten. The balance could be checked on line. Discussion then followed about a program that could be used to do this.

Ms. Murray said that she would like to see this issue moved to the Policy Committee and to have the Superintendent’s letter go out.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. IANNACCONE MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** MS. MURRAY SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at ________________

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Committee Minutes