Board of Education Finance Committee Meeting Minutes Draft

March 26, 2009

ATTENDANCE: Rosa Murray, Chair; Glenn Iannaccone, Jack Chiaramonte

STAFF: Dr. Dan Cook, NPS Interim Chief Operating Officer; Donna Vaccarella, NPS Interim Budget Coordinator; Mark Gorian

OTHERS: Board Member Jody Bishop-Pullan; Board Member Amy Jimenez, Bruce Mellion, NFT Union President; George Giannitti, Council Member Anna Duleep

CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Murray called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. She announced that Dr. Corda would not be at the meeting due to a family emergency.

Facilities Report - 5 Year update

Dr. Cook said that that Mr. Gorian and Gilbane had been working on updating the Five year Facility analysis, which was done in May of 2004. Brien McMahon and Brookside were omitted from that report because they had already been evaluated and were in the planning stages for renovations. Mr. Gorian said that currently, Norwalk has renovated seven schools and there are ten schools that have not had any work on them.

The updated plan could be submitted to the Board for their review approximately two months ago. Dr. Cook said that the entire packet could be given to the Board or a summary of report was distributed to the Board members with the full report available to the Board members for their review. Ms. Murray suggested that the summary be distributed with the full copy of the report of available for the Board to examine if needed. The discussion then moved to having the summary and the report posted on the website. Dr. Cook said that the draft report would be ready to be included on the agenda for discussion by the Board in late April or early May.

Financial Update on the 2008-2009 Operating Budget

Dr. Cook then distributed copies of the financial report and reviewed the various categories. In the 200 series, which is the Health Care accounts, several claims came in for January. Dr. Cook said that currently there is a negative 1% shortfall because of the claims, which translates to a $200,000 deficient. The 300 series, the Legal accounts, have remained in the deficit amounts. Ms. Murray said that she had requested a line by line break out for this budget. Dr. Cook said that he could send the report out with the Friday packet.

The 400 series, Repair and Maintenance, is in the black. As with all the other categories, this will continue to be monitored closely.

The 500 series, out of District funding mandated by the State, is also in the red but the State may be allocating a 1.7 million dollar reimbursement. The Medicare claims need to be processed by the Central Office in a timely manner so that the District is reimbursed quickly. Ms. V. said that the State is also behind in processing their payments to the District. The discussion then moved to the reasons why these claims were not being processed electronically. Dr. Cook said that this is an aspect that will be considered. The District is moving towards processing more of the work electronically. Discussion followed.

The 600 series, which is Supplies and Materials, has remained in the black, as has the Utilities account. Dr. Cook explained that the oil deliveries have been terminated unless it is authorized by Mr. Gorian because the price of oil was locked in at $2.50 last year, but the 2009-2010 bid price was under $2.00. After July 1st, all the tanks will be filled with oil at the lower rate.

Ms. Murray asked if there was anything that could help reduce costs. Dr. Cook said that the postage will be going up in May to .44¢ for First Class. By working with some mail companies, the District could save as much as .39¢ for First Class mail and possibly more with larger mailing. Dr. Cook said that by combining bids on copy machines, the District could save money, along with bulk purchases for basic supplies, like copy paper.

Food Service Management Company Bid for 2009-2010 School Year – Update on timeline/current collections

Dr. Cook distributed copies of a memo regarding the Food Service bids. Dr. Cook then reviewed the timeline and the schedule for the bid process, along with Mr. Giannetti. Ms. Murray said that the Board needed to be involved in the process much earlier than it currently is. Discussion followed regarding how this could be done.

Mr. Chiaramonte asked what the current amount of indebtness. Dr. Cook said that the debt has been reduced from $70,000 to around $38,000. Mr. Chiaramonte said that Ponus had reduced the number of non-paying students from 150 to approximately 20. Mr. Giannitti said that since October 1st, there have been an additional 700 students added to the Free and Reduced Lunch program. Mr. Giannitti then showed the Finance Committee the recent analysis and indicated where the debt had been retired. The discussion then followed about the details of the Free and Reduced Lunch program and the reimbursement process.

BMHS Band – Finance and Funding

Mr. Iannaccone said that he had requested that this be put on the agenda because he was concerned about the situation at McMahon. The students are not paying their band financial obligations. Mr. Iannaccone asked why the District would withhold a diploma if a student has outstanding library fees but would not do this for the outstanding band fees. Two representatives from the Band Parent Club reviewed some of the expenses associated with the students in the band program, which is a credited course. It was pointed out that the athletic programs are fully funded by the school, but the band program is not. Ms. Bishop-Pullan said that it would be important to get a break down of the costs involved, such as the cost that the Band Parents pay to have the instruments repaired. A discussion then followed about obtaining a Master key for the Band Instructor for Saturday morning practices rather than having a custodian come in.

Dr. Cook said that when he came to Norwalk from Stamford, he was shocked at how strong the arts program was. Norwalk high schools sell out their school plays where other schools play to an almost empty auditorium. He also commented that Stamford pays for the band uniforms. The Band Parents representatives also informed the Committee that they had contacted other band parents in other districts about this. Dr. Cook said that he would like copies of this. A copy of the Band Parent’s budget will also be sent.

Discussion of the 2009-2010 Operating Budget

Dr. Cook said that Wright Tech has been reopened. Currently there are 47 students that will be returning to the school, which will require two buses. There are also 4 students that attend Vocational Education in Stamford.

Dr. Cook said that Naramake was forced to add two modular classrooms because the enrollment for Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten was so high. There will be two modular units at Rowayton and two modular units at Naramake. When the enrollment increases were noted, more teachers were hired, but there was no discussion about where the students would be located. The modulars at Rowayton cost about $186,000.

Discussion then followed about number of classes and students per class. Dr. Cook said that Mr. Daddona would be more familiar with the break out of students and assignment of location.

Other

There was no other business to discuss at this time.

Adjournment

Ms. Murray adjourned the meeting at 9:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services

Category: Committee Minutes