SAU #70 - Hanover School Board

Present: Board members Asmus, Bruce, Carter, Chamberlin, Fleischer; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Williams; 6 members of the public; Recorded by R. Lohr

1. Call to Order – Chair Chamberlin called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.

2.Report of Chair

Chair John Chamberlin announced that the next Board meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, January 11, 7:00 p.m. in the Richmond School Library and that this meeting is the second of three budget meetings. The January 18 meeting will be a regular Board meeting, public hearing on the budget and budget adoption.

The Annual School District meeting will be held on Saturday, March 4, 1:00 p.m., at the Ray School. This will be the discussion phase of the meeting and no voting will take place at the meeting. The voting phase will take place on Tuesday, March 7, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Richard W. Black Community Center.

John Chamberlin announced that three School Board seats will be voted on in March, Larry Pilchman (3 year term), John Chamberlin (3 year term), and the replacement for the vacated seat of Matt Slaughter (2 year term). Filings take place any time from Wednesday, January 18 until 5:00 p.m. to Friday, January 27, 2006. Other positions that are open include District Moderator, Clerk, and Treasurer, all one year positions. Filing for the School Board and the School District Officers can be done with either the School District Clerk, Anne Chamberlin, or at the SAU Office, 45 Lyme Road, Room 207, Hanover.

3. Business Requiring Discussion

a) Bridgman Trust

Mark Severs, trustee of the Bridgman Trust explained how the trust fund is managed and how the Hanover School District accesses funds from the trust. The amount to be disbursed this coming year is estimated at $47,000, which represents 4 percent of the fund, the amount recommended by the Trustees. Mark Severs distributed a report to the Board showing the fund stock/bond performance through November 30. The Bridgman Trust is a non-lapsing fund and the money applied to Hanover School projects is not included in the general fund budget. Principal Williams will provide a memo of suggested Bridgman Trust expenditures at the next meeting for discussion purposes. His general recommendations will be incorporated into the annual report.

b) The 2006-07 Proposed Budget

Assistant Superintendent John Aubin distributed revised copies of the proposed budget that corrected some errors that had been found and he reviewed the updated budget. He announced that the deadline for staff sabbatical proposals was the day of the meeting and that no proposals had been received from Hanover teachers. Consequently, the Hanover budget can bee reduced by $60,000 though the Dresden assessment may increase by roughly $36,000. Mr. Aubin also reported that as a result of HEA negotiations, a new health insurance vendor is under consideration. Should the teachers opt for a different health insurer, the District could experience another budget reduction.

Mr. Aubin outlined significant changes in the proposed budget as compared to the previous budget and the Board discussed several of these items. The most significant increases in the budget include the regular teacher salaries, pupil transportation, and special education teacher and tuition costs. Those line items and the balance of the significant changes reported represent more than 96 percent ($739,192) of the changes in the proposed budget. The special education increases represent more than 48 percent ($369,596) of the significant changes.

The overall increase in the proposed school budget outpaces the inflation rate (8.39 percent compared to 4.4 percent). The Board discussed transportation, where an expected new contract is anticipated to increase the cost by 23 percent. The Board learned that the current bus ridership is 400-500 students, or 35-40 percent of the student population. The cost per pupil for transportation is about $1,000. There are now three school locations in Hanover, which changed the routing compared to previous years. John Aubin is considering hiring a consultant to suggest alternative ways to make the system more efficient and cost effective. Mr. Aubin noted that the cost of gasoline ($30,000) is paid and budgeted separately from the transportation service contract.

Mr. Aubin also noted that both AFSCME and the HEA agreed to HMO health plans that will decrease school district costs. If teachers or custodial staff select the more expense POS health plans, they will pay the difference in costs between that plan and the HMO.

A boiler recently install in the high school will be used to replace the 41 year old boiler in the Ray School and the cost associated with the replacement project is estimated at $50,000. Since a new boiler would cost $100,000, the school district is saving by making this installation.

The Board requested that summarized information about key provisions of the collective bargaining agreement with the staff be included in the proposed budget document. This information will be incorporated in the Warrant on January 18, and will be included in the budget document circulated to the voters.

The Board was informed that Jane Weissmann, Assistant Superintendent for Special Services, will be having urgent surgery so that questions regarding special education should be forwarded to her, John Aubin, or Wayne Gersen within the next two days. She will be available to handle additional questions before the budget vote, but will not be able to attend any Board meetings.

The Board discussed the recommendation to withdraw $100,000 from the Special Education Reserve Fund as recommended by the staff. These funds are needed to cover the increased cost of special education tuition, which is a major portion of the budget increase. This tuition covers the cost of all Hanover special education students (not limited to Ray School) that need to go to outside institutions. The length of stay and potential return of students in this situation is unpredictable, but the town is required to pay those costs.

The Board also discussed the number of FTE staff included in the proposed budget. Additionally, John Aubin offered an explanation of the Stabilization Fund.

c) School District Draft Warrant

A new version of the draft warrant was distributed to the Board and the changes were reviewed. Article 3 has some terminology changes and Note 1 in Articles 7 and 8 change the term “support staff” to custodial and maintenance personnel. Additionally, these later articles will incorporate an agreement on the health insurance, which is due on January 18.

4. Adjournment

Nancy Carter moved and Robert Bruce seconded a motion to adjourn at 9:20 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m.