WENTWORTH SCHOOL BOARD
BUDGET HEARING MINUTES
WENTWORTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
February 6, 2006
MEMBERS PRESENT Mrs. Gelsi, Mrs. Dustin, Mrs. Mack
OTHERS PRESENT Mrs. Gaides, Mr. Keene, Mr. Francis, and Mrs. Bownes – Recording Secretary
PUBLIC PRESENT 22 members of the Wentworth community
CALL TO ORDER Mrs. Gelsi called the hearing to order at 7:00 p.m.
PUBLIC HEARING Mrs. Gaides distributed the following documents prior to the start of the hearing:
1. Wentworth Warrant Articles
2. Worksheet Labeled “Wentworth HVAC”
3. Worksheet Labeled “Wentworth School District 2006/2007 Estimated Tax Impact by Warrant Article”
4. Graph Labeled “Wentworth Elementary School Grade Configuration for 2006-2007”
5. Wentworth Proposed Budget
Mrs. Gelsi advised that the last page of the budget contains a summary of the budget along with the various categories broken down.
Mrs. Gelsi explained that the biggest increase in the budget is the HVAC system. She introduced Mr. Francis from the SAU, who proceeded to explain the remaining 4 phases of renovations/improvements to the HVAC system throughout the building.
A citizen at the meeting inquired as to what the anticipated savings would be if these renovations/improvements were to be made. Mr. Francis said he anticipates a savings of somewhere between $2,000 - $3,000 per year in oil consumption. Mr. Francis advised that 2 quote were received for the proposed work.
Mr. Comeau pointed out that this is a one-time expense, which will increase the tax rate for 2006, but the expense won’t recur in the 2007 budget.
A citizen at the meeting inquired if there is any feasibility in doing phases 2, 3, & 5 and not doing 4. Mr. Francis said he is recommending doing all the phases as proposed.
A citizen at the meeting inquired if the building is insulated well enough. Mr. Francis said that there are other things that can be done and he would recommend that, down the road, the Town consider replacing the glass on the backside of the building. He said that one of the downfalls of this building is that you can’t increase your insulation further than it currently is, because you have to be able to get rid of your snow load.
Mr. Young stated that a couple of years back the roof was done and the insulation seen in the gym area is also new. He stated that the back wall of the gym was also redone this past summer.
Mr. Young said that something has to be done with the heat in here and emphasized that it needs to be fixed.
Mr. Francis said that the proposed plans for the HVAC system are posted out in the hall and if there are any questions, the public is welcome to call him.
Mrs. Gelsi advised that the tax impact statement posted on the website is incorrect and she made available copies of the corrected tax impact.
Mrs. Gelsi stated that the Board is supporting the completion of all the phases at once.
Mr. Young asked if the unit in the ceiling would be replaced and Mr. Francis advised that it would and that reheat coils would also be added. He stated that each classroom would be individually controlled. Mr. Francis said that the system can be controlled on site or remotely as it is a web based system
Mr. Young expressed his opinion that this is work that should have been done 5 – 10 years ago.
Mr. Carl asked if anyone thought about using this building as an emergency, disaster shelter and if there was an emergency generator. Mr. Francis said that there is not an emergency generator and the facility is not available for use as an emergency shelter. Mrs. Gelsi added that this is an issue for the Town, but the school is looking at grants for this purpose.
Mr. Young asked if a back up generator for the school could be looked at.
Mr. Hinckley stated that the bottom line is that the proposed HVAC renovations/improvements will cost $4.07 per thousand to do phases II & III and $4.94 per thousand to do the whole project. He stated that the entire cost is $.86 from start to finish (one time), which will save a lot of money.
At the request of a citizen, Mr. Francis advised that the quote expires this summer.
Mr. Francis reviewed the contingency fund of 15% and stated that the main reason for this, is to address any unexpected items that my come up during the project. He stated that any of the money not used, would be returned to the taxpayers.
Mrs. Gelsi reviewed each warrant article with those present.
A citizen at the meeting inquired as to why we don’t have the kindergarten students here at this school and Mrs. Gelsi advised that currently, there isn’t enough classroom space. The same citizen pointed out that we are taking Warren students into the school and asked if that can be done, why the kindergarten couldn’t be accommodated. Mrs. Gelsi stated that the Warren students are being taken into existing classroom space, we are not having to create classroom space. This same citizen stated that these young children should be able to go to school in their own town. Mrs. Gelsi said there are other options locally for kindergarten students i.e. Montview, Warren (by bus – transportation covered by Warren), Plymouth Child Development Center, etc.
Mr. Young asked if there was a way to keep the kindergarten students in this building and have the older children go to Warren.
Mr. Hinckley inquired what the average salary of aides is and Mrs. Gelsi said it runs between $9.00 per hour and $9.60 per hour. Mrs. Gelsi said this boils down to approximately a $.50 per hour increase.
Mrs. Gelsi stated that with regard to article 4, the district makes a bond payment to repay the amount borrowed (page 10, line 290).
Mr. Carl inquired if the $100,000 in article 4 is enough. Mrs. Gelsi referred him to the special education line in the budget (page 2, line 50) and advised that there is an increase on that line. Mrs. Gelsi advised that currently the Board is anticipating placing 3 students that cannot be educated in the Wentworth school.
Mr. Hinckley inquired if in the near future that these services could be provided in house. Mrs. Gelsi said that this is the goal for the future. However, classroom space is needed.
Mr. Young said that he feels that all children should have an education. He asked if $87,200 was what would be spent on 3 students and Mrs. Gelsi confirmed that this is the cost of out of district placements for 3 children for next year.
Mr. Young noted that if you divide this by 3 it is close to $30,000 per child per year. He asked what the average money spent on the average student per year is. Mrs. Gelsi said that it is approximately $10,620.58. Mr. Young said that he doesn’t understand where the fairness is on that. Mrs. Gelsi said a part of that cost is transportation.
Mr. Young said he feels all the children should be on equal ground when it comes to education. He asked what the actual reimbursement is from the state on these children. Mrs. Gaides stated that you have to spend 3.5 times the state tuition average (cap is currently $32,307) in order to get any reimbursement through catastrophic aid.
Mrs. Gelsi noted that if children have a special need, we have to meet it by law.
Mrs. Comeau said it seems we would get more for our dollar if we had the classroom and teacher here, rather than sending these students out. Mrs. Gelsi pointed out that the parents must also agree to this.
A citizen at the meeting pointed out that even with a classroom and a teacher, you may still not be able to service that student.
A citizen at the meeting stated that fairness doesn’t mean equal, it means meeting each student’s needs.
Mrs. Gelsi said that we have a very high special education budget and each time we have to freeze the budget due to special education costs, the regular education students lose out. She said that each individual child’s needs have to be met and if that can’t happen here, they have to be tuitioned out.
A citizen at the meeting inquired as to the $1 for the gifted and talented in this school and pointed out that these children also have special needs. Mrs. Gelsi said that the Board is looking into grants for the gifted and talented.
A citizen at the meeting pointed out that there have been a percentage of students that have gone through this school that weren’t taken care of (gifted and talented). She said that if no child is to be left behind, then the gifted and talented need to be taken care of also.
Mr. Hinckley pointed out that the federal government just increased funding for the math and sciences in schools and he pointed out that this may help the gifted and talented students.
A citizen at the meeting expressed concern about building a room for special education students and sending the kindergarten students to another school.
This same citizen at the meeting expressed concern about the cost of Kindergarten in Warren. Mrs. Gelsi pointed out that the district will pay the same amount for Kindergarten in Warren as they do for Montview. She said the difference will need to be paid by the parent and pointed out that Montview is a half-day program and Warren is a full day program.
A citizen at the meeting pointed out that to bring special education services into this building is not cost effective in the long run.
A citizen at the meeting with regard to increasing the Board membership stated that the number reflected in the school board services line should be increased to reflect the additional members.
Mr. Young said he doesn’t understand why there are staggered lengths of terms for Board members and Mrs. Gelsi explained that this is done to stagger the expiration of terms.
Mr. Carl asked if Article 8 provides us with the contingency funds and Mrs. Gelsi confirmed this. Mr. Carl asked if funds not used would be returned to general fund or to the capital reserve fund. Mrs. Gelsi said it would be returned to the capital reserve fund.
Mr. Francis said that article 8 would be used to reduce the amount of article 6 or article 7. Mr. Carl said that he would recommend maximizing the amount of contingency funds available.
Mr. Francis said that he is comfortable with the 15% contingency fund being established.
With regard to article 10, Mrs. Gelsi said that this is a plan to accept 7th grade students from Warren and pointed out that if any of the students has special education needs, these costs will be covered by the Warren School District.
Mrs. Gelsi said that any Warren students attending Wentworth will have to meet certain criteria. A citizen inquired if language referring to Warren covering special education costs for their students attending Wentworth would be written into the contract with Warren. Mrs. Gelsi confirmed that any agreement made with Warren will contain language referring to special education costs and who is responsible.
Mr. Young said that he is glad to see the Board undertaking these discussions with Warren as it makes sense for the two towns to work together.
Mrs. Borger, said that with regard to the survey cards, these numbers are not reliable. Mrs. Borger asked if survey cards would be done in the future and Mrs. Gelsi said that surveys would be utilized when needed.
A citizen at the meeting said that it has been a practice in the past to accept Warren students and inquired why this article is needed. Mrs. Gelsi explained that this was to make things official and it was felt by both Boards that this should be decided by the townspeople.
A citizen at the meeting inquired if we have looked into a handicap van for this school to help reduce the cost for transportation. It was pointed out by the Board that students have to be to different programs throughout the state at approximately the same time in the morning, so logistically, it wouldn’t work.
Mrs. Gelsi stated that the budget is up $386,000 from last year including the HVAC repairs/renovations.
Mr. Carl said that a list of the items cut should be published on the website. Mrs. Gelsi agreed that this was a good idea and she would look into it.
Mr. Comeau said that this is a decision to be made by the people. He noted that the Board is providing options and it is the taxpayer’s choice what to do.
ADJOURNMENT At 9:00 p.m. it was the consensus of the Board that there being no further business to be discussed, that the hearing be adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Karen A. Bownes
Recording Secretary
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