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Essex Westford Educational Community Unified Union School District

Regular Board Meeting ~ Essex High School Library

Essex Junction, VT

Tuesday, February 7, 2017 ~ Minutes

Board Members Present: Al Bombardier, Diane Clemens, Marla Durham, Kim Gleason, Martha Heath,

Brendan Kinney, Wes McClellan, Andre Roy, Keeley Schell, Liz Subin(left meeting at 8:45 P.M.)

Administration Present: Superintendent Judith DeNova, Superintendent Mark Andrews

Others Present: Vince Gonillo - Executive Director of Technology for CCSU, Deb Anderson - CCSU Human

Resources, Kathy Barron - CCSU Division of Finance and Accounting, Marilyn Frederick - Consultant, Michael

Smith - Prudential Committee Chairman, RETN

Absent: None

Meeting Called to Order

Martha Heath called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M

Martha amended the agenda as follows:

● After Executive Session, add Contract Request.

Visitors to be Heard

Michael Smith - Prudential Committee Chairman MIchael came to the Board meeting to share news from the most recent Prudential Committee meeting.

After discussions with the Essex Junction Trustees, management of the Essex Junction Parks and Recreation

(EJRP) will be transferred from oversight by the Prudential Committee to the Village Trustees beginning on

July 1, 2017. This had to occur because the Unified Recreation Governance model vote was defeated by Town

voters and the EWSD made it clear they did want to manage EJRP.

The Trustees and Prudential Committee are recommending that ownership of Park Street School be conveyed

to the VIllage of Essex Junction effective July 1, 2017.

● Park Street is currently an asset of the Prudential Committee. The PC is making this decision in the

best interest of the Junction residents for the school building and its future use.

● The Trustees feel it is in the best interest of the Village to maintain this property under Essex Junction

management. Park Street School is also an important historical building to the community and

transfer will ensure its preservation.

● Terms are: Transference of Park Street School to the Village of Essex Junction from the Prudential

Committee for the sum of $1.00.

○ Along with the conveyance, the Trustees will take over all maintenance and upgrades to

continue to make the property useable for school and/or municipal use.

● This ensures the Essex Junction Recreation Preschool Programs can remain in their current location.

The Trustees agreed that the ACE program (Alternative High School) can continue to rent the upper

level of Park Street School, as was done under the ownership of the Prudential Committee.

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○ The ACE program cannot be housed on mainstream school grounds (EHS) and must be held at

a separate location.

● This transfer of property must be voted on by the community as a part of the Annual Meeting to be

held on April 10, 2017. It will be voted upon via Voice Vote.

Discussion

Will EWSD have any responsibility for the property if it is conveyed to the Trustees?

● No. All maintenance, heating, mowing, updating, etc. will be the responsibility of the Village.

Can the building be sold for other purposes?

● No. It is in the legal documents that the property can only be used for school or municipality use.

Could EWSD use this building?

● No. It is not large enough to use for any of our programs. It is also not big enough to use as a Central

Office.

What if the vote fails?

● If the voters vote YES, then the school becomes property of the Village. If the voters vote NO, then

the school becomes property of EWSD on July 1, 2017.

WIll there be any fees from EWSD to the Village if the building conveys?

● Yes. The district will have to pay a fee to the Village for use of Park Street School for the ACE program.

Fees will be discussed at a later date. Fortunately, the fee will be offset by the what EWSD will not

have to pay for maintenance, mowing, electricity, heat, upgrades, etc. to the building.

Consent Items

Brendan Kinney moved to approve the Consent Agenda including the meeting minutes of January 17 and January 31, 2017. Motion approved 9-0.

The above meeting minutes can be found on the EWSD Board site.

Unified Union School Board Presentations

No School Board Presentations are scheduled for this meeting.

Unified Union School Board Business

FY 2018 - Revised Budget Presentation Highlights A revised FY18 budget was presented based on the board’s feedback from their 1/31 and further analysis of both expense and revenue sides of the budget. The revised presentation dated 2/7/17 can be found on the EWSD Board site.

Review Areas of this presentation - page 3

● Budget Expenditures: Changes since last meeting, identification of major budget drivers, and origin of

fund balance.

● Budget Revenues: Tax rate implications, income sensitivity history by town, and existing capital

reserves and capital plan article options.

● CTE: CTE budget expenditures and revenues change since last meeting.

Major Budget Drivers Transition Costs - page 6

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● Transportation

○ State aid in transportation is based on actual and lags 2 years in budget revenue offset

● Preschool

○ FY17 budget: 232 children @ $3065/child = $711,160

○ FY17 actual: 265 children @ $3065/child = $812,225

○ Difference of -$101,065 that we need to absorb into current budget

● Technology System Access

○ There is money in the budget for all system recommendations

○ Powerschool for student management

○ Phone system in capital plan, consultant in this budget

○ There will be two accounting systems until one common system is chosen

● Equity

○ Leasing Chromebooks for students

■ Lease vs purchase: lease more cost effective - warranty, protection, $1 buyout at the

end of 3 years all included. If purchased we would have to buy the extras separately.

■ Currently there are 568 Chromebooks in high school.

■ Lease 1,029 Chromebooks for Grade 9 on down. Some schools do not have 1:1

computing, with this we will have 1:1 computing across all schools.

■ Incoming 9th graders will get 1:1 computing that they will carry with them until

Grade 12.

■ The balance of the 1,029 will be for replacement.

Discussion Have projection methods improved?

● One of the things that will give you a better feel for numbers is that we now have history. It’s a

relatively new program and we went into our first projection blind. People heard about it, it was

advertised and we got more children than we projected (using birth rates, etc.).

Are these students coming into our program or private (Act 46)?

● It is for private. It is based on 10 hr/week for 35 weeks. However, there is a revenue side to this

equation. We can count them as partial students for FTE. It lowers the negative aspect of it.

Suggestion: Please add to the presentation Preschool and how it affects the pupil count. This is important to

convey to the communities.

What is the total computing cost in the district?

● The numbers are not readily available tonight, we will get the numbers for the Board.

Suggestion: With regards to telling a budget story, could we have a breakout of the 1,029 Chromebooks?

Could you show us the equity numbers? Could we have a dollar chart and what other technology money is in

the budget?

Transportation - page 7

● Request for Proposal (RFP) currently out for response - 5 companies

Discussion Suggestion: For the engagement slides, we may want it to read… Up to 10 routes, etc.

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Comment: Remember, this might not be the final cost. It might not be what we are going to do. All of this could

change. We haven’t done the engagement yet. The bottom line is that we need to have the money in the

budget due to the time constraints of the budget process. This process is to see how the $1M is determined.

Prioritized needs proposed for budget - page 14 and 15 ● $57, 811 recommended - not in budget yet

● Athletics - $12,748 recommended - not in budget yet

○ Ultimate Frisbee - Do students currently play? Yes, it is offered as a club. It is VPA recognized

and will now be a sport.

What is the tax rate on the budget with additions? - page 22 ● Added: Current FY17 tax rate and proposed FY18 tax rate

Discussion Suggestion: Put FY18 column on chart to show everyone is paying 2.70% and put equalized ration on the top

blue chart.

Would it be helpful to have a slide that shows what the rate would have been without the incentive?

● Maybe not for the public but for the board. One of the driving forces for RED was the incentive.

Dual Enrollment - page 27 ● When we are talking about expanding opportunities for students, this slide is showing more college

opportunities for students.

● We have teachers that have certifications, another way it shows how we are expanding college

opportunities for kids.

Capital Reserve by District - page 31 ● A Capital Reserve is money already reserved and voted on by the voters.

● A Fund Balance is monty left over as of June 30th of any given year.

● You cannot mix these two numbers.

Discussion Would it be helpful to know if any of the districts are not planning to spend down and what if anything will be

rolled into the new district on July 1, 2017?

● That question should be sent out to each district to answer.

Audited Fund Balance - page 32 ● See Fund Balance slide (pg 35) for the wording of the law.

● The ballot wording has to include your per pupil spending.

○ For the next meeting, Marilyn will write the article both ways and have the proper ballot

wording to clarify.

Send all questions regarding the budget to Martha Heath who will send them on to the people who can answer them. Next Budget Workshop is February 14, 2017.

Communications Task Team Update Reference attachment 1 below.

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The Steering Committee for engagement, now known as Voices for Education, has submitted a plan in which it

has identified its role in assisting and supporting communications of the EWSD Board. Please see the

referenced document for further details.

● New members are welcome to join in as it is less formal than the appointing group.

● Steering Committee members are charged with finding new people to help with projects.

● The committee is to give support to the Board and help with engagement.

Discussion Should we have the commitee add a sentences stating this group is helping to inform the Board and administer

communications and does not tell the Board how or what to budget?

● This committee helps to inform the Board but this team is not a decision making body.

Can the board get a report as to what the Steering Committee is working on? For instance, there is a whole lot

of engagement that needs to happen, particularly about vision. The Board would like to know where we are

with that.

● Yes. A written report and be submitted once per month.

When we can the Steering Committee start communicating with Beth Cobb? The committee would like to

spend some time with her explaining the grant.

● It is agreed that the Superintendent should be involved in determining the vision.

● Judy and Mark will touch base with Beth and report back.

The RED study says we will have advisory groups set up in each of our schools. When can we start to think

about forming them? We don’t want to lose this piece when we are planning.

● We may want to start with the existing PTO groups? The PTO is a fundraising group.

● Don't want to lose this piece when we are planning.

The wording in the plan sounds like the Board is handing off all communication and engagement to this task

team?

● This task team is a tool and is here to assist the Board in engagement.

Transportation Sub-Committee - Brendan Kinney

● The sub-committee has not met since the last meeting when we approved the RFP.

● The next task is to meet with the engagement committee.

● The deadline for the RFP’s to come back is February 27, 2017. RFP’s were sent to 5 companies.

Discussion

Comment: When thinking about engagement, how do we talk about transportation and not have it be an

expectation before a decision has been made.

How many students are going to be served in EJ?

● EJ 968 students NOT including the High School

● The ½ mile radius students not taken out.

● For the RFP we had to give all the students. We will look at the ½ mile radius when routes are

designed.

● We are estimating 65% ridership based on the RED study modeling.

Please write down all questions and send them to Martha who will forward them onto the person(s) who can

answer them.

Second Reading of Mandated Policies

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● D2: Grade Advancement, Retention, Promotion, and Acceleration of Students Reference attachment 2 below.

● D4: Title I Comparability Tabled. ● D5: Animal Dissection Reference attachment 3 below. ● E1: Title I Parents Compacts (Part A: Parental Involvement Policy) Tabled.

Discussion

● Regarding the Second Reading of D2: Grade Advancement, Retention, Promotion, and Acceleration of Students

○ No comments.

● Regarding the Second Reading of D4: Title I Comparability Tabled.

○ The language is confusing. All of the schools are now in the same district. Can this be

reworded?

■ This policy as well as E1: Title I Parents Compacts are being changed in May. We

were advised to keep them as is until the state rewrites them.

○ These were written in a broad way, wouldn’t it be wise to wait until May to discuss and

approve this when the new policies come out and then fine tune it? Should we table it?

■ It is required to have on the books by June 30, 2017. How about we table it and if the

state doesn’t have it done by May then we wordsmith this document and go from

there.

● Regarding the Second Reading of D5: Animal Dissection

○ No comments.

● Regarding the Second Reading of E1: Title I Parents Compacts (Part A: Parental Involvement Policy)

Tabled. ○ Same issues as D4: Title I Comparability - Same discussion.

Andre Roy moved to table Mandated Policies D4 and E1 until May 2017. Motion approved 8-0. (Liz Subin left before the vote.) Andre Roy moved to approve the Second Reading of Mandated Policies D2 and D5. Motion approved 8-0. (Liz Subin left before the vote.)

Local Board Updates

Westford - Met with the selectboard and they are interested in a lease agreement for Parcel 2. There is

concern that there is no movement on use agreements for parcel 3. Martha and Judy will have discussions.

PC Board - see opening info.

Essex Town - N/A

State - The senate and the house have rejected moving the school budget votes until May.

Superintendent Work Plan

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Judy and Mark shared updates on several transition targets identified by the Transition Cabinet (district leaders), a summary on their meeting with incoming Superintendent, Beth Cobb, and the process by which the 2017-2018 school calendar will be developed.

Transitional Leadership Team

● Meeting with Beth Cobb on 2-3-17

○ Reviewed the organizational chart and discussed calendar for next year.

○ Beth is interested in attending VPA and would like to have a leadership planning time this

summer.

○ Shared CVSA calendar.

○ Mark and Judy shared preliminary pieces on budget - staffing, etc.

■ Beth shared some budget ideas she has.

○ Beth is well grounded and is a perfect fit for her new role. She is committed to relationships

and communication.

○ Mark and Judy and the Leadership Team are connect once a month with Beth and already

emails are coming and going back and forth. We must be mindful that she is still very

occupied with her current district.

○ Mark and Judy will continue to relay conversations they have with her.

● After budget process we will start the new Financial Officer search,

● There is a transition plan in place for Hiawatha’s new principal.

● Mark and Judy are constantly updating the leadership teams on the work being done on the Board.

FY17 FY18 School Calendar.

● A calendar has been drafted for 178 days. State law says we must have at least 175 common student

days.

● Questions remain regarding:

○ Professional development days (must have 5 PD days) and where they are going to land.

○ Where vacation days will be.

● We are also awaiting contract language to make final determinations.

Meeting Evaluation and Next Meeting Agenda

The next budget workshop is Tuesday, February 14, 2017 @ 6:30 pm.

● Board Agenda items for Tuesday, February 21 , 2017 ○ Task Team Updates

○ Local Board Updates

○ Superintendent Work Plan Update

○ First Reading of policies

○ Approve Budget

○ Warning Language

○ Annual Report

● Communications to the public will include:

○ Continuing work on the FY18 budget

○ Second Reading of Mandated Policies D2 and D5

○ Prudential Committee decisions reported by Michael Smith

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Executive Session

Per Kim Gleason, there is nothing new to discuss at this time regarding Negotiations. There are 4 more

meetings scheduled between now and March. Work is continuing and the atmosphere is positive and

collaborative. The opportunity to meet the support staff team will be in an upcoming meet and greet.

No Executive Session is needed this evening.

Contract Request

Martha received an email on Monday regarding compensation for Brian O’Regan. The contract was for a total

of $13,000 for 60 hours of work on the Superintendent Search and hire. In order to keep costs down, Dan

French was to be utilized for some of the work.

At the end of the day, Brian actually put in 120 hours on the search and hire and his extra fees amounted to

$5,450.34. Brian was fully aware of the contractual amount. He is asking for some or all of the additional

hours/fees. The question posed to the Board this evening is if we should pay Brian for the extra hours as he is

requesting.

Discussion

Marla thinks we should do the honorable thing and support the work Brian has done as he did an excellent job

throughout the search.

Did Brian raise any flags regarding the additional hours he was putting in?

● Brian was just doing the work. Most of the additional hours happened in the last 2 weeks of the

process. At the end, once he sat down and calculated the hours he realized they were more than the

contract.

Might doing this set a bad precedence for future contractors? There was an awareness in the very beginning

that the Board wanted to keep costs down by using Dan French.

● Dan wasn’t utilized very much during the process due to some extenuating circumstances.

● Martha asked for more reference checking and other work towards the end of the process.

Al believes that a contract should be a contract and Keeley believes at the very least we should negotiate the

amount.

Martha reiterated that Brian knows there was a contract and frankly he would be pleased with anything

additional The 120 was strictly time and not travel. He also did not stop when he hit the maximum in the

contract, he made sure the work was finished. We could put it in the motion that this would not be precedent

setting.

Marla Durham moves that we compensate Brian O’Regan for extra work done in the Superintendent Search in the amount of $5,000 due to extraordinary circumstances and this action should not be construed as precedent setting. Motion approved 7-1 (Marla Durham opposed)

Brendan Kinney moves that we amend the amount to compensate Brian O’Regan for extra work from $5,000 to $4,000. Motion approved 7-1 (Marla Durham opposed)

Meeting was adjourned at 9:33 P.M.

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Respectfully Submitted by,

Kimberly Kedzierski

EWECUUSD Recorder

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Attachment 1 (2 pages)

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Attachment 2 (1 page)

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Attachment 3 (2 pages)

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