Work Session 02/08/2010

OCTORARA AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT

WORK SESSION
February 8, 2010 – 7:30 p.m.
Middle School Multi-Purpose Room

DISCUSSION GUIDE

1. Lord’s Prayer

2. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

3. Roll Call

1 absent

4. Visitors’ Comments - Agenda Items Only

None.

5.Presentations:
A.Food Service Audit Report – Linda Neff

Linda Neff went over the findings from the Food Service Audit. It is the first one Ms. Neff has been directly involved in. There were some minor citations (one of which included the amount of peanut butter that is to be placed in a sandwich).

There is no follow-up visit scheduled, so that is good.

She is putting together a student advisory group to help the menus be more to the liking of the students, as long as they are within the guidelines set by the USDA.

Mr. McCartney had a few questions. Mrs. Bowman asked how long the audit took place. Ms. Neff replied that it was 3 days. Mr. Norris stated that his children have complementary things to say about the school lunches. Mrs. Bowman noted that the comments in the audit were good.

B.Budget – Dan Carsley

Let me note here that everything talked about was for discussion purposes at this time. None of what has been discussed has been approved or will even really be considered.

Dr. Newcome started the budget discussion. With the expenses currently in the budget, we are starting with a deficit of $3.4 million.

If the district makes the assumption that they raise the millage to the maximum permitted by law & use the exemptions to the full extent, then given the balancing of the mills between Chester & Lancaster counties; Chester County would increase 2.4 mills and Lancaster County would remain the same. That would still leave a deficit of $2.7 million.

Currently in the budget are items that were deleted from the budget last year (things that really should be in the budget):

• $ 100,000 for grade level chairs, department chairs, etc.
• Put in the full building level budgets & then decreased by 10% = $70,000. (Last year’s budget had a decrease of 20%)

State Revenue is projected as flat – no information yet from Harrisburg. They expect approx. $200,000 additional funding (maybe).

Decrease energy consumption 10% ($15,000).

Looking at transportation – trying to find a way to decrease buses – but they are currently in a situation where they may have to add a bus.

Looking at multiple strategies for Salaries & Benefits. The Administration and the Board need a philosophical discussion concerning this. Should they fill retiree positions? For the rest of this year, if anyone leaves, the building administrator will need to meet with the Superintendent to determine if there is something that can be done other than automatically posting the position.

They expect revenues to be up some. They were talking about reserves here ($500,000 - $750,000) - which in non-school world isn’t really revenue.

After all of this, there is still a $1.4 million deficit.

Dr. Newcome distributed to the Board a list of “Bad Ideas & Things We’ve Never Done Before”
-No raises for non-contract employees
-eliminate Summer Reading program
-eliminate summer Kindergarten outreach
-eliminate pre-school visits to Kindergarten
-eliminate conferences & travel not funded by grants
-eliminate professional development not funded by grants
-limit vo-tech admittance
-sell advertising on the district website
-close buildings by 6 p.m. (unless it is a school activity – sports in the afternoon)
-discontinue all extra-curricular activities (Dr. Newcome emphasized that he doesn’t want to ever have to mention this one again –but felt he had to list it).
-short-term rolling furloughs for 12-month contract employees.

Mr. Norris asked what the savings would be for these “Bad Ideas”. It is difficult to evaluate them without numbers attached. They can’t even be discussed without that information. He stated that everyone needs to work together on this budget. They need help & ideas.

Dr. Newcome said he is looking for direction from the Board. If there is anything that is considered “sacred”, the Board needs to let him know so they don’t take time looking at it.

Mr. McCartney had a question about transportation. He wanted to know about safety issues they had to consider. Is there a possibility of consolidating bus stops.

Dr. Newcome said that there may not be any savings in that. You don’t want to create large groups of unsupervised students. There is also a timing issue.

Mr. McCartney stated that he was looking at it from a fuel consumption standpoint. That if there were less starting and stopping, it could save fuel.

Mr. McCartney asked if they eliminated students from going to Vo-tech what would happen to them. Dr. Newcome said that 75-80 students would need to be re-absorbed back into the high school on a full-time basis. It would slightly increase class sizes.

Mr. Norris asked how many would drop out if they couldn’t go to vo-tech. Dr. Newcome didn’t think that many would. The requirements to get into vo-tech are high and these aren’t students who were at risk of dropping out.

Mr. Carsley said it costs approx. $1.1 million to send students to vo-tech (approx. $16,000 per student).

Mr. McCartney asked if there was any follow-up after graduation to see if those students go into the fields in which they were enrolled.

Dr. Newcome stated that the guidance counselors may have some informal information, but nothing formal.

Mr. Rohrer said that in his experience, most of these students do go into those fields because they know what they want to do.

Dr. Newcome said he would see if there was any data.

Mr. Stoltzfus said that from the meetings he attends at the I.U., that there is a demand for the students attending vo-tech.

Mr. Stoltzfus asked if we were soon getting any information from Harrisburg. Mr. Carsley replied that the first run should be out this week.

There was a question about the county assessment numbers. Mr. Carsley continues to receive reports from the county. Assessments are down about $6 million compared to when last year’s tax bills were calculated (approx. $200,00 from the bottom line). He is waiting for information from Lancaster County.

Mrs. Bicking questioned why the Chester County millage is increasing & Lancaster County’s is staying the same. Mr. Carsley said it was due to “rebalancing”.

Mrs. Bicking said that before the Board & the Administration dare ask non-contract employees to not have a raise, why can’t we go to the union and ask that they take a little less this year – for example, if the increase is 3%, ask that they take 2.5%.

Mr. Hume thinks that the Board may be a little too close to the situation and may be a little out of touch with the community. He said there is a district that put together a community tax task force to look at the budget. (West Chester). He also had a list for the superintendent of items to look at in the budget.

Mrs. Bowman said the Board is open to suggestions. She also stated that Octorara is not alone this year.

Dr. Newcome said that he hadn’t asked the Board this year if they wanted additional community involvement as they haven’t asked for it the past few years. He said there could be an additional community meeting.

He would like to invite Chester County2020 for a “community conversation”. Although this would not be specific to the budget, it would probably be part of the conversation.

 http://www.cc2020.org/

Ms. Bowman believes it is important for the community to understand that the district is starting with a $3 million deficit.

Mr. Malone said he wasn’t sure what could be done to decrease transportation costs. Mr. Carsley informed the Board that he would be meeting with Althouse Transportation to look at some buses that have lower numbers. Dr. Newcome said that everyone must be aware that there are consequences to making changes… a student that currently rides the bus for 25 minutes could end up riding the bus for 45 minutes.

Mr. Carsley said we have several roads with hazardous walking conditions according to PennDot. The limit for elementary student walkers is 1.5 miles and secondary student walkers is 2.0 miles. However, both Highland Rd. and Rt. 41 are considered hazardous roads for walking – so no students are permitted to walk.

Mr. Norris brought up the amount of time teachers spend out of the classroom at meetings & the amount we pay for substitutes. He wanted to know how frequently it happens.

He also is worried about community involvement in the budget process. He doesn’t think they should be looking at individual line items.

Mrs. Bicking thinks there should be employee suggestions.

Mr. Carsley stated that healthcare costs continue to rise. There have been $1.4 million in claims this year. The budget is $2.1 million. There have been a couple of significant claims. If you take those out, we are still over last year by $300,000.

Dr. Newcome addressed Mr. Norris’s question about substitutes. He explained that the Federal agenda seems to be changing the profession of teaching. He sees the future where the professional is not in the classroom, but out of the classroom looking at data. They can’t do that while in the classroom. If staff is doing the data analysis, then they can’t be in the classroom. Mr. McCartney suggested that we need data analysts. Dr. Newcome said that in this case, the people analyzing the data need to be able to transfer the conclusions to the classroom. Dr. Bishop stated that they need to be able to teach the kids & know if they are learning – and if they aren’t learning, what to do. So, she feels the teachers need to be the data analysts.

Mr. Stoltzfus said that adding any new programs is out of the question.

Dr. Newcome thanked everyone for their comments.

Mrs. Bowman encouraged the public to come out the meetings.

Information Items:
7. Presentation of Agenda Items for the February 15, 2010 Regular Monthly Public Meeting:

A. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the proposed preliminary budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year and allow the administration to apply for Act 1 exemptions.

This is just the starting point.

Hiring Approvals:

B. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of Ms.Melissa Rapp as a bus aide at the Octorara Intermediate School at the rate of $9.65 per hour effective February 1, 2010. (Ms. Rapp is currently employed by the district as a lunch/playground aide. She is replacing Billie Lynn Stanley who resigned.)

C. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of Ms. Catherine Mundy as a mid-range substitute English teacher at the Octorara Area High School effective February 1, 2010 through June 11, 2010 at the rate of $140 per day. (Ms. Mundy is replacing Jennifer Watson who is on child-rearing leave.)

D. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the employment of Ms. Dawn Munion as a mid-range substitute math teacher at the Octorara Area High School effective January 4, 2010 through March 30, 2010 at the rate of $140 per day. (Ms. Munion is currently an approved substitute for the District and is replacing Melissa Carrodo who is on medical leave.)

E. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Cheryl Coughlin as a volunteer swim coach for her child. She will be representing Octorara Area High School in Chesmont League swim meets on an exhibition basis when there is a lane available at the meets.

Ms. Bowman asked Mr. Weagley if we only have one person on our swim team. Mr. Weagley stated that there are currently 3 and that we don’t officially have a swim team. These individuals compete when they can. They are eligible to qualify to districts.

F. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following supplemental contracts for the 2009-2010 school year:
Dean Bicking OIS Technology Coordinator 2 points @ $545 $1,090
Drew Duggan OIS Academic Comp Advisor 2 points @ $545 $1,090

The OIS Academic Comp Advisor is actually for Envirothon.

G. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following substitute teachers for the 2009-2010 school year:
Alicia Ivey (Elementary)
Laura Stewart (Elementary)
Kelley Ternahan (Elementary, ESL)
Beth Vattelana (Special Education, Elementary)
Melissa Weathers (Elementary, Reading Specialist)

H. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following substitute support staff for the 2009-2010 school year:
Amy MacDonald (Instructional Assistant, Lunch Playground Aide, Nurse Aide, Library, Secretary)


I. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following changes in salary due to graduate credits earned:
Drew Baumgardner From M+15 ($57,535) to M+30 ($59,524) Step 7
Shawna McAllister From M+15 ($55,181) to M+30 ($57,349) Step 4
Dena Schott From M+30 ($60,974) to M+45 ($63,750) Step 9

8. Facilities Committee Report

Mr. Stoltzfus gave the report. The HS renovations are going well. There are still a few punch list items on the additions. They found more asbestos on pipes in an area being renovated. He expects that they will find more as the project progresses. There will be change orders to take care of this.

They are still looking at alternatives to replacing the Middle School roof.

He’s recommending that they move forward with the upgraded cabling for the TV studio. They will probably end up getting some sort of credit.

They are still working on the fire system.

They are still looking at the offer on the cell tower.

Mr. Weagley is asking for $1000 for a mat for the long jump.

Dr. Newcome stated that they had run out of time at the facilities meeting and Mr. Norris had something he wanted to bring up.

Mr. Norris deferred to Mr. Haller (OIS Principal). They found a piece of playground equipment they would like to install.

9. Other Items/Concerns

Dr. Newcome said that there is a focus group put together for the Math report. He invited Board members to attend as observers.

He wanted to further explain the Chester County 2020 community conversation. This group will be holding a farming conference at the high school. He would like them to do one of their community conversations in the district. He said that Unionville had held one. He would like a group of municipal leaders, parent organization groups, etc. to attend. He would like from the board a list of people who should be there. He would like the Board and Administration to attend in the role of observer and maybe answer questions.

He had distributed disciplinary reports to Board members and mentioned the meetings Mr. Weagley had been holding with booster & community organizations.

There is an afterschool Arts & Crafts activity being held for 1st & 2nd grade students. There is a cost involved. He wanted to inform the Board of this and if they want it on the agenda for approval, he will see that it is place there.

Ms. Bowman thanked Mr. Weagley for his involving the community. She thinks the Chester County 2020 is a great idea.

Chloe Dean (Student Representative) wanted to give an update on the Braves statue. A fund was set up in the 06-07 school year. There have been some donations & a fund raiser is planned. There is currently $ 6,437 in the account. The statue cost $25,000. They will be holding a brick fund raiser. The price is to be determined. Student Council has also been holding Nickel Days for Doctors Without Borders for the Haitian earthquake and have raised some money for that.

Mr. Malone said he believes that the statue honors the area’s heritage.

10. Visitors’ Comments – General

Ellen Brown thanked the District for placing budget information on the District website.

11. Board Comments

Mr. Norris complemented Mr. Harner (OES Principal) on the nice newsletter they distributed. He had a question about he drastic increase in absences from Aug-Nov over prior years. Mrs. McNamara said that there was a lot of flu, pneumonia and strep this year.

There were some questions about the discipline reports.

Mrs. Bowman thanked the maintenance department & bus drivers for school opening today.

12. Adjournment

Facility Committee Meeting – Monday, February 8, 2010– 6:00 p.m. in the Octorara District Office Conference Room

Executive Session for personnel Monday, February 8, 2010– following the Work Session in the Octorara District Office Conference Room.

Policy Committee Meeting – Monday, February 15, 2010 – 6:30 p.m. in the Octorara District Office Conference Room

Next regularly scheduled Board Meeting – Monday, February 15, 2010 – 7:30 p.m. in the Octorara Middle School Multi-Purpose Room