PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
December 12, 2011– 7:30 p.m.
Jr./Sr. High School Multi-Purpose Room
AGENDA
1. Lord’s Prayer
2.Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
3.Roll Call
All present.
4. Approval of Minutes from the Work Session of November 14, 2011, and the Regular Meeting of November 21, 2011.
Approved.
5.Presentations
Mr. Butch (Student Council Advisor) thanked the Board for their support in sending students to the PSCA conference. One of the topics covered was education fundiing & budgeting. Groups presented proposals to a mock school board.
He presented t-shirts to Ms. Bowman, Dr. Newcome & Mr. Rohrer that show support for public education.
A. Budget
Mr. Carsley had distributed preliminary budget figures to the Board. By law (Act 1), the Board must approve a preliminary budget. Total expenses in this budget are approx. $47.6 million. This is about a $1 million increase over the current year.
Millage:
Chester County 37.92 7.48% increase
Lancaster County 28.44 0.24% increase
The index is 2.2% .
This needs to be approved to start working on the budget.
Mr. Ganow asked Mr. Carsley to explain the index vs. where we are now.
Mr. Carsley said that 2.2% is the amount the district is permitted to raise taxes. This is applied to the millage, not the expense numbers.
A rebalancing takes place each year. For example, Chester County mills are at 35.28. With the rebalancing, the mills would go to 35.87. You would apply the 2.2% to the rebalanced mills. This would mean an allowable rate of 36.66 in Chester County.
Mr. Ganow said the budget as currently presented would need referendum.
Mr. Carsley said that work needs to be done to bring the amount down.
Mr. Norris asked about the reassessed values in Chester & Lancaster counties.
Mr. Carsley said that the assessed value has decrease $ 2,183,000. $ 1.8 million of the decrease occurred in Lancaster County. The current market values determine the ratio.
2011-12 ratio 77:23 Chester County: Lancaster County
2012-13 ratio 79:21 Chester County:Lancaster County
Chester County will absorb more of the tax increase than Lancaster County will. Depending on where the totals come in, Lancaster County could actually see a decrease.
Mr. Norris asked where the preliminary budget started last year. Mr. Carsley replied that it was a $ 1.8 million increase. In the end, expenses were decreased over prior year.
We don't currently know the state revenue, benefit dollars, etc.
Updates will be provided.
Ms. Bowman said that the District has to show a balanced budget next month. The only way to show that at this time is by increasing mills. That increase will go down as they work through the budget over the next several months.
6. Information Items
None
7.Treasurer’s Report
A. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve
Ms. Johnson gave the report. Approved.
8.Business Manager’s Report
A. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the list of bills for payment.
Mr. Carsley gave the report. Mr. Hume had a question about credit card payment. Mr. Carsley will get the details for Mr. Hume.
Approved.
9. Visitors’ Comments - Agenda Items Only
None.
10.Recommended Action Items: (Italicized items are new; they were not on the December 5, 2011 agenda.)
A - F Approved.
A. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the Resolution authorizing the Proposed Preliminary Budget Display and Advertising and Authorizing Referendum Exception.
B. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the Resolution requesting fees charged by the Chester County Tax Collection Bureau be waived when the District or a third party collects delinquent taxes.
C. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the annual financial audit report of the District for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011 as prepared by the auditing firm of Herbein & Company.
Hiring Approvals:
D. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following supplemental contract for the 2011-2012 school year: William Rudick Jr. High Wrestling Coach 4 pts @ $570 $2,280
E. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Mary Cassidy, Mr. Gary Gawin, Ms. Cheryl Coughlin, and Ms. Amy Oster as volunteer swim coaches for the winter sports season. Four Octorara Area High School students will participate in the Ches-Mont League on an exhibition basis when a lane is available.
F. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the following substitute teacher for the 2011-2012 school year:
Judeth Macrina (Health, PE)
G. That the Octorara Board of School Directors accept the resignation of Ms. Karen Gallagher as an instructional assistant in the Alternative Education Program at the Octorara Area Sr. High School effective December 22, 2011. (Hired August 30, 2010)
Approved.
H. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Alison Venini as a long term substitute sixth grade teacher at the Octorara Intermediate School from January 3, 2012 to March 27, 2012. Ms. Venini’s rate will be $140 per day. (Replacing Amanda King who will be on child rearing leave.)
Approved.
I. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve Ms. Teresa Cassel as a long term substitute instructional assistant at the Octorara Elementary School effective December 2, 2011 through January 3, 2012. Ms. Cassel’s rate will be $10.50 per hour. (Replacing a medical leave.)
Approved.
J. That the Octorara Board of School Directors approve the request for an unpaid leave of absence for Ms. Charlotte Bridges for the purpose of student teaching effective January 3, 2012 through March 30, 2012. Ms Bridges is an ESL Instructional Assistant at the Octorara Primary Learning Center.
Approved.
11. Finance/Policy Committee Report
Ms. Johnson reported on the Finance meeting. They did not go over any policies.
They reviewed the preliminary budget with Mr. Carsley. They asked Mr. Carsley to check with other institutions re: some upcoming contracts.
Ms. Bowman reminded everyone that Committee meetings are open to the public.
12. I.U./C.A.T. Board Representative’s Report
Mr. Stoltzfus said that they are not meeting in December. They will be meeting in January & will be voting on what to do with the CAT-Brandywine building.
13. Old Business
Dr. Newcome worked on the questions asked by Mr. Ganow last month re: cost of turf vs. resodding + maintenance.
I will be posting the detailed DRAFT memo later this week.
He listed 5 options.
Option #1 Status Quo
- Would cost $20,000 per year. Cost over 10 years $ 200,000.
- Would cost $20,000 per year.
- Pay for rented space for football
- 10 year cost = $ 324,000
- $ 150,000 + $20,000 per year
- 10 year cost = $ 500,000
- $ 300,000 + $20,000 per year
- 10 year cost = $800,000
- $800,000
- 10 year cost = $800,000
Under option 3C, would need to work on track - which needs work anyway.
He is not yet willling to put out a recommendation.
If the field option 3A or 3B are chosen, there would need to be some level of resodding every 3 years or so - if we want to maintain it at a good level.
The replacement cost of synthetic turf is approx. $300,000 because all of the infrastructure would be in place.
Mr. Ganow commented that he had a feeling that resodding would end up costing about as much as synthetic turf. That is why he asked the question.
Mr. Norris asked about the coaches' feelings about safety with turf. Dr. Newcome said he has not talked with the coaches yet, but there are conflicting reports about safety.
Mr. Norris said that we need to at least consider it, to allow the maximum number of kids to participate. We don't want to have to deal with weather like this fall. He asked about scheduling issues for PE, if we limit access to the grass field. Dr. Newcome said there are plenty of fields to use for PE.
Multiple sports could use the highest possible upgrade.
Mr. Norris shared that one of his clients had recently installed a turf field & saw an increase in revenue due to more people wanted to rent the space and the amount they could charge for the rental. There was also an increase in sponsorships.
Mr. Stoltzfus asked Mr. Rohrer to talk to the athletes about their feelings.
Dr. Newcome said that ideally, the booster organizations would help fund. He'd like to get some sort of committment from them.
- This should be a topic at the next several facilities meetings
- Need to act on a decision
- Do not want to wait until August.
- Want to keep the process moving.
Mr. Hume was concerned about spending this money on fields instead of academics because of our PSSA scores.
Ms. Bowman said the conversation needs to continue. Can the boosters help? Will we need to do something with the bleachers? Will we need tighter control with the fencing?
Dr. Newcome asked for some direction - he believes he needs to talk with coaches, boosters and students. He's not hearing anyone say that any option should be dismissed.
Mr. Norris said that he feels "Status Quo" is not acceptable. We can't do this with any kind of weather. Dr. Newcome said it would be a challenge even with ideal weather.
Mr. Hume questioned whether we need sports. The Board needs to put pressure to bring up scores.
Ms. Bowman emphasized that this is a conversation. It may not be economically feasible, but we need to explore it.
Ms.
14.
New Business
15.
Other Items and Announcements
16.
Visitors’ Comments – General
17.
Administrator Comments/Announcements
18.
Board Comments
19.
Adjournment Finance/Policy Committee Meeting – Monday, December 12, 2011 – 6:00 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room
Executive Session for personnel – Monday, December 12, 2011 – Following the Regular Meeting in the District Office Conference Room
Facility Committee Meeting – Monday, January 9, 2012 – 6:30 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room
Next regularly scheduled Work Session – Monday, January 9, 2012 – 7:30 p.m. in the Octorara Jr./Sr. High School Multi-Purpose Room
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Finance/Policy Committee Meeting – Monday, January 16, 2012 – 6:30 p.m. in the District Office Conference Room
Next regularly scheduled Board Meeting – Monday, January 16, 2012– 7:30 p.m. in the Octorara Jr./Sr. High School Multi-Purpose Room
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