NORTH KINGSTOWN SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

7:00 PM School Budget Worksession Meeting

Central Administration Building                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              100 Fairway Drive, North Kingstown

“Challenging Student Excellence”

 

Minutes

 

           I.          Pledge of Allegiance

 

         II.          Call to Order

                The meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM.

 

Roll Call Present:  Chairperson Don DeFedele, Vice Chairperson Dr. Denise Coppa ,Carol Hueston, Barry Martasian                   

                                                Absent:  Bill Mudge, Kevin Mulvey, Pat Watkins and Cathy Kaiser, Jamestown Representative

 

Administration Present:  James M. Halley, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, William J. Daly, Director of Human Resources, Joseph F. Quinn, Jr., Director of Administrative Services, and Maureen Buck, Controller

Absent:  Daniel J. McGregor, Ph.D., Director of Pupil Personnel Services, Barbara A.

Fitzsimmons, Ed.D, Curriculum Director

 

       III.          Open Forum

 

¨                   Muriel Cammara commented that it appeared that most people don’t know about the budget meetings because of the way they were advertised.  Dr. Cammara suggested that in the future the meetings be advertised with a full agenda as opposed to added at the bottom of a regular School Committee ad.  She then questioned the reasoning behind the expenditures for the Guidance Department, which she felt were high.

¨                   Mr. Daly explained the personnel involved, and their benefits, are what make the figure over $600,000.00.

¨                   Dr. Cammara requested the rationale behind the necessity of so many individuals involved with the program.

¨                   Dr. Halley stated that one example of a guidance counselor’s many duties is to help a high school student with applications to colleges, and as the majority of North Kingstown High School students do go on to college after graduation, a guidance counselor “is a very positive force in the high school”.

 

  IV.         Budget Discussion

 

¨       Because she was not at the first budget meeting, discussion began with questions and concerns from Denise Coppa.  First, she asked a question regarding a school nurse assigned to Davisville Elementary School.

¨       Maureen Buck responded that this nurse was assigned to the school full time because of a medically needy child.

¨       Dr. Coppa mentioned her unease about the increase in legal fees for the district.  Mr. DeFedele updated Dr. Coppa on the discussion that took place regarding this issue at the previous budget meeting.

¨       Dr. Coppa reported to Mrs. Buck that there appears to be an error in the Brown Sheets.  The School Physician’s salary of $9,000.00 is not listed, and it makes it appear that there is no school physician.  Upon checking, Mrs. Buck noted the error and stated that the error also appears for last year as well.  She will make the corrections.

¨       Dr. Coppa brought up her concerns about the cost of Workers’ Compensation.  There is a $75,000.00 increase this year; Dr. Coppa questioned if this because of claims.

¨       Dr. Halley explained that up until 3 years ago the North Kingstown School Department was self insured, but is currently insured for Workers’ Compensation in a group with the Town employees.  Because of this, the school department is able to receive the lowest rates possible.

¨       Joe Quinn responded that there was not a substantial increase in Workers’ Compensation claims this past year.

¨       Bill Daly stated that insurance increases across the board have been noted because of liberal awards in the courts.

¨       Dr. Coppa questioned why the School Psychologist’s salary no longer appears in the Brown Sheets.

¨       Maureen Buck explained that this was not in actuality a “salary”, but an expense transfer from grants.

¨       Dr. Coppa was curious about the dramatic increase in salaries for Fishing Cove Elementary School.

¨       Mrs. Buck was able to explain this as the difference in the mix of teachers that was budgeted compared to those actually hired. Last year, Fishing Cove Elementary salaries were budgeted for teachers at step 5, but the school was staffed with teachers with a various step levels.  She will indicate this explanation for the increase in the final budget.

¨       Dr. Coppa questioned if there were to be any transportation changes with full day Kindergarten other than the loss of the mid day run.  She was assured that there will not be any.

 

~

 

¨       At this point, Joe Quinn stated, “This budget is $2.7 million added to what is going on right now…you have $250,000.00 to talk about unless you want to go to programs…this is what we need to operate our schools.”

¨       Denise Coppa agreed, “It is a bare bones budget in a community that has expectations that schools are going to continue to get better.  If we take something out, the stack of cards will fall down.  I was hard pressed to find something to cut.”

¨       Don DeFedele then returned to the Last Year/This Year Comparison Sheet, and asked if the Student ID System would help identify students who would require IEPs.

¨       Dr. Halley responded that the system has an “IEP Developer with some early recognition in terms of student data”.  He went on to say that another difficulty the North Kingstown School Department faces is that the district has been identified throughout the state as having the best programs for special needs students, who, quite rightly, by law, cannot be denied services.

¨       Dr. Halley then changed topics by stating that there may be some flexibility in the budget with potential breakage when Mr. Daly becomes aware of how many teachers will be retiring this year.

¨       Mr. Daly concurred, however he is only aware of one at the moment and he has heard that 7 more may be discussing it.  Mr. Daly did say, though, that prudent hiring practices will help.

 

V.                  Comments

 

¨       Dr. Cammara questioned why there were so many students were recognized as needing IEPs.

¨       Dr. Halley responded that the special education guidelines that the United States has adopted are so broad and they encompass a great deal; some students in actuality may not need an IEP.  In RI, speech and language difficulties are considered handicaps. With instruction the students improve and the IEPs are discontinued.  Dr. Halley went on to say that in the past 20 years, in RI as a whole, less money was spent on professional development for curriculum, building maintenance, etc., special education costs increased which created an inability to deal with students who were “middle of the road.”  RI had scaled back its investment in education.  Currently, Dr. Halley stated, North Kingstown’s Special Education department, or Pupil Personnel Services Department, is “a lean department” in comparison to others in the state.

¨       Dr. Cammara made a suggestion that the North Kingstown School Department begin requesting fees for transportation services outside of the regular school day.   She held that many communities throughout the state are doing so, and feels that it could be a practical plan to resolve some budgetary difficulties.

          

VI.           Motion to Adjourn

A motion was made by Carol Hueston/Barry Martasian, accepted by unanimous vote, to adjourn at 8:20 pm, cc 1:11:33:18

 

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

                                                                                                _______________________________________

                                                                                                Konnie M. Mazur

                                                                        School Committee Secretary