Minutes – School board meeting 1/12/09
Attending: Lauren Poster – chair, Andy Reichsman – vice chair, Gussie Bartlett – Sec’y, Francie Marbury – Principal, , Wendy Houlihan – WCSU Superintendent, from 6:40 to 6:55pm Mikaela Simms and Ajenai Hampton, members of the public.
The meeting was called to order at 6:10 pm.
Lauren asked that the Board acknowledge the loss of a beloved MES graduate, Jesse Lopata. We all paid tribute to Jesse’s incredible intelligence and creativity.
At 6:17pm Lauren moved that we go into Executive Session to discuss a student. Gussie seconded the motion. The motion passed. We left Executive Session at 6:30pm.
A decision was made to advise Francie that, on the basis of T16, section 1075, she advise a Marlboro resident requesting to enroll a student at MES that she needs to establish legal guardianship of the child before the student can be enrolled.
Lauren moved that we go into Executive Session at 6:40pm to discuss a student matter. Gussie seconded the motion. The motion passed. We left Executive Session at 6:55pm.
No action was taken.
We reviewed the 2010 budget. One issue had to do with cola (cost of living increase) and coordinating our cola with the town’s cola. Andy will speak to Gail MacArthur about it.
Lauren moved to exempt Marlboro from the state/federal lunch program for the 2009-2010 school year as per 16VSA Section, 1264 and 1265. Andy seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Lauren moved that we accept the minutes of December 8th, 2008 with minor grammatical changes. Gussie seconded the motion. The motion passed.
At 8:40pm Lauren moved that we go into Executive Session to fill out the Board’s WCSU Superintendent Evaluation form. We left Executive Session at 9:00pm.
Gussie requested information on the capital improvements database. Francie said that Gail Chaine and her will prepare an update for the February meeting.
It was noted in passing that Monday, January 26th is the deadline for filing nominating petitions to the Town Clerk.
It was also noted that Monday, Feb. 2nd, is the deadline for warning the annual meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Andy Reichsman
Pay Orders: 12/19/08 $194,839.79
1/2/09 $ 62,867.79
Future Board Meetings: Budget meeting, Wednesday, January 21st at 9:00am; Monday February 9th at 6:00pm, Monday March 9th at 6:00pm.
Marlboro School Board Meeting
Principal’s Report
Monday, January 12, 2009
Student Learning
Winter Workshops/Winter Sports
From last week’s Friday Notes “Today in David’s room it looked like show and tell as students sorted through a variety of items to find out where they were made. Out of 25 objects that Erik brought in, 10 came from China – a common statistic these days. The Junior High is digging into the Civil War. Judy’s students are beginning their study of the arctic. Erica’s class is learning about soil in two very different places – Vermont and Haiti. And, in kindergarten, there are bodies everywhere! The kids will soon be experts on the different body systems.”
Buildings and Grounds
Heating system continues to be a quandary as we deal with Johnson Control and Sandri’s – In fact, Sandri’s is here right now!
Finance/Accounting
Special Ed audit of FY 05 – no further info on our appeal of repayment requirement
Enrollment/Staffing
Enrollment – 78
New student starting Friday
Possible new 7th grade student – residency issues
Staffing – kindergarten SpEd assistant resigned as of 12/09
Informational items
After School fundraiser – January 23 Contra Dance
Windham Central Supervisory Union
“WCSU will provide member districts with the leadership and resources to ensure a strong education system for all students”
Marlboro Elementary School
Superintendent’s Report 1-12-09
Student Learning
Vermont will join with New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island in a regional project focused on transforming secondary education. The project will be funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. I look forward to learning more about this, with hope that it will be well designed to really make a difference.
Finance: In case you have not seen it, I’ve attached the Tax Commissioner’s letter to the Legislature, in which he urges them not to accept his recommendation for an $.85 education tax rate.
VEHI has announced that health care premiums will not increase for 2009-2010, but the average dental care premium will increase 4.5%.
Human Resources:
The superintendent evaluation process will take place at board meetings in January, with the results (by Board) sent to Rich by February 1 for compiling.
Matt Martyn is in the process of detaching us from Learning Networks, the company which has provided host services for our Firstclass email and web pages. We will be hosting Firstclass ourselves now, due to various concerns we have had with our service from Learning Networks. The new email addresses will be simplified thanks to our new domain name : WCSU46.org
My email will be whoulihan@wcsu46.org, and all staff emails will follow that same pattern. While emails sent to the old addresses will be automatically forwarded to our new domain at this time, we expect to be completely converted to the new system by the end of January. Matt has spent enormous time planning this changeover, working double time to be sure back-up systems are in place, and developing a process that will cause as little angst as possible—although there is bound to be some angst!
WCSU Executive Committee Meeting: 7:00 January 28, 2009 WCSU office.
WCSU Reorganization Meeting March 25, 6:30 Marlboro
Place students at the center of decision-making Build trust and respect by acting ethically, transparently, and with integrity Operate as a community of learners, committed to developing the skills and capabilities of all Collaborate, share and seek creative solutions
COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE
December 29, 2008
Honorable Gaye Symington
Speaker of the House
State House
Montpelier, Vermont 05609
Honorable Peter Shumlin
President Pro Tempore
State House
Montpelier, Vermont 05609
Re: Attached Technical Addendum
Dear Hon. Gaye Symington and Hon. Peter Shumlin:
Attached is a Technical Addendum to my letter to you of December 1st. I have crafted the attached in order to forestall any further waste of taxpayer funds on an inconsequential legal action sponsored by the Vermont School Boards Association. As you know and as reaffirmed in the Addendum, the Tax Commissioner does not set statewide property tax rates. It is the Legislature that determines these rates and only the Legislature can offer local school boards any certainty regarding rates to guide them during their budget deliberations.
However, while I make the attached recommendation as a technical matter, I urge you not to accept it. It is a fiscally unsound public policy choice that would result in a $31.2 million property tax increase at a time when Vermonters are struggling to cope with a severe recession.
Consider the following structural realities:
1. Vermont, the nation and foreign economies currently suffer the effects of a recession with experts claiming that the worst is yet to come. Unemployment is on the rise. Retirement funds and family savings have seen 40% to 50% drops as equity markets decline while short term savings rates are near zero. Housing appreciation, at best, is stalled. In this deteriorating economy, increased property taxes only exacerbate the struggles of Vermont households.
2. The fiscal 2010 current law operating statement reveals a 2 cent reduction opportunity in statewide school property tax rates, but results in a $31.2 million property tax increase, even with the benefits of income sensitivity factored in. I think you’ll agree that in these times, Vermonters will not welcome, nor should they, a $31.2 million increase in property taxes. Given the fiscal 2010 increases in equalized grand list values and the recession’s effects on other education fund revenues, under current law the property tax is the default provider of support for increases in education spending. This means that the property tax will bear the burden of the Education Department’s projected 6.1% increase in per pupil spending.
3. Over the past 5 years, Vermont’s primary and secondary school system has experienced a spending expansion funded primarily by property tax increases. Assuming the fiscal 2010 current law projections, spending from the education fund will have increased by $319.7 million since 2005. This increase represents an annual growth rate of 5.4% and includes a per pupil education spending growth rate of 6.2% annually. During this same period, property taxes will increase by $268.1 million, net of income sensitivity, which represents an annual growth rate of 7.2%. The remainder of the increase is covered primarily by increased sales taxes and transfers from the general fund.
4. According to Governing Magazine’s most recent annual rankings, Vermont’s primary and secondary school system is among the best funded in the nation. We rank 3rd in spending per pupil (40% above the national average), 2nd in pupil teacher ratio (31% better than the national average) and 2nd in the percentage of personal income spent on K-12 education. Vermont Department of Education data reveals that while Vermont’s school enrollment has dropped by almost 10,000 students since 1997, school staffs have increased by 3,500 positions, or 22%.
5. In fiscal 2009, public services funded by the general fund have undergone severe budgetary reductions with more likely when the legislature convenes. These reductions have included the elimination of hundreds of positions. At the same time, education spending has been spared rescissions by the Governor and the Legislature. For fiscal 2010, additional cutbacks in general fund appropriations are anticipated with some projections at 8% less relative to 2009 levels. Yet current law education fund projections show no such restraint; in fact, they call for spending increases of near 5% and 6.1% per pupil.
It is understandable, though hardly laudable, that the Vermont School Boards Association would fight to preserve their privileged financial position. Given the complexities of Act 68, they make it sound as if a 2 cent reduction is good news to property tax payers. Yet, as we’ve seen these past years, even though property tax rates go down, tax bills go up to cover their significant spending increases. In some school districts, members of the Vermont School Boards Association are floating budget increases of 11% (Barre), 7.9% (Burlington), 7.7% (Stowe) and 4.9% (Rutland).
In the context of today’s economy, the financial pressures faced by Vermont’s citizens and their public servants funded by the general fund have increased severely. Yet, those funded from the education fund seek immunity from our economic woes. Vermont’s best in the nation spending on K-12 education provides a very reasonable basis to ask the education lobby to temper their exuberant self-interest and to work with others to find a more balanced response to Vermont’s current economic and fiscal concerns.
Finally, the urgency expressed by the VSBA relative to the school budgeting process is without basis. In only one of the last four years has the Legislature set tax rates equal to those I’ve recommended, and the dates of passage were generally well after town meeting day at 2/14/05, 5/25/06, 6/11/07 and 6/2/08.
Sincerely,
Tom Pelham
Commissioner of Taxes
Posted: February 16th, 2009 under School Board.