1995-03-09-AC-MIN.pdf - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE MINUTES THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 1995 Present: P. Lapointe, C. Coughlin, M. Miley, J. Pagett, R. Borghesani, M. Mairson, L. Peck. R. Neumeier Absent: R. Leone, J. Ryan Paul Lapointe discussed a tentative schedule for dealing with financial articles: March 14 7:30 pm - discussion with the School Committee March 21 - School Committee to vote budget March 27 - Town Meeting starts - will consider non-financial articles April 3 - A.C. will present report to Town Meeting April 10 - Town Meeting will begin consideration of financial articles FYI - TMMA Info Sessions are scheduled for March 15, 16 and 22 There was a lengthy discussion of current numbers and the amount of the "gap" for FY96. There is a lot of confusion around these numbers. Paul will try to get something more definitive for the next meeting. School Budget: Many questions were raised about the current status of both the operating and capital budgets for the Lexington Public Schools. R. Borghesani gave a brief presentation on the current Technology Plan. The School Committee has not yet voted a capital budget to bring to Town Meeting although it appears it will be approximately $2M including the Technology component. After a lengthy discussion about the numbers as we understand them and the general budget process within the School Department, P. Lapointe proposed the following for the meeting on March 14 with the School Committee: - Review our current draft with them to establish a framework in which budgets can be reviewed - Discussion of FY96 - use specific line item increases (instructional materials) as examples - What is needed to continue a good school system Concern on the part of several committee members was expressed about us trying to focus the School Committee on long-range issues at this point in the process. Fitting into the notion of a compensation policy, the issue was raised that we want to encourage the negotiating team to look at productivity gains during the negotiations. The issue of school hours because of the Time and Learning guidelines is a major motivation to look at that now.