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Home My WebLink About2014-01-30-AC-min 2014-01-30 Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee January 30,2014 : ParkerRoom,Town OfficeBuilding,7:30p.m. :John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Mollie Garberg;Alan Levine; Susan McLeish;Eric Michelson; Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent:Glenn Parker, Chair; Robert Cohen; Richard Neumeier; Jonina Schonfeld Others Present:Mary Ellen Dunn, Assistant Superintendent, Lexington Public Schools (LPS); Ian Dailey,Budget Officer, LPS; Margaret Coppe, Chair, Lexington School Committee The meetingwas calledto order at 7:37p.m. Minutes: 1.A motion was made and seconded to accept the January 23, 2014minutes with minor editspresented by Mr. Levine. The motion passed. VOTE: 5-0 Discussion of School Department FY2015 Budget: 2.Ms. Dunn gave a presentation based on slides that areavailable on the School Department’s website http://lps.lexingtonma.org/cms/lib2/MA01001631/Centricity/Domain/365/FY15.Budget.Supt.Pre sentation.2014-01-07.pdf.The current Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 budgetrequest representsa 6.82% increase above the FY2014 budgetrequest. Inthe TownManager’s revenue allocation model for FY 2015, the schools were allocated a 7.63% increase. TheSchool Committee isstill deliberating onthe school budgetand willholda public hearing on the budget onSaturday, February 1, 2014. Input from that meeting will be discussed at the School Committee’s February thth 4meeting, and the School Committee plans to vote on a final budget on February 11. Mr. Addelson noted that any available funds not used by either the School Department or onthe municipal side are likely to be put into the Capital Project/Debt Service Stabilization Fund. Those funds would not be earmarked. Ms. Dunn identified the School Department’sthree main goals; plans to achieve those goals include additional staff as well as program and administrative changes, as follows: Advance academic excellence: Includes overhauling the evaluation of teachers to meet state requirements; curriculum reviews to prepare for changes in the state testing program;expandingthe special education Intensive Learning Program into the High School; and expanding technical and instructional support. Promote social and emotional wellness: Includes expanding the Therapeutic Learning Programs for special needs students with emotional or behavioral needs; and increasing social worker availability. Ensure infrastructurethat supports school and district needs: Includes reorganizing various administrative structures and improving communications with school and district constituencies. During the discussion, Ms. Dunn added,usuallyin response to questions,that 1 2014-01-30 Minutes The number of special needs students is growing at the youngest levels. The number of homeless children has increased to about 30, only partially because some homeless families have been placed at the Bedford Street hotel. The time it takes to evaluate a teacher is increasing because of new state standards. The budget includes anew Director of Planning and Assessment, whowill provide technical support for data collection and analysis. The person will have an advanced degree. The Department of Student Services will be reorganized withnew department names. The major budget drivers are legal requirements, enrollment increases, contractual increases, and program improvements. Staff profilingis not currently available but an effort will be made to compile thisdata. Most of the structure is now in place for tracking staffpositions; the next step is to train staffin how to make a staffing request. Budget administrators are being remindedthat the approved budget book controls where and how much money is spent. There isn’t a separate line item for energy planning and training. In recent years, safety and security demands have changed significantly; the School Department, Police Department, and Fire Department meet annually with their crisis teams to maintain formalized and coordinated emergency response measures. Developing those measures took more time than is now required to update and maintain them. School bus usage has been increasing annually since 2012 when the bus fee, if one signed up early, was reduced to $300. There are continued efforts to offer expanded after-school transportation programs at the elementary schools. The Lexpress/School Bus Flexpass is very helpful for middle and high school students. Unfortunately,traffic around the schoolsis still an issue, probably because of increased enrollment and because of the inefficient traffic patterns on school property. The cost of eliminating the school bus fee would be $700,000 to $800,000 and it isn’t clear that this would eliminate the traffic problems. One bus costs $128,000 a year. The buses are essentiallyfull; ridership data will be presented to Town Meeting. Collecting overdue fees from parents can sometimes be challenging;small claims court is one option. Students are not allowed on the bus if they haven’t paid; students can’t participate in their high school graduation if all fees aren’t paid. The School Department has requested funding for two new capital projects: Traffic mitigationdesign; Bridge Elementary School and Lexington High School (LHS) will be addressed first. Replacementof defibrillators; theyhave reached their eight year life span. There are a couple of errors in the budget book: middle school fees will not be increased;anda figurein the text isnot consistent with some information in a table. Thereare plans to close out the Avalon Fund. The Financial Assistance Fundis only used for athletic activities and pre-school transportation. Per-pupil costs were calculated in 2009 based on a methodology that included supplies and instructional material.The methodology could be used again. th New bids for the LHS modular buildings are expected on February 11. 2 2014-01-30 Minutes There is a reasonable chance that FiskeElementary Schoolwill needtwo additional classroomsfor the next school year. A long term plan needs to be developedbefore a short term approach is pursued. Re-districtingafterEstabrook Elementary School opens is a possibility,but Estabrook is likely to be impacted by an increase in house sales in thatdistrict triggered by the new school building. Creating enrollment projections is challenging. Birth rates are no longerconsidereda reliable predictor. Report(s)to the Upcoming Annual and Special Town Meetings: 3.Mr. Bartenstein commented on Mr. Parker’swriting and review assignments for the report(s), as compared to the 2013assignments. He prefersto keep some of the components that he had previously prepared because he hasa working knowledge of them. It was agreed to make some changes and to discuss this further at the next meeting. Liaison Reports: 4.In response to a question,Mr. Addelson explained that it was originally hoped that the new Community Center would be open before the Cary Memorial Building was closed for renovations because the Recreation Department uses the Cary Memorial Building for program and storage space.There are recommendations to expand the Phase 1 renovationsto incorporate additionalelements. Mr. Addelson did not believe there would be a negative impact on the availability of Community Preservation Act funds resulting from these changes, but there could be adelay in the opening of the Community Centeruntil well after the Cary project is undertaken. One solution is to delay the Cary Memorial Building project. Karen Simmons, Director,Recreation Department,is exploring alternatives for her needs.In response to a question, Mr. Addelson said that there is nothing to preclude fund raisingfrom private sources to support the Community Center. Next Meetingsand Next Steps: 5.Dr. Edward Bouquillon, Superintendent of Minuteman Regional Technical High School, has been invited tomake a presentation on proposed changes to the Regional Agreement. If heisunable to attendnext week, the meetingcurrently scheduled for Thursday, February 6 maybe cancelled. Jill Hai, Chair, Capital Expenditures Committee, will be asked if there are capital projects that are of particular concern; perhaps she can attend a future Appropriation Committee meeting. Ms. Garberg will review the School Department’s capital projects for anything that needs further discussionby this Committee. It was noted that the largest CPA-eligible project is the Cary Memorial Building, which has already been discussed. The meeting was adjourned at 9:37p.m. A list of documents and other exhibits used at the meeting areset forth below. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Recording Secretary Approved February 20, 2014 3 2014-01-30 Minutes Exhibits 1.Meeting Agenda posted by John Bartenstein,Vice Chairand Secretary 2.Superintendent’s Recommended2014-2015 Budget; Lexington Public Schools; January 27, 2014 (PowerPoint) 3.Fiscal Year 2015 Superintendent of SchoolsLevel Service and Recommended Budget; Paul B. Ash, Superintendent of Schools; January 7, 2014 (Budget Book) 4