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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINAL SC Minutes 2022.06.22.pdf FINAL MINUTES MINUTEMAN REGIONAL VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING JUNE 22, 2022 - 5 00 PM Present. Pam Nourse, Chair(Acton) Jeff Stulm(Needham) Alice DeLuca, Secretary(Stow) Michael Ruderman(Arlington) Steve LeDoux,Vice-Chair(Concord) Judith Crocker(Lexington) Absent: Ford Spalding(Dover),Jennifer Leone(Lancaster),Dave O'Connor(Bolton) Quorum 6 members Weighted Vote: Weighted Vote present at start of meeting 75 29% Others Present. Dr Bouquillon,Dr Perreault, George Clement,Rich Ikonen,Nikki Andrade,Dr Kathleen Dawson Note This meeting refers to spending during Covid,which is the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic declared by the World Health Organization in March 2020 1 CALL TO ORDER OPEN SESSION The Chair called the meeting to order at 5 01 p m 2 ADOPTION OF REMOTE PARTICIPATION VOTE To adopt remote participation by all members of the Minuteman School Committee pursuant to and in accordance with Sections(2)and(3)of the Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law made by the Governor of Massachusetts on March 12,2020, such adoption to be effective until said Executive Order is rescinded or the Commonwealth's State of Emergency as referenced in said Executive Order,is terminated,whichever happens first ACTION 2022#71 Moved(Ruderman)and seconded(DeLuca) To approve remote participation VOTE 6 members in room at time of Weighted Vote present 75 29% Weight needed. >37 64% Final percentage results of vote 75 29% Acton,Pam Nourse Yes I Lexington,Judy Crocker Yes Arlington,Michael Ruderman Yes I Needham,Jeff Stulm Yes Bolton,Dave O'Connor ABSENT Lancaster,Jennifer Leone ABSENT Concord, Steve Ledoux Yes I Stow,Alice DeLuca Yes Dover,Ford Spalding ABSENT Final status of the vote• Approved unanimously Ms Nourse thanked all members for their flexibility injoimng this meeting 3 SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT-Dr Edward Bouquillon 1 1 To approve Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School Committee appropriate $500,000 00 of certified excess and deficiency funds to be transferred to the Capital Stabilization Fund to support Minuteman's expansion capacity plans VOTE• To move that the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School Committee appropriate$500,000 00 of certified excess and deficiency funds to be transferred to the Capital Stabilization Fund to support Minuteman's expansion capacity plans Mr Stulin noted that there had been an info meeting the day before which he could not attend He asked that Dr Bouquillon provide a summary of the issue and explain why this is the appropriate way to do it Dr Bouquillon shared that the Committee had a similar vote in June of last year After an audit was completed, the auditor stated that while we did not do anything wrong, we did not quite do it right and we had to redo some things One of those things that was redone as a result of that was our certified excess and deficiency (E&D) was recertified That recertification happened on June 4th so what we tned to do a year ago, and what we are trying to do again, but to do it this time in accordance with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education advisory He noted that many schools have been required to do in the last month, is to amend the FY22 budget He explained that basically this vote in effect amends the FY22 budget so that we can move some of our excess funds into the capital stabilization in a way that makes it available for the capacity projects that we have been talking to our communities about for a couple of years He noted that while we have done this all with full transparency, we just wanted to ensure that we are following the rules of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education In summary,Dr Bouquillon stated the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's advisory is that any contribution to the capital stabilization fund is in effect capital spending and no regional school can spend capital without the approval of its towns He added that normally in a year when we would have had our certification much earlier, we would have had the opportunity, as we did with the lighting authorization to borrow, we would have 45 days in which the towns, if they objected to what we were doing,could call a town meeting and vote it down No one did that with the lighting, and no one is going to do that with this, but we do not have 45 days left in the fiscal year Dr Bouquillon alerted the town managers to this last week and what the district is asking for, if the vote is a positive vote, is that we would ask our towns to give us a document affirming that this amendment to the FY22 budget was,in fact, endorsed by them He added that while there are a lot of moving parts,basically what we are trying to make sure is that we have the money available to us for the capacity projects as we have been talking with our member towns about for a couple of years Ms Andrade is here for more technical questions, as Dr Bouquillon has the political ends and Ms Andrade and Mr Ikonen have the technical ends Ms Nourse asked for clarification that as she understood it, this is also a relatively new advisory from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and Dr Bouquillon confirmed that it was within the last year, and it was the result of many people at the end of the first fiscal year we were in Covid had excess funds and these excess funds were being moved about and they just wanted to clanfy that capital stabilization authorizations were really capital spending and we needed to do it differently Mr Stulin provided his understanding that the $500,000 00 is the amount we have been talking about for a very,very long time We knew about it,everybody who has listened to us knew about it,and it is no surpnse to anybody,but the only issue is,technically,we have to do this by a different path based on the advisory and this different path requires us to take this vote and then it requires down the line for our towns to send us by 2 some process, a document saying that this is okay with them, which you expect them to do and which will not require a town meeting He sought confirmation of his understanding Dr Bouquillon confirmed that no town meeting is required,just a discussion at the Select Board meetmg or "appropriate" Mr Stulm added that we have no reason to believe that any of them are going to say no, so this is really just a technical correction of how we are proceeding and not any change in what our intent is that has been expressed by us over the last year or two Dr Bouquillon confirmed that and added that furthermore, it does not impact any assessments for FY22 or FY23 Mr Stulin thanked Dr Bouquillon for his explanation Ms Nourse asked that in fact that the towns normally would not have to make an affirmative stance,they can usually approve it by doing nothing but because there are not 45 days between now and the end of the fiscal year,Dr Bouquillon is asking them to weigh in right now Dr Bouquillon confirmed that was correct He added that the only town that he has heard from is Bolton and that he may be at their Select Board meeting scheduled for June 23rd to answer any questions they might have Mr Ledoux asked for clarification that if the Select Board does not send a letter,that is deemed an approval Dr Bouquillon responded that he does not want to assume that,so we are asking for a proactive endorsement He added that he has been advised in communications that Ms Andrade has had with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that it would be best and added that we only need six of the nine towns to actually provide us that affirmation within the next week Mr Ledoux expressed his concern that there might not be some Select Board meetings next week, so there may be a problem with getting six Dr Bouquillon noted that he sent all of the town managers notice last Thursday, approximately a week ago and once this vote is taken,we are ready to go with additional communication to all of them that will go and be a much more official looking communication signed by Dr Bouquillon and the district treasurer and we will send that Ms Nourse asked for clarification on one point—is it a courtesy that we are asking them to vote in favor or did the Depat lnient of Elementary and Secondary Education require that you need at least six and are we required to hear from at least six Dr Bouquillon confirmed that that is the regulation and then stated that it is a"courteous adherence to the regulations" Ms Nourse stated that she was confused because if we had 45 days,they could just take no action,but because we are required to have an affirmative action Mr Crocker shared that she just checked, and Lexington does have a Select Board meeting on Monday,but added that the agenda has not been posted yet Mr Ledoux noted that postings would have to occur by close of business tomorrow for a Monday meeting Dr Bouquillon said that notices would go out in the morning, and they would follow up with phone calls Ms Crocker asked Dr Bouquillon if anyone else provided feedback when the initial email was sent last week Dr Bouquillon replied he had only heard from Bolton Acton had a related question, but we have heard no concerns In Arlington's case, he sent the copy to Mr Charlie Foskett, as well who is the Chairman of the Finance Committee,knowing how Arlington works 3 Ms Crocker added that she will send along this information to her Finance Committee as well Dr Bouquillon confirmed that each School Committee member will be receiving a copy of the documentation that will be sent tomorrow Mr Ruderman confirmed that the Select Board in Arlington meets on Monday night Ms DeLuca thanked Dr Bouquillon for providing the regulations and the statutory references notmg that it is complicated and while she does not claim to understand everything about this, it seems to be a technicality amongst the various documents, like a bridge going between several documents, and she does not want to pretend to really understand it completely,but as a Board member who is supposed to provide oversight, she feels this provided her an opportunity to educate herself and be a better Board member She appreciates when members are provided all the background materials which allow them to do their due diligence to the extent that they can, given that this is something that Just began this year She added that if the administration is comfortable doing it this way, she is comfortable with this recommendation Ms Crocker suggested that moving forward,this be added to the budget process earlier to avoid any surprises Ms Andrade assured her"never again" Dr Bouquillon commented that it was circuitous route fraught with fear and anxiety, but we have come through it thanks to all the good work ACTION 2022#72 Moved(Stulin)and seconded(Ruderman) To move that the Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School Committee appropriate $500,000 00 of certified excess and deficiency funds to be transferred to the Capital Stabilization Fund to support Minuteman's expansion capacity plans VOTE. 6 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 75 29% Weight needed >37 64% Final percentage results of vote 75 29% There was no business for an executive session. Acton,Pam Nourse Yes Lexington,Judy Crocker Yes Arlington,Michael Ruderman Yes Needham,Jeff Stulm Yes Bolton,Dave O'Connor ABSENT Lancaster,Jennifer Leone ABSENT Concord, Steve Ledoux Yes Stow,Alice DeLuca Yes Dover,Ford Spalding ABSENT Final status of the vote: Approved unanimously Ms Nourse expressed her appreciation to Ms Andrade for providing all of the background documentation and being available to answer any questions. 4 Executive Session VOTE to enter Executive Session and not return to Open Session for the following reason 1 Pursuant to M G L c30A, §20(a)(3)to discuss strategy with respect to likely litigation with the Town of Lincoln regarding permit fees if an open meeting may have a detnmental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the Chair so declares Meeting to include Rich Ikonen and Attorney Peter Sumners Ms DeLuca asked if Dr Kathleen Dawson,who was on the call,could attend the meeting as she will be the Superintendent in eight days Dr Bouquillon said no, she is not yet an employee and he will fill her in personally 4 5 Adjournment ACTION 2022#73 Moved(Crocker)and seconded(Ledoux) To adjourn VOTE. 6 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 75 29% Weight needed >37 64% Final percentage results of vote• 75 29% Acton,Pam Nourse Yes Lexington,Judy Crocker Yes Arlington,Michael Ruderman Yes Needham,Jeff Stulm Yes Bolton,Dave O'Conner ABSENT Lancaster,Jennifer Leone ABSENT Concord, Steve Ledoux Yes Stow,Alice DeLuca Yes Dover,Ford Spalding ABSENT Final status of the vote: Approved unanimously There was five minutes of confusion about the Zoom link for the remote Executive Session Respectfully submitted, Julia Pisegna Alice Deluca District Assistant Secretary 5