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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-04-03 School Committee Minutes - Finance CommitteeREADING PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reading, Massachusetts Joint Session Board of Selectmen, FinCom. School Committee April 3. 2003 CALL TO ORDER Matt Cummings called to Board of Selectmen to order at 7:40 in the auditorium of Parker Middle School. The purpose of the meeting is to present the financial condition of the Town, provide a history of Reading's changing financial condition and listen to impact statements. Mr. Fiore serves as moderator. He stated he would take questions from the audience, answer a -mails received before 6:00 p.m. and answer call -in questions. The School Committee and the Finance Committee did not have a quorum. School Committee members present were Mr. Dahl, Mr. McFadden and Mr. Russo. FinCom members present were Ms. Martin, Mr. Grimes, and Mr. McDonald. Selectmen present were Mrs. Woods, Mr. Hines, Mr. Shubert and Mr. Cummings. Town Finance Director, Beth Klepeis gave an overview of the Town's financial situation. She explained that it is very difficult to run the Town on a 2' /z% increase each year. Increases in costs are always greater than 2' /z %. Employee benefit costs have skyrocketed. Reading's Bond rating was down graded in January of 2003. Town Manger, Peter Hechenbleikner gave an overview of Town services and a summary of the major FY04 Budget reductions. Dr. Harutunian gave a presentation describing the impact on the schools. There would be a loss of 51 teaching positions, 5.54 custodian positions and possibly the entire athletic program. Mr. Dahl stated that it would be hard to imagine a college application with no sports, drama or extra - curricular activities. Elaine Webb, parent, stated people believe cuts will not happen. Mr. Hechenbleikner stated the cuts would happen without an override. Rebecca Lieberman, parent, Joshua Eaton School, asked if there were other ways to raise revenue in the town besides taxes. Mr. Hechenbleikner told her that they raised the fee for access to the compost area and parking lots. They raised the fee for construction permits by 50 %. Fees are on the high side already. They cannot raise them much more. Superintendent Harutunian stated the school department would be starting an all -day kindergarten program in the fall. They would be charging user fees for activities and charging other towns for entrepreneurial programs. Mrs. Klepeis stated the need for everyone to be aware that state aid will be less than the governor's budget. Usually it is more. You cannot turn a fee into a tax. Joint Session Board of Selectmen. FinCom. School Committee 2 Ayril 3, 2003 Audrey Doyle asked how much employee benefits cost the Town per year. Mr. Hechenbleikner told her 4 million dollars. The town pays seventy percent and the employee pays thirty percent of their benefit cost. Mrs. Doyle suggested that the percentage go up to 50 %. Mr. Hechenbleikner stated the collective bargaining units govern the percentages. The co -pays have doubled in order keep benefit costs down. The benefit costs also include retirees. Paula Perry stated that in hard times you couldn't expect the employees to take on more costs. Someone called in to ask if there is no override will there be a tree lighting in November on the Town Common. Mr. Hechenbleikner responded that if there were no override he would not have the manpower to put the lights up or take the lights down. The Chamber of Commerce pays for the actual lights. They do not pay for the installation. There was discussion regarding the time it takes to get back on track. after there has been severe reductions in revenue and state aid. Mr. Hechenbleikner stated if there is a 19' /z% decrease in state aid the Town would never recover. Someone asked if an override was permanent. Mrs. Klepeis stated debt exclusions will go away over time but overrides do not. Audrey Doyle asked how could they possibly afford a new elementary school. The Superintendent told her the only positions to be added to the new elementary school would be a principal, secretary and a custodian. All the other positions would be filled by the redistricting plan. There would be no bussing costs to the new school. Mrs. Phillips stated that the cuts on the Town side were heart wrenching but the cuts on the school side were not. Mr. Dahl told her cuts on the school side are significant. They would be cutting fifty -one teachers. Mr. Hechenbleikner told her you couldn't fund local government with just property taxes. He gave an overview of some up coming revenues such as the sale of the landfill. Mr. Elaine Webb stated she attended all the School Committee meetings and found the cuts on the school side heart wrenching. Someone asked why do you even need a police and fire department when you have homeland security. Fire Chief Burns stated the Town receives very little from Homeland Security. Last year Reading received $6,000. There was discussion concerning extra curricular actives versus co- curricular activities. Mr. Gary Phillips stated that he found out about the meeting tonight only because he was at the School Committee meeting last night. Mr. Hechenbleikner stated it was short notice, but it was in the Chronicle and on cable. It is the best we can do on short notice. Mr. Phillips stated the voters without children were not notified. Joint Session Board of Selectmen, FinCom, School Committee 3 Auri13, 2003 Mr. Shubert told him the Town does not have the resources to send out a mailing. Mr. Phillips asked how much the override and schools projects would impact each tax bill. Again Mrs. Klepeis explained and put up her chart. Please see attached. Someone asked if the crossing guard positions could be manned by parent volunteers. Chief Silva stated they could not. The crossing guards need to be trained, supervised and equipped. He went on to say that they need two dispatchers due to life and death situations. Lori DeSalvita asked how the Library Certification effects the average citizen. She was told Reading residents would not be able to use libraries in surrounding towns. The Reading Library could not apply for any grants. They presently rely on $15,000 - $20,000 in grant money. Mr. Russo stated he had a singular view. He stated that he believed everything was not on the table. If the override fails the selectmen will offer a more palatable solution. Mr. Hechenbleikner disagreed with Mr. Russo; the public sector will suffer. Mr. Shubert stated there is level service in the current fiscal year. We have had cuts over the past few years as well. Mr. McFadden stated everything was on the table and children are not widgets. Twelve to thirteen more positions will be cut to pay for unemployment. The cost for unemployment is approximately $10,000 per person. Mr. Tucci gave a run down of class sizes after teacher cuts. A reasonable person could not look him in the eye and tell him that this is not a problem. Fire Chief Burns stated there were 4,300 calls last year and they responded to all of them. Next year with the cuts he knows the number of firefighters is not enough. Principal, Karen Callan stated that the increase in class size would be unconscionable. The support to these classrooms would decrease as well. This translates to no reading teacher, no educational assistants, no support in the Library/Media Center and no technology assistants. When a computer goes down it will have to be turned off Principal Finigan has concerns about thirty-five seventh graders in one class and cutting foreign language programs. Police Chief Silva stated every department is critical. We all depend on each other. With no override, the police department will have the lowest'staffing numbers in thirty years. There will be times when we ask citizens to come to the station instead of the police going to the citizen. Joint Session Board of Selectmen. FinCom, School Committee 4 April 3. 2003 Mr. Fiore thanked everyone for coming. We covered a lot of information. Hopefully we can make a good decision on April 8h at the field house. The Selectmen made a motion to adjourn at 10:15. Respectfully Submitted, Harry K. Harutunian, Ph.D. Superintendent of Schools O M u ..t 0.. �♦ �,. 1� r C-A- col 0 . a �F V s''oo i4 a' 0 N'N N m � N 7'