HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-02-23 Finance Committee MinutesIED
l.j ULERK
Finance Committee Meeting ~.f~l 1 G, ~~ASS.
February 23, 2000
1000 APR 21 P 1- 30
The meeting convened at 7:30 p.m, in the Conference Room, at the Town Hall, 16
Lowell Street, Reading Massachusetts. Present were Chair Carol Grimm, Vice Chair
Richard McDonald, FinCom Members Catherine Martin, James Francis, Robert
LeLacheur, Neil Cohere, Mary Grimmer, Paul Kurker, also present were Dr. Harutunian
and Jim Keigley.
On a motion by James Francis, seconded by Richard McDonald, the Finance Committee
voted to approve the minutes of their February 16, 2000 meeting.
The motion was approved by a vote of 8-0-0
Dr. Harutunian thanked the Finance Committee for the opportunity to meet with them.
He extended a special thank you to Chuck Robinson, Bob LeLacheur and Dick
McDonald for all the time they have spent working with the School Committee. Dr.
Harutunian presented the members of the Finance Committee with nameplates.
Dr. Harutunian proceeded to answer the 60 questions submitted to the School Committee
from the Finance Committee.
Review:
There is an expected shortfall of $375,000 - $400,000 needed to balance the FY00
budget. Dr. Harutunian submitted a list of budget reductions. They will consider athletic
fees.
Programmatic Budgets:
There are 100 more students at Parker than Coolidge requiring Art FTEs 1.5 compared to
1.0 at Coolidge.
There are no substantially separate SPED students at Coolidge or Birchmeadow. Those
students are at Parker.
The Library/Media expenses are high at the High School due to the high level of research
required.
Administration:
There are two types of professional development expenses. The first is a district wide
budget operated by the Superintendent. There is also a professional development budget
that is used by each principal. This was budgeted at $64,000 and is now at $144,000.
The budgeted $15,000 for advertising should be sufficient. The labor counsel expense is
used for mediation grievances.
Regular Day:
There is a $20 per student increase in the regular day per pupil assumption, for a total of
$80,000.
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Finance Committee February 23, 2000 page 2
Reading is chartered for 100 METCO students, but presently only have 52. The result of
this is an expected $18,000 cut in the States reimbursement. Three years ago Reading lost
its allocation for Chapter 1 money. This is now part of the salary line.
The 4.99% increase in Regular Day teacher's salaries includes a pay and step increase.
As of September 1, 1996 longevity ended for new teachers.
There is a need for additional teachers next year due to a projected increase of 80
students. There is also a request for an additional educational assistant at Coolidge to help
the kindergartners, because the bathrooms are not located in the classrooms.
There are 38 students utilizing the English as a Second Language Tutor.
There are 273 Regular Day teachers. The 209.8 Regular Day teachers listed in the
appendix does not include art, guidance or media teachers.
The cost of photocopying has increased the Regular Day expenses from 1999 to 2001 by
20.3%. To help control this, teachers are limited to the amount of copies they can make.
There is a separate line for photocopies for $10,000.
Last years computer budget was cut from $100,000 to $25,000. The $100,000 listed for
computers in the capital plan will be used to purchase new computers, not software.
Special Needs:
$650,000 is needed for the special education budget and only $183;000 was budgeted.
Dr. Harutunian stated that this budget was prepared on the premise of an override. If the
override doesn't pass this year there will be another override proposal next year.
Support Services:
An additional nurse is proposed in this budget. This would mean one nurse in every
school.
Reading is required by the State to have a girl's hockey team. If an override doesn't go
through Dr. Harutunian would recommend eliminating sports for freshmen.
Custodial/Ma intenance:
Custodial salaries are going up 7.6% due to overtime. The overtime is performed when
more work is required or when a substitute is needed for someone that calls in sick. The
overtime was budgeted at $5,000, but the YID custodial overtime spent is $6,600. The
custodial time could be reduced if the override doesn't pass.
Town Building Maintenance:
An additional .5 FTE custodian will be allocated to the police station.
Capital:
Dr. Harutunian will recommend the $100,000 in proposed capital appropriations for
computers be used at Coolidge in 2001 and maybe 2002. There were no TVs, computers,
or VCRs added to Coolidge during the recent renovation.
Finance Committee February 23, 2000
page 3
Dr. Harutunian displayed the plans for the Dividence Road school. The site is a total of
11.6 acres. The building will be a post & beam structure, for approximately 400 children.
There is the option to add four classrooms. The technology will be similar to Parker.
The Barrow's renovation has been moved back to where it was 2 years ago. The Town
Manager had moved it out.
Jim Keigley stated the school committee has unanimously voted to accept this budget. He
also stated that the school system is stagnate and running on a bare bones budget.
On a motion by James Francis, seconded by Dick McDonald, the Finance Committee
unanimously voted to adjourn their meeting at 10:30 PM
Respectfully submitted,
oy ohr
Recording Secretary
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