Public weighs in on Board of Education budget
Posted on:
Thursday, February 4, 2010 - 1:05pm
The Board of Education held their bi-monthly meeting this past Wednesday, Jan. 27, at Coginchaug High School. The meeting was promoted as a chance to directly address board members before the they present their budget in March, an opportunity which many residents took advantage of.
Durham resident Scott Wheeler voiced concerns about construction projects currently underway in District 13, most notably the proposed athletic facilities near Coginchaug and concern about the solvency of the projects.
Another resident, Lucy Meigs, requested that the Board of Education alert the public of any budget cuts. Superintendent Sue Viccaro said that this request would be possible to accommodate at a later time, but that the budget wasn’t at the point where major changes had been proposed.
Next up was Jeremy Renninghoff, a new member on the Middlefield Board of Finance. Renninghoff first pointed out the decreasing enrollment in the district’s schools. There is a proposal to add another teacher to the K-5 program, and Renninghoff questioned why another teacher is being added to these grade levels where fewer students will be enrolled rather than at schools with more students.
Renninghoff also addressed the fact that the school system has a fund balance of $2.2 million, which some people feel is an excessive amount. As of now the Board of Education decides how to use those funds, and this has caused trouble for another town in a similar situation.
The Haddam-Killingworth Board of Education had an excessive fund balance, and the board ended up using the money to pay for the district’s health insurance. Once this misappropriation was brought to light, a portion of the school district’s funds were refunded to the towns. Renninghoff proposes that our Board of Education take similar action and lower the available fund balance from $2.2 million to a more reasonable $1.2 million by redistributing the funds back to the towns, which could surely use that extra money.
Bob Yamartino, also a new member on the Middlefield Board of Finance, was concerned over how the budget is calculated. Currently, the budget is based on the previous year’s projected budget, rather than how much was actually spent. Yamartino showed that there was a projected need for a 5.8 percent increase for expenses put into the budget for 2009-10; in actuality, the district only spent 3.7 percent more. This practice has resulted in the past three projected budgets exceeding the actual needs of the district by a total of approximately $1 million.
Yamartino suggested that the district should base their budget on the actual expenses to date. That would more or less mean looking at how much the district has spent by this approximate half way point in the school year, and then figuring that a similar amount would be needed to get through the rest of school year. This in turn would give the town a budget that has more context, based on current data, which should result in a lower surplus.
Yamartino also urged the board to think outside the box when it comes to cutting costs. He pointed out that there is an extended vacation in April but only one three-day weekend in January. The district would save money by not heating the entire school district during the coldest time of the year if vacation days were moved around so that there a week-long vacation in January. Yamartino said that this was just a suggestion, and that “we need to keep teachers and programs in place, and look at the overhead costs and in other places for savings.”
Durham resident Rick Parmelee stated that as a long-time active member of our community who has sent three children through our school district, he has strong feelings about the upcoming budget. Parmelee stated that unlike the first selectman or other town committees, he feels that the Board of Educations limits and to an extent, discourages the public’s participation in their meetings. “It’s like biting the hand that feeds you,” said Parmelee, and for that reason he was especially thankful for this opportunity to speak directly to the board.
Parmelee noted that salary information for employees has been dropped from the official school budget as of last year. Although salaries can be estimated based on previous data, the residents pay for employees’ salaries, and Parmelee feels that it is the public’s right to have easy access to this information.
Parmelee echoed Renninghoff’s concerns about the $2.2 million balance in the district’s funds, saying there is a need for more oversight and that he would like the public have a say on how those funds are saved and spent, rather than leave that up to a vote from the Board of Education.
Parmelee also brought up the funding for the new athletic facilities proposed near Coginchaug. Some local businesses have said that they would donate labor, supplies and funds, and Parmelee would like to have more explicit details about the extent of this outside funding, the concern being that if these donations and funds from outside sources fall through, then the town will be left holding the bag when it comes time to pay for the project.
Parmelee questioned why bonds are being used to fund these construction projects. Parmelee was cut off by a board member who stated that the bonds were old news and decisions regarding them were already made, although the district can review and change their decision regarding the bonds up until the point where construction actually begins.
Several residents spoke about student activity fees. There was a general consensus that extra-curricular activities not only look good on your college application, they also can enrich and change a child’s life. Residents like Parmelee felt that these fees had no place in public schools, and that all students should have access to extra-curricular activities. Other parents of students mirrored this sentiment, but also said that if it came down to choosing between paying a fee or dropping an activity, they’d much rather pay the fee.
Another topic was consolidating bus routes. Theresa Opalacz stated that as of right now, the district is not considering bussing students from Lyman Elementary School and Memorial Middle School together because of concerns over mixing such wide age groups. Opalacz pointed out that many other school districts have successfully implemented this program, and that it could be an opportunity to reinforce our core ethical values and encourage kids to be nice to one another. Opalacz also observed that it often seems like a school bus will make an excessive amount of stops on a road in one mile. Although everyone wants the bus to stop in front of their house, it is a headache going to work in the morning, and the district could probably realize some savings by making their bus routes more efficient.
Susan Michael, a science teacher at Coginchaug and parent of a son who attends Coginchaug, spoke about class sizes. Michael reported that her son has a class with 29 students in it, and that she has heard reports of classes with 31 students. Although this may not be indicative of the average class size, Michael was concerned that cutting any teachers would only make it harder for students and teachers to connect. Michael also said that she had been told that field trips for next year were cut from the school budget. “This is where students experience education,” said Michael. “The experiences that we remember most from being kids are the ones that are out in the field and hands-on, and I hope the board will think about the value of field trips.”
New program on using student data/proposed calendar
Carol Luckenbach gave a presentation on Scientific Research Based Interventions (SBRI). SBRI is a program where teachers observe how their students react to certain material and teaching methods, and then meet in data teams to discuss their results and create common formative assessments. The end result should be a more effective approach to education, whether that means preparing for the exams or identifying where students need extra help.
The data teams should meet once a week or a minimum of once a month, but several teachers commented that it is difficult to coordinate these meetings, and they usually end up taking place at lunch, when the teachers should be on break. This segued into a discussion of the 2010-11 school year calendar.
The proposed calendar has five days added as either an early dismissal or late opening, allowing teachers extra time to focus on their data teams for the SBRI. A consensus of parents and teachers agreed that it would be easier for the students, parents and teachers if the board ended up making those days late dismissals. The board agreed and after a vote where only board member Nancy Boyle voted against it, the 2010-2011 school calendar was passed with the following changes:
There will only be three full professional development days instead of four, occurring on Aug. 31, Nov. 2 and April 1. There will also be a half day on May 27 for teacher development, where students will be dismissed approximately one hour and 50 minutes early.
There will be 182 full days of school instead of 181.
There will be four days set aside for inclement weather, instead of five.
There will be five delayed opening days this year so that teachers can meet in data teams for a new program being implemented in the school district, Scientific Research Based Interventions. School will begin approximately two hours later than usual on these days, which will occur on Oct. 25, Jan. 14, Feb. 3, March 4 and May 4.
Mary Jane Parsons of the Finance Committee gave a brief update, stating that they had met with a Merrill Lynch representative and that investments were slightly ahead of last year.
Communications committee member Nancy Boyle reported that there was discussion of creating a master schedule between the academic activities and sporting events.
Board member Bill Currlin asked whether the Boards of Finance receive the minutes from Board of Education meetings because they should have access to the information if they don’t already. Board member Nancy Boyle said that the minutes were posted on the town of Durham’s website, but that she would ask BOF members whether they would like copies sent to them.
The next Board of Education meeting will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. at Korn School.