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MARS Board Meeting Minutes
Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools Board of Directors and Membership Meeting January 6, 2009 Minutes
1. Welcome and Introductions--meeting called to order at 10:09am. Members completed the sign in sheet and introduced themselves to the members present. The sign in sheet is attached to the official minutes. The Executive Director indicated to the membership that packets for the meeting are available at the front door to the meeting room. Packets will be given out at each meeting. 2. Approve Minutes of December 15, 2008 A motion was made and second to approve the minutes. It was so voted 3. Presentation by Jay Sullivan a. Regional Transportation – estimating reimbursement for 2010 b. Audit of Regional Transportation-documentation necessary for the audit c. Circuit Breaker d. Other The Executive Director introduced Jay Sullivan from DESE. Jay has been a friend of MARS and always has been helpful to our membership. He was thanked for coming today and providing information on regional transportation. Jay Sullivan – DESE
To best estimate for FY10’s reimbursement for transportation, Jay suggest districts complete Sch 7, especially if FY09 has a new bus contract or you’ve made changes in the number of buses your running. Reimbursement rate for FY08 to be received in FY09 is 89.9%. Expect a reduction on FY09 costs. Ch71 payments are generally in two payments - one in late December/early January and one in May. If regions do not file their EOYR by the “deadline” (really by November, Jay is lenient here) the district doesn’t get the December/January payment and gets the full value in May. This is the departments “incentive” to get the EOYR filed on time. There usually are only 3-4 regions that get the one-time payment. Ch71 reimbursement does not = the Cherry Sheet. The Cherry Sheet is an estimate only because that estimate is due to the legislature before the Sch 7 data is received. The true reimbursement is based on the actual expenses of the prior year. Don’t consider the Cherry Sheet to be “gospel” it is a guide at best. There has been talk of reimbursing Sped transportation in Circuit Breaker but it has just been talk. There is a Sped Task Force looking at the cost of Sped transportation. There is a 3 year pilot program for Sped transportation with “transportation networks” networking these services as a way to save funds. Jay “warned” Business Administrators that he has been told there are some Sped directors out there that are trying to convince their BA that Sped transportation is “really regular transportation for these student to and from school” as a way to increase reimbursement – don’t fall for that. If transportation to and from school is part of an IEP – it is Sped transportation costs. If transportation is part of a 504 plan – it is regular transportation. When January payments are posted, Jay will also post some entitlement numbers so districts can plan for the remainder of the year. Jay is confident that there will be 9C cuts affecting Ch71 for fY09 along with CB and possibly Ch70. Jay said that regional districts have been very effective in communicating with their legislators – continue to do so. Entitlement divided by the Total Appropriation = % reimbursement for FY09. In response to a question re: paying for transportation for private school students within a town, Jay talked about the 1986 Ch183 Acts of 1985 – “Bulger amendment” that states that districts have to give the same level of service to non-public students in their district as the do for public school students or they may jeopardize their reimbursement. There was a court case – Essex Decision – that set policy before the amendment which states that the school must provide transportation to non-public students if the school that the student is entitled to go to within the district that would receive reimbursement and the private school where they do go is closer to the residence than the public school. However, Jay reminded that town districts do not receive transportation reimbursement anymore – would they want to jeopardize that? (Read between the lines) Jay said the Municipal Relief Act clarified the current policy in municipal districts that they can charge for transportation although you can’t charge any student who is on free and reduced lunch. Regions can charge to transport but must offset the cost reported on Sch 7 by the revenue received. “Urban Myths” – There has to be a seat assigned for every eligible rider. Jay said you should manage bus seats like you manage food service. Jay believes that districts have always provided transportation far beyond the requirements of the law and when cuts need to be made for financial reasons parents go crazy. But jay reminds parents “who is responsible to get the kids to school?” – PARENT The requirement is a dropoff = or less than 1 mile from home. “Urban Myth” – The parent says “you’re going right by” – Jay – “There is no free ride!” “Urban Myth” – A student can’t be on a bus for more than an hour. Not so – only in Sped BACK to Sch 7 question re: documentation – be sure you have documentation on how you arrived at the #s reported on Sch 7; document the process you used; document the process to calculate over and under 1 ½ miles. The 2 methods to allocate in the regulation are: A) the per pupil method – easy = # of riders over 1 ½ miles / total cost; B) the mileage method – more difficult – but can use routing software to assist in the calculation – calculate the distance between every stop and the school – add the distance of the school’s driveway. Rule – reimbursement begins from the nearest public way from the driveway to the dropoff location at the school. Question – If the state reimburses at 80%, can we charge a fee = to 20%? NO
FY09 rate = 72%, can be affected by 9C cuts. There is a relief fund = $4m for “spike in enrollment”. This relief fund would probably be cut first. The tuition threshold for FY09 = $37,328. The calculation is 4 times the per pupil foundation. Total foundation budget / Total foundation enrollment x 4 Jay concluded at 11:27
4. Legislative consulting services and legal services-update Steve Hemman will be meeting with Tom Scott, MASS Executive Director and Joe Giannino to make final arrangements for the legislative consulting services. Also he will finalize arrangements for legal services. The rate for legal is $200 per hour and the estimated cost for the legislative services is $10,000 annually. 5. Meetings: a. J.D. LaRock - Presentation of materials at December 16,2008 b. Board of Education—Agenda(Dec 15,08), 21th Century Skills, DESE Budget The Executive Director reviewed the material from EOE, J. D. LaRock on December 16,2008. There was a lot of discussion on the study and concerns on how it was conducted. A meeting will be set up with J. D. LaRock on Jan 21, 2009 to review the study and discuss issues of governance within regions. Superintendents from different governances regional arrangements will be asked to attend. The DESE budget proposal for FY2010 was reviewed. It was pointed out that Regional Transportation has been reduced by $7,000,000 by the Board of Education. This is not final because it now goes to the Secretary of EOE and then to the Governor. More information will be coming. The agenda for the Board of Education was included in the packet. 6. Standing Committees a. Laws and Regulations 1. Correspondence from Jeff Wulfson 2. E and D – status Included in the packet was an email from Jeff Wulfson on the proposed regulations to the Board of Education concerning E and D. Basically, Superintendents would go to the school committee to request and approve an E and D transfer during the year. After the school committee has approved it, the Superintendent would notify the member communities of the transfer. The member towns would have 45 days to call and have a town meeting in order to object the transfer. The membership was provided with the law on stabilization funds. The member towns vote to allows the region to establish the fund and then during the budget process funds and be placed in the account. Stabilization accounts are under control of the School Committee. b. Insurances—Health and General Insurance c. Budget 1. Building a Level Service Budget for FY2010 2. Board of Education Budget Proposal FY2010 3. Projections for FY2010 income 4. Feb 10, 2008 meeting 5. Stabilization Fund In the packet was information on budgets and projections. It appears that there will be cuts in chapter 70 and regional transportation from 5% to 15%. The Governor is also seeking 9c authority. More information will be coming. The membership was provided with the law on stabilization funds. The member towns vote to allows the region to establish the fund and then during the budget process funds and be placed in the account. Stabilization accounts are under control of the School Committee. Chris Lynch stated that the regionalization grants may be affected with the 9C cuts. Judy Klimkiewicz provided the membership with budget strategies. She gave ways to save as well as looking at the income. d. Grants e. Professional Development 1. Program for new Superintendents A program will be conducted for new regional superintendents after the Board and membership meeting. Each month the topic will center on what needs to be done in the coming months. f. School Building---MSBA 1. Update The Executive Director indicated that MSBA is concerned on the amount of money they will be getting in future years. Projects might be held up. The Executive Director attends the Board meetings and will report back to the membership. Paul Gagliarducci reported to the membership concerning the meeting in December with Kathrine Craven that was arranged by MASS. It was an exchange of ideas concerning athletic fields, playgrounds, and utility hookups. He indicated that Ms. Craven listened and asked questions. The meeting was productive in that the concerns of superintendents were expressed and heard. g. Readiness Project-regionalization 1. Survey on Governance and Finances 2. Planned Meeting with J. D. LaRock—provide information on current situations within regions With the help of Raza Namin the survey on regional governance has been put on Surveymonkey and expected to be ready within a week. Once ready, the superintendents will be notified and asked to fill it out. A special thanks goes to Barbara Ripa and Paul Gagliarducci for their help in developing the survey.
MARS President Maureen Marshal commended Executive Director Steve Hemman for a job well done, for adding “meat to our agendas” and for scheduling guest speakers at our meetings. At the February 10th meeting, Roger Hatch from DESA and Dave Bunker from EOE will be the guest speakers. Steve Hemman will email documents re: data to bring with you to the meeting.
Meeting concluded at 12:00 noon Special thanks to Cheryl Duval for providing the minutes from Jay Sullivan’s presentation. Submitted by, Steve Hemman, Executive Director
Next Meeting: February 10, 2009 10:00 am Assabet
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