PITTSFIELD SCHOOL BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Tuesday, September 8, 2015, at 7:00 p.m.
Pittsfield Town Hall
Minutes
1. Call to order at 7:17 pm by Ray, with A.J. and Alice present.
2. Consider amendments to the agenda. None.
3. Approve minutes: June 9, 2015 and August 11, 2015. Ray approves both, A.J. seconds approved unanimously. We note there was no PSB meeting in July.
4. Public comment/Visitors: none.
5. Action/Discussion:
• Payment Orders: #2 – Barstow half tuition $7,350; KMS half tuition 4 hs students $28,594 for a total of $35,944. A.J. moves to accept and pay, Ray seconds, approved unanimously.
• Act 46: Alice discusses Act 46 and acknowledges that there are complex issues and difficulties in determining financial impacts to districts. Alice reports that the AOE has told her Pittsfield cannot stay in the WCSU if we don’t agree to be in the new large educational district. She reports our only choice would be to join an SU or ED of other choice towns. A.J. notes that he has been told that the law does allow us to stay in the WCSU as a choice town even if the rest of the SU became on ED. There is a difference of opinion on this, but Alice will forward the PSB email from AOE on this point to help clarify.
Alice next states that the WCSU is now concerned that Pittsfield would be too costly to stay in the WCSU even if the law allowed us to do so because our education costs have risen about 55% over the last five years. There is a long discussion analyzing why this occurred with eventual agreement that the increased costs were completely out of PSB’s control and that there is no clear evidence that giving up school choice would have prevented or will prevent such increases in the future. Alice suggests that it is not a certainty that all other WCSU districts would elect to join an ED but she hopes to move forward with an AOE funded study of that option.
Alice discusses the requirement to do a study in any event. She foresees a pre k to 12 school district with choice within WSCU that would become the ED. She is not pursuing the first incentives requiring commitment, vote and study by next June. We discuss the options under Act 46 to have a $20k study to see if all SU districts may want to join an ED and a $5k study for districts seeking an alternative structures but that AOE may not want Pittsfield to be receiving both pots of money. A.J. discusses that Ira, Granville, Hancock and Granville, and possibly Plymouth may be open to a $5k study and that only two districts are needed to access those study funds. A.J. reports the VSBA offered to help facilitate that discussion. Alice suggests that the WCSU study would include options for Pittsfield even if we were not officially part of the grant recipient group.
We discuss that the Vt. School Board Association, Vt. Superintendents’ Association and another group are in collaboration to determine if there’s a better way to move forward. Alice suggests that she will work as the SU to give us that data.
We review the check book reconciliation and approve it. Kris signs.
6. Reports:
• Superintendent Report: Alice discusses that she issues a SU wide report before each WCSU meeting and we’ll be receiving that. We also discuss how to more efficiently use the agenda setting process. A.J. will try to be clear in the minutes about what needs to be in the next agenda.
• Kris will work with Alice to have Patty and Richard Seaman, the WCSU finance manager, talk and then be at our next meeting regarding consolidating our financial work..
7. Adjournment: prior to adjourning we agreed on agenda for next month. See below. Kris adjourns at 8:45, approved unanimously.
Agenda for next month’s meeting should include “new business” including payment orders, “old business” to include policies, Act 46 update, review and approve check book reconciliation, and “superintendent report.”
Upcoming meetings:
Pittsfield- October 13, 2015 at 7:00 p.m., Pittsfield Town Hall
WCSU- September 14, 2015 at 6:00 p.m., WCSU Conference Room
Tuesday, September 8, 2015, at 7:00 p.m.
Pittsfield Town Hall
Minutes
1. Call to order at 7:17 pm by Ray, with A.J. and Alice present.
2. Consider amendments to the agenda. None.
3. Approve minutes: June 9, 2015 and August 11, 2015. Ray approves both, A.J. seconds approved unanimously. We note there was no PSB meeting in July.
4. Public comment/Visitors: none.
5. Action/Discussion:
• Payment Orders: #2 – Barstow half tuition $7,350; KMS half tuition 4 hs students $28,594 for a total of $35,944. A.J. moves to accept and pay, Ray seconds, approved unanimously.
• Act 46: Alice discusses Act 46 and acknowledges that there are complex issues and difficulties in determining financial impacts to districts. Alice reports that the AOE has told her Pittsfield cannot stay in the WCSU if we don’t agree to be in the new large educational district. She reports our only choice would be to join an SU or ED of other choice towns. A.J. notes that he has been told that the law does allow us to stay in the WCSU as a choice town even if the rest of the SU became on ED. There is a difference of opinion on this, but Alice will forward the PSB email from AOE on this point to help clarify.
Alice next states that the WCSU is now concerned that Pittsfield would be too costly to stay in the WCSU even if the law allowed us to do so because our education costs have risen about 55% over the last five years. There is a long discussion analyzing why this occurred with eventual agreement that the increased costs were completely out of PSB’s control and that there is no clear evidence that giving up school choice would have prevented or will prevent such increases in the future. Alice suggests that it is not a certainty that all other WCSU districts would elect to join an ED but she hopes to move forward with an AOE funded study of that option.
Alice discusses the requirement to do a study in any event. She foresees a pre k to 12 school district with choice within WSCU that would become the ED. She is not pursuing the first incentives requiring commitment, vote and study by next June. We discuss the options under Act 46 to have a $20k study to see if all SU districts may want to join an ED and a $5k study for districts seeking an alternative structures but that AOE may not want Pittsfield to be receiving both pots of money. A.J. discusses that Ira, Granville, Hancock and Granville, and possibly Plymouth may be open to a $5k study and that only two districts are needed to access those study funds. A.J. reports the VSBA offered to help facilitate that discussion. Alice suggests that the WCSU study would include options for Pittsfield even if we were not officially part of the grant recipient group.
We discuss that the Vt. School Board Association, Vt. Superintendents’ Association and another group are in collaboration to determine if there’s a better way to move forward. Alice suggests that she will work as the SU to give us that data.
We review the check book reconciliation and approve it. Kris signs.
6. Reports:
• Superintendent Report: Alice discusses that she issues a SU wide report before each WCSU meeting and we’ll be receiving that. We also discuss how to more efficiently use the agenda setting process. A.J. will try to be clear in the minutes about what needs to be in the next agenda.
• Kris will work with Alice to have Patty and Richard Seaman, the WCSU finance manager, talk and then be at our next meeting regarding consolidating our financial work..
7. Adjournment: prior to adjourning we agreed on agenda for next month. See below. Kris adjourns at 8:45, approved unanimously.
Agenda for next month’s meeting should include “new business” including payment orders, “old business” to include policies, Act 46 update, review and approve check book reconciliation, and “superintendent report.”
Upcoming meetings:
Pittsfield- October 13, 2015 at 7:00 p.m., Pittsfield Town Hall
WCSU- September 14, 2015 at 6:00 p.m., WCSU Conference Room
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