​PITTSFIELD SCHOOL BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Wednesday, March 14, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.
Pittsfield Town Office Building

MINUTES

DISTRICT REORGANIZATION:

1.Call to Order (Superintendent or rep):  Kris, Ray and A.J. present, meeting called to order at 7:20 p.m..
2.Elections and Appointments (Superintendent or rep) No SU Rep so A.J. moves to appoint Kris as chair and Ray as WCSU representative and A.J. as clerk, Kris seconds and approved unanimously.  
3.Amendments to the Agenda: Notified by town of new procurement policy per Kris and PSB will review to refer to in the future.
4.Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting: February 14, 2018 and Annual Meeting minutes. Kris moves to approve and Ray seconds, approved with edits unanimously. 
5.Community Engagement/Public Comment: Kris and Ray report on one family that has questions on whether PSB will pay tuition but there is question as to when they established residency. We review forms and information from Patty regarding what the Town records indicate.  Kris sends the family an email indicating that PSB needs additional information on when they established residency in Pittsfield due to conflicting information.  Based on email with the family PSB determined residency as of November 2017 and will pay tuition bills accordingly. 
6.Action/Discussion Items
     □New Business:
oPayment Orders No.  7:  Rutland City 2d semester Stafford $518.92; KMS ½ year $20,173.34.  Ray moves accept, A.J. seconds and approved unanimously.  Kris communicates with TSA on request for $20k from last year and requests additional details. 
     □Old Business:
        oReview and Approve Checkbook Reconciliation: Kris moves to approve after review and Ray seconds, approved unanimously.
        oAct 46/49 Update:  Kris reports she and A.J. going to meeting with AOE next Tuesday, we discuss the AOE letter recommending rejecting our 3:1 proposal. 
7.Reports: No one from SU present and no report submitted.
8.Agenda Setting for April Meeting: normal stuff plus update on AOE meeting. 
9.Adjournment: Kris moves to adjourn at 8:25 p.m., Ray seconds and adjourned.

Minutes respectfully submitted by A.J. Ruben
     

​2018 PITTSFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT ANNUAL MEETING
March 6, 2018
Pittsfield Town Hall

The meeting commenced at approximately 10:05 a.m.
Article 1. Moderator:  Jerry Drugonis moved to open the question, Charles Piso seconded.   Jerry Drugonis nominates George Deblon as Moderator, seconded by Peter Border.  Nominations closed and unanimous vote for George Deblon.

Article 2.  Auditor’s Report: Caleb Hawley moved to open the question, Terry Manley seconded. Peter Border moves to accept the report, seconded by Herb Kuelig, approved unanimously.

Article 3. Vote to Pay Taxes:  Dennis O’Brien moves to open the question and Jerry Drugonis seconds. Peter Borden moves to accept the Article, Jerry Drugonis seconds, approved unanimously.

Article 4. School Directors’ Report:  Charlie Piso moves to open the question, Ann Keulig seconds. Caleb Hawley asks how Act 46 impacts school choice in Pittsfield. Kris Sperber explains that under current law only the town can vote to do away with school choice, and that Act 46 involves merging school districts that have the same types of governance, ie choice or union school districts.  Kris explains how the PSB attempted to satisfy Act 46 with a 3:1 proposal that would have linked us with the new WMUUD but allowed us to retain choice. We discuss the SBE rejection of this proposal for unspecified reasons and the upcoming AOE meeting the PSB will attend on this issue.   Jeremy Rainer asks why the number of students keeps going down but the costs keep going up. Kris explains that costs associated with SPED and staff health insurance are main drivers.  Ann Kuelig asks about options for different governmental structures and Kris notes the SBE seemed interested in having Pittsfield join with Granville and Hancock , both choice towns, to form one, larger, full choice district. The PSB studied that option and rejected it as not in our kids’ or budget’s best interest.  Peter Borden moves to accept the directors’ report, Mike Wuerthele seconds, approved unanimously.

Article 5 Budget vote:  Jerry Drugonis moves to open the question, Charles Piso seconds. Proposed budget for FY 18-19 is $1,290,559.  Jerry Rainer asks again why costs up but students down and Kris reiterates the SPED and health insurance. Kris notes that KES increased their tuition costs this year and that PSB.  Ray notes that we should thank Jen Iannantuoni, on the Killington School Board who argued to keep the increase in KES costs as low as possible to protect Pittsfield taxpayers. Matt Corron moves to approve budget, Peter Borden seconds, approved unanimously. 

Article 6.  School Director:  Jerry Drugonis moves to open the question, Peter Borden seconds. Ray Rice nominate Kris Sperber for another term, Terry Manley seconds.  Nominations closed, Jerry Drugonis moves to vote, Terry Manley seconds, Kris Sperber elected to another term unanimously. 

Article 7. Other Business:  Kris notes we need to find new Board members as A.J. is retiring next year.   

Peter Borden moves to close the meeting, Mike Wuerthele seconds. Meeting closed unanimously at 10:24 a.m. 
Minutes respectfully submitted by A.J. Ruben
Approved: March 14, 2018
​By: Kris Sperber, A. J. Ruben

DRAFT - PITTSFIELD SCHOOL BOARD  MEETING MINUTES
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2018, 7 p.m.

I. CALL TO ORDER - The duly warned meeting was called to order at the Pittsfield Town Offices at 7:15 p.m. by Kris with Ray present and AJ excused. 

II. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMENT – None.

III. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMENT – The board reviewed our list of students and made some additions based on recent information. All readers of these minutes are encouraged to contact one of the school board members with information about students moving in or out of Pittsfield. 

IV.  OLD BUSINESS – Check Book reconciliation – Tabled until next meeting.
Payment Orders:  Payment Order #6 – KMS - ½ tuition = $15,130; Sharon Academy - ½ year SPED = $15,264.88; Stockbridge School District - ½ year tuition = $42,115.50; Holderness School - Full year tuition = $15,130; Rutland City Public School - 504 3rd quarter = $9,215.88 & Tuition expense = $3,650; Preschool @ Killington - 3rd quarter = $1,589 = Total $103,095.26 

V. NEW BUSINESS –   

VII. POLICIES – None.
           
VIII. NEXT MONTH’S AGENDA usual agenda add Jean Colver Sofield Scholarship warning. 

IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION – None.

X. ADJOURNMENT Ray moves to adjourn and Kris seconds, meeting closed at 7:48 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by R. Rice

​PITTSFIELD SCHOOL BOARD OF DIRECTORS 
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES

Sunday, January 14, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.
Pittsfield Town Office Building

Call to Order:  Kris calls the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with A.J. and Ray present.

Amendments to the Agenda: None.

Community Engagement/Public Comment: None.

Action/Discussion Items:
• Old Business:
o 2018-19 Budget: After reviewing drafts from WCSU and reviewing student lists Kris proposes and Ray seconds the following 2018-2019 budget: $1,265,601.  Approved unanimously.
o School District Warning:  Kris moves we to have the proposed budget for the warning but because we do not have the percentage increase in spending or equalized per pupil spending at tonight’s meeting we approve the warning with the budget number and Kris and Patty will get the additional numbers added to the warning this Tuesday.  Ray seconds and approved unanimously.
o Directors’ 2018 Report:  A.J. moves to approve the report and Kris seconds, approved unanimously.

Adjournment: Kris moves to adjourn at 7:45 p.m., Ray seconds, approved unanimously. 

​DRAFT MINUTES - PITTSFIELD SCHOOL BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Wednesday, January 10, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
Pittsfield Town Office Building

AGENDA

1. Call to Order: Kris calls the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. with A.J. and Richard Seaman present.

2. Amendments to the Agenda:  None.

3. Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting: December 13, 2017

4. Community Engagement/Public Comment:  None.

5. Action/Discussion Items
□ New Business:
o Payment Order #5:  Ironwood School ½ secondary tuition $7,565; Sharon Academy ½ two secondary students $22,695; Addison Central School 1 secondary student $16,673; Killington preschool ¼ 2 students $1,589; US Treasury employer tax $191.25; Vermont Tech tuition 1 student $1,790: Total $50,503.25.  A.J. moves to approve, Kris seconds, so moved. 
o FY 2019 Budget Work: The board discusses Richard’s proposed budget based on prior input. We identify the potential surplus in the account as a concern and strategize as to how best to assure we are not asking for more in taxes than is required. We discuss the aspects of the education budget that are out of our control, including numbers of children, individualized costs for some children, administrative costs and state-wide tax rate decisions.  We discuss aspects that we do have control over, including assuming continuing savings from prior years for special education and administration costs and keeping track of where each student will be attending and budgeting accordingly.   Given the surplus, Kris moves to amend the budget to delete the two primary and two secondary student spots that we had in place to account for historic trends of students moving in to town during the new year.  We also deleted an excess cost special education cost that was not strictly tied to an existing child, and delete prior year (bill back) costs.  This would reduce our surplus but Richard will review costs and provide a revised budget to assure we are not carrying over more than is appropriate, about $100 to $200k.  Budget tabled until special meeting to be determined later this meeting.  

o FY 2018 Directors’ Report discussion: 

□ Old Business:
o Review and Approve Checkbook Reconciliation: Tabled until next month.

6. Reports:  None.

7. Agenda Setting for February Meeting: Town Meeting preparation. 

8. Adjournment: Kris moves to adjourn at 8:45 p.m. 
     





Respectfully submitted by A.J. Ruben