ITASCA SCHOOL DISTRICT #10
ITASCA, IL 60143
BOARD OF EDUCATION
SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES
APRIL 27, 2006
The purpose of the special meeting was to conduct a budget workshop and review the proposed FY2007 tentative budget.
I. Call to order, roll call, and Pledge of Allegiance – The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by President Patrick Powers with the following ROLL CALL:
PRESENT NAYS
Mrs. DiCiolla
Mr. Maier
Mr. McCann
Mrs. McDonald
Mrs. Pawinski
Mr. Powers
Mrs. Zelenka
Also in attendance:
Dr. Ken Cull, Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Reinhard Nickisch, Principal, F.E. Peacock Middle School
Dr. Joanna Medwick, Principal, Elmer H. Franzen Intermediate School
Dr. Dawn Turner, Principal, Raymond Benson Primary School
Dr. Marcia Tornatore, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction
Mr. Charles Kapachinski, Director of Technology
Mrs. Catherine Seger, Recorder
Interested members of the staff and community
President Powers led everyone present in the Pledge of Allegiance. He welcomed all visitors to the meeting.
II. Budget Workshop – Review of proposed FY2007 Tentative Budget – President Powers explained how he would like the meeting to proceed. Following an opportunity for the board to ask questions and discuss the proposed budget, an opportunity would be given to the community for input. As a result of this input, the first round of the budget could be ready for next monthÕs meeting and the budget could be adopted in June. If it is not ready, the tentative budget could be approved in June with adoption of the budget in August.
Superintendent Cull delivered an overview of the proposed budget for the benefit of the community. He reviewed the starting point for getting things ready for the budget as well as a general overview and some projections. Generally, it is a balanced budget with the exception of the O & M funds. These funds have revenues exceeding expenses with a little shortage in the Education fund. In the aggregate, it is a balanced budget.
On the revenue side, there is good news for all school districts. Our tax revenue is capped and we are capped at a figure equal to the CPI plus a little more for new construction. The CPI is 3.3%, the largest itÕs been for some time. We have had a bit more growth than anticipated. The 2005 tax extension is 4.7% higher than 2004Õs extension. This is the healthiest itÕs been at least in the past 5 years.
For expenses, there is an additional full time custodian built into the budget based on need. Dr. Cull is watching the staffing levels very closely particularly at Benson and he expects some additional expenses on retirement expenses not so much on this budget but probably in the next yearÕs budget.
Reports included in the handout project revenue and expenses by fund. Dr. CullÕs basic premises were that revenue would increase by 4% next year and by 3.5% the following year. The estimate for salary increases is 4%. Mr. McCann asked what percentage was being used for revenue projections. Dr. Cull answered that 4 % is being used for next year as we already know that the CPI is over 3% following that, he doesnÕt know so a more conservative approach was taken.
Following these reports, the bulk of the packet is a line item FY07 budget with three pages of revenue and several pages of expenses.
Mr. Powers gave the board an opportunity to discuss and ask questions about the budget. Then the discussion would be opened to the audience.
Mr. McCann asked if there were any capital projects on the horizons not included in the budget. Dr. Cull answered that there are. There is a request for $40,000 to replace doors and locks at Benson School that is not included in the budget. There is probably some life safety and/or roofing projects that are also not included. A big capital outlay that is excluded from the education fund budget is $16,000 for a grand piano for the Peacock Music Program. Technology can be counted on every year.
Mrs. DiCiolla suggested that Page 6 – Social Work Salary – needs to be cleaned up as 2006 was not in the budget. Dr. Cull explained that in prior years, social worker salary was paid through N.D.S.E.C. The District can get a little better deal if we hired our own social worker. This reflects budgeting by splitting a social worker at Benson/Franzen with a few hours at Peacock. The cost of the workbooks was also discussed. The board does not have a concern. Dr. Cull said that it was important to remember that these books are not being purchased to be used cover to cover. Mrs. DiCiolla expressed a concern regarding 10.1110.211 – TRS Health. There has been an unexpected large increase. She stated that instructional health insurance, if compared to the Ô05 actual, contained nearly a 30% increase. Dr. Cull answered that the projections are at 5.5%. He explained how he arrived at the numbers and is confident with the budgeted item because he went through each line item. The DistrictÕs rate increase is 3.5%. These numbers are a little high. Mr. Powers asked Dr. Cull if he could compile a report listing health insurance/pensions totals and provide some explanations. It would be helpful to understand the reason it is rising. We want to understand that the cooperative is working well for us and that we are comfortable about how and why they have increased. It looks as if the problem was Ô04 and it looks as if it is a timing issue. Discussion ensued about special education line items and about general supplies only containing $1,000. In the absence of any grant, that is the amount of the revenue. Mrs. DiCiolla also asked questions about the Johnson Control contract and WorkersÕ Compensation. There was also discussion about the Reading program change between hiring two part time teachers for the two schools versus one full time person. Dr. Cull replied that this is working out well and an extra day of service is being provided for Franzen School.
Mrs. Zelenka stated that many of her questions had already been answered. In addition she asked about whether or not there had been an additional teacher added to the Instructional Teachers Salaries. This is the one that was added this year. One of the advantages of a multi year contract is that the amount teachers will earn next year is known. Dr. Cull is confident with the numbers. Discussion ensued regarding the middle school TA salaries and about the $2,000 extra duty. Dr. Cull stated that this really means extra duty. He puts some money in this account in the event there is a need. There was also some discussion about the middle school chorus. It was thought that a new piano should be part of the budget. Mrs. Zelenka believes that we need to find a way to get the piano. The capital outlay for band and music has experienced a considerable drop. Mr. Maier asked what specific items are purchased? This has been mostly cabinets and large instruments. Has there been any discussion about purchasing a new piano? A piano is on the list for an extended discussion.
Do we need to add a full-time custodial position? Do we need a full time or can we use a part time? WeÕve been trying to get by with a .5 time hourly and weÕre just not able to get done what we want to get done. Discussion ensued. The difficulty with a small system is that it is hard to find someone to swing out to another school if someone is out. Hopefully we will be able to cover the other schools better. Further discussion ensued.
Mrs. Zelenka questioned the amounts allocated for gas and electric. The last expense report given to the board ends February 28, 2006. If this projects what was actually spent, then there should be more than $30,000 placed in the budget. All utilities have to be increased. Discussion ensued. Those items will be increased.
The question of technology was raised. What are the plans for technology? Mr. McCann was concerned mostly with capital expenditures that deal mainly with technology and other projects. Technology will be brought up for discussion later in the meeting. Explanations are included for the increases or decreases. The big picture indicates that we are doing a good job and speaks well as to how we have stayed on the plan. The district is headed in the right direction.
Dr. Cull stated that he has shared this dream with Mr. Powers. In the past, Itasca used to receive taxes paid in June of the current fiscal year and did not touch those funds until the next fiscal year. That is also the point that the Board is hoping to reach.
Mrs. DiCiolla noted that the fund balances did not match up. All the actuals are from the audit.
Mr. Maier referred to the revenue sheet noting that under line 10.1999 - Other Revenue, last year, $5,000 was budgeted and this year, it is $20,000. Superintendent Cull stated that we have been under budgeting that and he gave some examples what might be going there.
On page 12, all the capital outlays expenses have $1,000 budgeted? Discussion ensued about the difference between equipment and supplies with the issue being in the definition. Dr. Cull defined the difference in the definitions.
Mrs. McDonald stated that most of her questions were answered. She would like to discuss the purchase of a piano as well as technology and the amount budgeted for the energy costs.
Mrs. Pawinski asked why we are hiring another speech instructor. Dr. Cull explained that for the current year, the district is contracting a speech therapist from N.D.S.E.C. However, for the 2006-2007 school year, the District 10 speech therapist is returning from leave and there will not be an instructor from N.D.S.E.C.
In addition, the Character Counts! coordinator will not be replaced.
Mrs. Pawinski asked if the district budgets for N.D.S.E.C. Summer School. It is included in our N.D.S.E.C. costs. She also asked what is the Kindergarten Prep capital outlay. We need to keep the account open with $100.00.
President Powers noted a couple of open issues – one being the discussion on the piano and another additional money being placed in the budget for utilities. He also asked Dr. Cull to compile a summary of TRS pension/benefits. There also needs to be a discussion on technology.
At this time, Mr. Powers put aside the open issues and opened the discussion to the audience asking for any questions or comments:
Mr. Bryen Travis, Peacock choral music director, addressed the piano issue. He stated that something unexpected had happened last fall, The soundboard cracked. The piano is 64 years old. About 12-13 years ago it had been repaired and it canÕt be repaired again for roughly the cost of a new one. It still plays but it sounds somewhat like an old country piano. Mr. Travis has been looking at cost. The piano they are looking at is about $18,000 and we may be able to get about $6,000 in funding. Peacock has a controlled environment and a used piano could certainly be purchased. However, there are no guarantees on a used piano. It is between a full grand and a baby grand. Most board members are in support of purchasing a new piano.
Mrs. Kathy Miller asked a question regarding the revenue page - consumable fee. In 2005, it was $72,000 and in the Õ07 budget, it is only $50,000. 2005 was the year that we started with fees.
A question was raised regarding grants. Some of the grant money has not been received as yet. Mrs. DiCiolla asked Dr. Tornatore if the district can anticipate receiving the grant money for which was applied. The district will get a report as to what we can expect from the state. In the anticipated upcoming budget, Dr. Tornatore knows what she will apply for.
Mr. McCann asked Dr. Cull for his views regarding the piano. Generally, he asks for the wish list at meetings and then he plays the reality. It would be wonderful to have but we canÕt do it at this point in time and thatÕs what he usually has to do. There has been discussion about some competing items. The most important item for Dr. Cull has to do with the need for a grand piano. The band has requested an upright piano and he has not had a chance to find out what the difference in that would be. Mr. Travis would be the one who has to tell us what is the difference. If we would choose to pursue a piano, the district would have to open a bid process. Specific requirements would have to set for that bid. Typically a vendor would have to help us. Even if $6,000 of the cost could be raised, we would still have to bid it because it is being purchased by District #10. Mr. Powers would like more information on the cost – what it would cost and not take into consideration the fund raising. He would like to look at the worst-case scenario if we were unable to raise funds. Also, what is the cost of a baby grand versus an upright and also what a used piano would cost. Then we have the numbers to review and compare. It sounds as if there is a definite need for the piano. We will need to put a placeholder in this budget for it. Mr. Powers said that he does not want to give the impression that if it is in the budget, itÕs going to be spent. Dr. Cull will work with Mr. Travis on this issue. Board members would like to pursue this issue and have it kept on the table for discussion.
The next item of importance to be discussed was technology. Dr. Cull stated that there is a $90,000 line item for technology in the budget and most of it is pretty straightforward. Dr. Cull and Mr. Kapachinski have discussed what the districtÕs needs have been. If we followed along on our replacement plan, we would have over $300,000 in expenditures for next year. What we really want to do is support the network. Mr. Kapachinski is adamant about the need for network servers. The servers at Benson and Franzen are causing a great deal of difficulty. They have to be rebooted a lot. The one at Peacock will need to be replaced to implement parental involvement on the network. There were 61 laptop computers scheduled for replacement and recycling next year. It is his recommendation that those laptops not be replaced. The teacher can use one of the computers already in the classroom. It will serve as that teacherÕs staff computer. Mr. Kapachinski has done a little bit of research on the number of computers in the district. Even if this is done, weÕre still going to have the highest number of computers per student. We will still have about 1 computer for every 2.5 children. We would need to collect all laptop computers and bring them in to clean them off and reinstall a Windows Operating System and Microsoft Office. This can be accomplished for about $77 per computer. Once the computers are set up, they can be given to the staff. Staff can have them but we will not support them. Hopefully it will help staff to be weaned off the laptops and the teachers can continue to use their laptops for as long as they last. Most of these computers are at Franzen and Peacock. They are going to be removed from our inventory. There will be 61 existing computers to replace these computers. There are 23 desktops to be replaced. There are some people that will need the laptop computers. One of the criteria would be that these should be given to teachers who have to develop grades. WeÕll probably have at least 2 laptops for checkout and will be kept at the District Office. Discussion ensued. The worse case scenarios is that we find out in a year or two that it doesnÕt work and then we would have to consider going back to the laptops. Mr. McCann asked how up-dated are the desktops. The desktops as they stand right now will be moved and wiped clean and they will have a different image. Some of those desktops are going to be the computers that the teachers are using. Is it new and will last forever? No. Will we need to upgrade any hardware in these? Actually there is a greater degree of software for the student computers. The 61 laptops are the laptops that are due to be replaced. The bulk of the Benson staff has a newer model that we will continue to support. When those are ready to go weÕll do the same with them. Mr. McCann asked if the 61 to be replaced are all staff computers? Yes they are. So these will be refurbished and given back to the teachers without the district supporting them. They are all using laptops so how much more difficult will it be for them. If the district is giving them the authority to use these at home, are they going to be able to plug these into a projector? Will they be able to use them in the classroom? They will probably need to transfer files. Since that computer will no longer be a district computer, staff will have to transfer that data to the school computer. Does that expose to more viruses since these laptops do not have virus protection? That would be the responsibility of the owner to purchase and update their home computer. If they brought files back and forth, those files could be unprotected. Further discussion ensued.
Mrs. DiCiolla expressed a concern with moving one of the 4 classroom computers to the teacher and limiting the number for use by the children to 3. Mr. Powers said that she raised a good point. If these laptops have served their purpose, then they have to be replaced. No assessment has been done recently amongst the teachers. Can we get a new up-date on this issue? Mr. McCann would like to see something that would encourage a little more home use. He asked Mr. Kapachinski from a networking standpoint, how far are we away from a system that if teachers worked at home, they could access something in the district. Mr. Kapachinski replied that we are currently working on two initiatives: a new mail server will expand the capability of accessing e-mail from any internet based computer and, in addition, they will be able to access the student management system. He is not sure if anything further will be done for the teachers. Things can be done if the district is willing to pay the cost. Someone would have to be on call to support off-site activity after 4:00 p.m. We would also have a need for more servers, etc. We can provide that but it is going to start to get messy and more costly. More discussion ensued. The two initiatives are really big steps as they can access the grade book as well as their e-mail. That is currently in the process. More discussion ensued about adding more computers rather than removing them the system. Mrs. Zelenka asked if the kindergarten computers come through a separate grant. Yes they do. Mrs. DiCiolla asked if a desktop could be set up for teachers and students. Mr. Kapachinski stated that teachers often donÕt have time to look at their computer. This poses a real problem if a student gets on the computer. What really works best for the teachers is if they have access. We could purchase more desktops and we can put those 30 back into the budget. Sixty-one are going away this year. How would the board like to proceed? Further discussion ensued.
The issue is should Dr. Cull be directed to put additional amounts in the budget to cover the cost of adding computers so that we can prevent having to cut back too deeply from the pool of student population computers. We need an assessment with the studentsÕ best interest at heart. Mrs. DiCiolla would support not taking any computers away from the students. Put the number of computers (33) back into the budget. We also need to review the utilities and see what shows up in the budget. Why canÕt we work with the plan that has been suggested? More discussion ensued. It doesnÕt mean that we have to spend the money. Dr. Cull said that one of the things we donÕt have is an opportunity to increase the revenue side. If we want to add $30,000 for computers, $18,000 for piano, $30,000 for utilities and if we need another teacher, there is only about a $75,000 surplus. Discussion ensued about how many computers are in each of the labs and media center as well as the number of computers in the classrooms. We could have a log for the students to mark themselves in when they use a computer. It was determined that might be difficult for the teacher to monitor. We could poll the teachers and see what are their needs. There is the possibility that everyone will respond ÔyesÕ to more computers but the teachers will give an honest answer. Mr. Powers suggested that we try to obtain a quick read from the teachers. We need to explain to them what we are doing as we are trying to make this work in the best way possible. We can try to get some good feedback from the teacher population. Dr. Cull suggested that some provision for utilities be put into the budget plus factor something in for the piano and then something be put in for this item as a placeholder. Then we have to probably look at an unbalanced budget and work from that point to bring the budget into balance.
President Powers asked if there were any other suggestions. Mr. Kapachinski stated that in the past, we normally had an approved budget by May or by June. He asked if there was any possible way of gaining approval to start purchasing by June 1, it would be very helpful for him. Anything that can be done to help them get started would be greatly appreciated.
Mrs. Zelenka asked if Dr. Cull could have a proposal as to what we could use as a balanced budget.
Mrs. DiCiolla asked if any of the revenues are going to become actual. No.
Mrs. McDonald asked if something could be placed in the newsletter noting that the district is trying to obtain a piano. Are we going to discuss this at the May board meeting? Yes. Dr. Cull will provide the board with some information.
Mr. Travis stressed that technology is used by teachers every day and taking some things away from the staff will have implications. Some would be subtle such as attitude and morale – and it is going to change how people do their jobs. It will change how curriculum is developed. This isn't a cookie cutter process as for some teachers, it will be a big deal and for others it will be different. He wants the board to be aware of how the teachers will be affected by this.
Sandy Bernahl, Media Director at Peacock, stated that there is a proposal at the state level that every 7th grade student and teacher have a laptop. She reminded the board that if the bill passes, this would alleviate some of the costs to the district. The board will keep a close eye on this to see what happens.
III. Adjournment – President Powers adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m.
_______________________________ __________________________________
Maureen McDonald, Secretary Patrick Powers, President
Board of Education Board of Education
