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2017 05 10 School Committee MinutesBEVERLY PUBLIC SCHOOLS Regular School Committee Meeting Wednesday, May 10, 2017 Beverly City Hall — Council Chambers Beverly, Massachusetts A regular meeting of the Beverly School Committee was held on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 in Beverly City Hall, Council Chambers. Members Present: Remote Participation: Also in Attendance Call to Order: Rachael Abell, Paul Manzo, Kris Silverstein, John Mullady, Paul Goodwin, Mayor Michael Cahill Lorinda Visnick Dr. Steven A. Hiersche, Superintendent of Schools, Suzanne Charochak, Assistant Superintendent, Jean Sherburne, Director of Finance and Operations, Donna Bergeron, Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent and School Committee, Ericka Mendonsa, Student Representative, Elizabeth Taylor, Beverly High School Principal, Dan Keefe, Beverly High School Athletic Director Ms. Silverstein called the meeting to order at 7:25 p.m. Ms. Silverstein called for a recess of the Public Hearing for recognitions of students listed below and, also, for Ericka Mendonsa, Student Representative to the School Committee to give her report. AGENDA Recognition of Students, Employees and Community Members Ms. Silverstein, Dr. Hiersche and Beverly High School Interim Principal Betty Taylor recognized Andrew King named Valedictorian of the Graduating Class of 2017 and Kimberly Tran named Salutatorian of the Graduating Class of 2017. Ms. Silverstein, Dr. Hiersche and Ms. Taylor recognized Jackson Reed and Kimberly Tran recipients of the National Merit Scholarship Commended Student Award. Ms. Silverstein, Dr. Hiersche and Dan Keefe, Athletic Director recognized the following Winter NEC All- Stars: Boys Ice Hockey Girls Ice Hockey Boys Basketball Girls Basketball Swim /Dive Wrestling Girls Indoor Track Boys Indoor Track Gymnastics Luke Samperi Marlee Hamor Pat Gavin Natalie Mellinger Beth Luther Jake Thomas Heather Adams Uatchet Juch Ireonna Scott Abigail Walsh John Jones Tom Adams Kara MacGilvray Alahna Guy Timothy McCarthy Madison Jalbert Hugh Calice Tia Bernard Brooke Ekborg Ameer Alshsrafi Grace Byrd Rachelle Mullins Grace Sparkman Kevin Flaherty Brian Harty Samantha Rennie Luigi Derrane Kostya Vostrikov Nick Shairs Paul Ofiesh Natalie Coughlin India Ingemi Tyler Orlandella Amanda Rosenberger Alexis Sutyak Anne von Zweck Nick Berry Sean Richardson Maddie Rennie Chloe Kavanagh Report from the Student Representative to the School Committee Ericka Mendonsa extended her congratulations to the Science team, who competed in six events on the North Shore, and earned 5 1 ' place out of 23 participating schools. Ericka reported on the Music Department's trip to Montreal and Quebec. She stated that they had collaborated with the music students from Lindsay Place High School in Pointe Claire and performed at both the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal and St. Anne de Beaupre Cathedral in Quebec. Sixteen BHS students attended the MICCA Solo and Ensemble Festival where 9 out of the 14 BHS groups received gold medals and 5 were awarded silver medals. She reported MCAS will be taking place on May 16"' and 17 with a two hour start of school delay. The 49 Annual Honors Scholar Recognition dinner sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce honored Beverly's top scholars: Diane Alhafez, Grace Bigus, Martha Callaghan, Kristen Doucette, Alana Gabriel, Jane Healy, Andrew King, Vanessa Kitova, Matthew Manzo, Samuel Mattson, Daniel Miley, Julia Noel, Simon Petersen, Noah Robinson, Gabriela Rushi, Matthew Swindell and Kimberly Tran. Ericka congratulated Lia Baker, who won first place in the "Senior Individual Documentary" category at the Massachusetts State History Day Competition. Andi Amidon who was accepted to Art All State, Gavin Dunn who received honors for his entry in the Library of Congress Letters about Literature and freshman Olivia Weiss and Carter Shepherd who were named semi - finalist. Ericka congratulated Temujin Frost for her first place entry in the Beverly Public Library's 21 Annual Teen Poetry contest. Public Hearing Reconvened: 7:50 p.m. School Committee Meeting called to order at 8:25 p.m. Bryant Ayles, Director of Municipal Finance Mr. Ayles provided a PowerPoint presentation of the budget showing the school's historical budgetary increases back thru 2001 which reflected upward and downward dips. Mr. Ayles stated during the down times when there was insufficient reserves they were forced to make reactionary decisions commenting that there were talks about closing schools, increasing class sizes, lay offs, implementing fees, etc. in order to sustain this level of minor budget growth. Mr. Ayles said at that time and still today the city relies on variable revenues. Pointing out that revenue streams come from two areas, 80% from property taxes and 20% from a variety of revenue sources tied to economic activity which include excise tax from motor vehicle purchases and meals tax. He stated although the city still relies on variable revenue they are preparing for it in downward economic times. Mr. Ayles explained that the city's four cornerstones of philosophy were developed to guard against those dips, they are: positive budget variances, stability and predictability, sufficient reserves and limiting recurring costs. He provided a chart showing the percentage expense categories —46.1% to the school, 19.1% city payroll, 6.9% debt expenses, 8.5% health insurance and 8.1% pensions. He said these are recurring costs and the remaining 11 % is used to nun everything else in the city — roads, parks, fire, police, etc. He stated that by staying true to four cornerstones, not spending too much in the good years saving for the bad, then, you have a much more predictable growth pattern to plan for. He showed the annual percentage growth in the budget for the school department pointing out that it is much more predictable and something you can manage as a manager. Mr. Ayles stated that every year Standard and Poors rates the city's health on budgetary performance and budgetary flexibility noting the better the city's budgetary flexibility and improved financial performance the higher the rating. Mr. Ayles reported that he asked the City's Financial Advisor, if we were not able to maintain our current credit rating how it would affect our remaining debt on the new middle school. The advisor said it would cost the city $1.8M extra. Mr. Ayles pointed out that the stabilization fund, which may be reserved for later appropriation for any lawful purpose, will support the increase in debt service expected with the new middle school project. Mr. Ayles talked about General Fund Balance /Free Cash stating the Division of Local Services says these funds should be restricted to paying one -time expenditures, funding capital projects or replenishing other reserves. Mr. Ayles said in Beverly's case the certified fund balance is used to pay for one time capital expenses and for transfer to the stabilization fund. Mr. Ayles said that what this does for Beverly is it does not commit to expenses before the funds are available, avoids borrowing which in turn limits the recurring costs and uses one time revenues for one time expenditures. Mr. Ayles reported that the General Fund balance is $5.8 million of that $550,000 will be appropriated to repairs at the North Beverly Fire Station, $1.4 million will be used for one times costs for various projects /repairs. He stated that while the remaining $3.8M left in the general fund is a large amount the city spends $2.6M each week in the city and schools not including capital projects or grants. Mr. Ayles, in closing reiterated four important points: Economy is cyclical, in FY19 we will be facing $2M budget gap, that the City has not paid $1 of principal on the middle school and that we need to listen to our advisors and experts. Dr. Hiersche advised the Committee that if they wanted any details on specific amounts things may cost, they would need to get that information to him fairly soon. He noted Jean Sherburne had provided the Committee with corrected versions of pages 21 and 22 of the draft budget stating the corrected version would be posted to the website tomorrow. Mayor Cahill remarked on the Local Aid Revenue slide pointing out that in 2003 the roughly $17M in state aid has never been recovered. He stated we are making due with a lot less state money which puts pressure on the city. Mayor Cahill said there will be a few additional year end appropriations going forward to city council as well as needing school committee approval of funding to build two softball fields. Mayor Cahill listed some examples of items to be addressed with the stabilization fund balance — new surface on the track, replacing the electrical switching system at the high school, and for next year a new HVAC system at the library. He stated they are working hard to build the stabilization fund and to manage increase debt service and to get us through the next recession when that happens. At this time School Committee members asked questions of Mr. Ayles with regards to his budget presentation. Ms. Visnick — (participating remotely) asked what the city's projected surplus and expected revenues for this year alone compared to expenses for this year alone. Mr. Ayles — stated $2 -2.5M surplus but to keep in mind it is an estimate. Ms. Visnick — asked what the city's budget estimate revenues were compared to the expenses. Mr. Ayles — stated $118.6M budget fully balanced when presented last June. Ms. Abell — asked what encumbered expenses do we have for projects that haven't started and how are they accounted for. Mr. Ayles — not prepared to answer that this evening but will get info. Mr. Manzo — asked if we generally generate a significant amount free cash is there a way to budget differently on the front end. Mr. Ayles — that's a misconception, it's a cumulative balance, at end of fiscal year it gets certified as an amount not an addition from previous years. Mr. Manzo — if we take more risk in creating a budget that doesn't generate more free cash in the subsequent spring is there a way to do it by incurring more risk on the municipal /school side and what happens later down the road? Mr. Ayles — suggest you read the rating report the real risk is depleting your reserves, losing your bond rating and paying more in interest. Mr. Manzo — if understanding correctly if the school committee is encouraged to ask for more funding it's more likely to come from other departments not necessarily from the pool of free cash at end of year? Mr. Ayles — that would be my recommendation Ms. Visnick — over how many years, if bond rating was to go down, and we haven't paid the $1.8M, over how many years would we pay? Mr. Ayles — It would be over the term of the bond (28 years). Mr. Mullady — what percentage does the school receive? Mr. Ayles — 46.1 %. Mr. Mullady — 46.1 % what percentage do you think is most sustainable for the city? Mr. Ayles — depends on how revenues materialize. What happens if we have continued growth, positive budget variances... tough to say, it's really a choice of sustainability. Mr. Mullady — how sustainable are we going to be providing for the kids when demands and costs are only going to be increasing? Dealing with unfunded mandates and if giving less than half it's kind of frustrating. Mayor Cahill — we could present numbers and percentages in many ways. One of my guiding principles is to put as large a number as possible toward the school budget. Proposed increase $1.6M that is significant - doing everything that we can. Ms. Abell — Pension obligation on track could you elaborate a little more on that. Mr. Ayles — Right now the obligation is $10M I believe it will be $17M a year when we are solvent — it is legislatively mandated of all pension systems to basically set aside the liability your incurring as you go. We have liability at the city level to pay retirement for former employees, at the time the system was set up that they were paying in certain percentage but now with life expectancies growing it's insufficient to cover the true cost to give those employees their pension. The pension system was broken and now we are mandated to make it solvent. We are required by law to be solvent by 2040. OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits) which is healthcare for retirees that once you hit 10 year mark and your vested you're in and the city pays your premium for the rest of your life. (the city and school portion of family plan premium is $20,000 /yr.) The city and school annual contribution to health care $10M — 60% of that relates to retirees. Pension liability being $90M the OPEB liability is $210M Ms. Abell — this is a state mandated funding obligation that we're on track? Mr. Ayles — yes Ms. Visnick — read a quote from a report that the City Budget Analyst gave to City Council at the beginning of March. She said she would like Mr. Ayles to explain why his position is so seemingly different. She stated "the fiduciary position is pretty strong quite frankly the city is doing a real great job with finances protecting its fiduciary position, the reserves are strong. In the past 7 years as I reported to you the reserves have done nothing but increase they are looking pretty good in that area. I believe you are going to find at the end of the fiscal year when Mr. Ayles does his sheet with the Department of Revenue I wouldn't be surprised to see another healthy free cash figure when the balance sheet is closed. Finally with regard to the budget I came on board just as the audits came out. I also wrote to you about that, the audits are pretty strong — the general fund net position has increased, 5 of 7 enterprise funds have increased, one was a norninal increase the other was a niinor. I aril not too worried aboui it, [lie bottom line is financial position is strong — triple A ratings are still being maintained and the audit reports are showing strong position as to how the city is doing. As such based on preliminary assessment of everything it appears that the city will be in position to handle spikes — (new middle school when budgetary season occurs for 2019, 2020 and 2021) ". Mr. Ayles — asked what the date was on the report Ms. Visnick was quoting. Ms. Visnick — March 6"' Mr. Ayles — stated the analyst was about a week on the job. Much of what he said is true — city does have reserves and is poised to be able to handle the middle school debt. All true but I would prefer to use a more recent report from earlier this week — he did say the conservative budget estimates that city employed over last few years and current financial position city is in is the responsible path for the city. Mayor Cahill — Ms. Visnick you haven't see this recent two page report he issued, which I will get to the School Committee. As of this week Mr. Perry, Budget Analyst wrote — "it is my recommendation to City Council and the City as a whole continues utilizing their conservative approach for estimating local receipts which in turn will help generate reserves. He went on to write a certain portion of free cash should be transferred each year to the stabilization fund while this policy continues this recommendation will properly help the city meet their debt obligations hopefully provide the necessary services the city has become accustomed to now and into the future and better position the city for changes in federal and state reimbursement that could be detrimental to fiduciary position of Beverly. I would suggest the city revisit this posture after the debt scheduled payments somewhat abate in three to four years. Ms. Abell — the revenues largely being tied to property taxes that are collected, those being restricted to growth of 2.5% - what role does rising property values and new buildings that have been going in, do to our lead revenue outlook Mr. Ayles — The 80% that I referred to is our existing tax levy. When we talk new growth I am considering the other 20 %, because that is volatile depending on the economy. New growth is when people build new houses or companies invest in personal property we capture that value. The 80% that is just an existing tax levy is essentially capped at 2.5% so as property values rise the assessor's department reassesses the values of those parcels then does the division to adjust the tax rate down. So the tax rate goes down when property values go up essentially. But the overall collection of property tax; commercial, industrial and personal property can only grow by 2.5 %. The 2.5% is capped on the total dollars. Ms. Abell - New developments that are going in DO not add to our top line then Mr. Ayles — they are in that 20% column, they do add to our top line and we count and budget for our new growth each year. We gain much more value when commercial parcels are built. The other component of new growth, which sometimes goes unlooked, is personal property when economy is good our companies in the city are reinvesting in equipment etc. buying, upgrading office spaces and that is captured as new growth. It is counted as 48% of our new growth in personal property. Mr. Goodwin — More teachers and free full day kindergarten are the two main requests. If we have 350 Kindergarten students registered at $4,000 each = $1.4M is that an adequate figure to fund full day kindergarten? Dr. Hiersche — Remember we don't collect $4,000 from every kindergarten student. It is less than you project and whatever the revenue doesn't support it comes out of the budget Mr. Goodwin — asked is the cost to fund a single teacher including health care - $80,000 /per? Dr. Hiersche — Hiring at M +5 and then we have to add in healthcare so this year that actually is closer to $90,000, doesn't' mean we might not look at lower than M +S. Mr. Mullady — Example if we decided full day kindergarten is the goal how far out would the city need to plan for increase in cost to the schools? Dr. Hiersche — so there is the initial cost making the conversion and second part is if the state comes through with Chapter 70 funding, because right now all of our students count as a half day, any that are not paying fees qualify for Chapter 70 funds, anyone else even if fee is $1.00 they do not qualify for Chapter 70. Problem is out of our budget about 14.7% comes from Chapter 70 funds. What we would get back in return is just under $200,000, actual cost would be at least $500,000 more and the piece we expect to have happen is half day no longer exists. I believe there would be one more that we would have to budget for. We need to think about those as recurring cost year to year. Mr. Ayles — Ms. Visnick and Mr. Manzo are a part of the City Wide forecasting they can attest to the many assumptions that get built into long term planning — so many carry large fluctuations and price tags biggest of which is the borrowing this fall for the middle school. Depending on the market rate and our rating we are talking hundred of thousands of dollars. Ms. Visnick stated she would like to make a motion that the School Committee direct Dr. Hiersche to add approximately $600,000 to the budget in order to address three issues: Issue #1 hire teachers to address the 4 largest class sizes across the district — elementary level. Issue #2 25% reduction in full day kindergarten fee and Issue #3 to lower fees across the district. Ms. Abell seconded the motion. Discussion: Mr. Manzo — you're asking the superintendent to create a new draft version of the budget that is increased by $600,000. Ms. Abell — stated she seconded that motion with the understanding that the Superintendent will present the new version at the May 16 meeting. Mr. Manzo — reiterated that we are directing the Superintendent to create this budget for us not necessarily one that he would recommend. Mr. Mullady — asked Dr. Hiersche and Jean Sherburne is that enough time? Dr. Hiersche — It is enough time to give you ballpark we can put something together. Not sure $600,000 covers it. Ms. Sherburne — stated that we don't have many kindergarten students that pay full price — estimate about $175,000 is just to reduce the fee based on scholarships —just to drop the fee to $3000 level. Ms. Silverstein —to clarify it reduces everyone's fee across the board by 25 %. People that are paying $4,000 will pay $3,000 and it will cost $175,000 to reduce the kindergarten fee by 25 %. Ms. Sherburne — Ms. Visnick mentioned 4, if you are talking 4 that's just four teachers not the specials. Dr. Hiersche — If this is what we are doing when I look at the large 4 it's much closer to 6. Second part is if we were to add that number we then have a specials issue to deal with as well. Ms. Visnick — Ask Dr. Hiersche to clarify what creates a special issue. Dr. Hiersche — because the specials are not all based in one school. Ms. Visnick — are we talking .2 or .4? Dr. Hiersche — You're asking me to answer without doing the work. Mr. Manzo — you're asking the superintendent to create a new draft version of the budget that is increased by $600,000. Ms. Abell — stated she seconded that motion with the understanding that the Superintendent will present the new version at the May 16 meeting. Dr. Hiersche —yes Mayor Cahill — Ms. Sherburne said $76,000 Dr. Hiersche you said closer to $90,000 —what would you expect Dr. Hiersche? Dr. Hiersche — we do a target with the principals and as we hire people the principals' know if they come with someone more expensive they have to then come with someone less to meet their target. Mayor Cahill — Ms. Visnick made a motion to increase the budget by $600,000 to accomplish three things, Mayor Cahill asked Ms. Visnick, if they need more than $600,000 should they come back. Mayor Cahill further amend with the following: Ask that Dr. Hiersche come back with his priorities, what he would do. Mayor stated I would like to further amend to direct Dr. Hiersche to come back with multiple versions of proposed budget: One of which would seek to achieve your priorities previously mentioned at $600,000. One of which would seek to achieve the priorities and name the price that he thinks it would take, if in fact, it would take more. One that would have Dr. Hiersche coming back with a higher budget number and attaching what he would prioritize if he were able to build a higher budget from the start. Ms. Abell second. Ms. Abell — stated she supports Ms. Visnick's motion and appreciated her more conservative approach. She stated she was also looking at our budget and was thinking $1M is what we should be asking for at this point and appreciated the amended motion. I also think it is not only about class size but class support, asking Dr. Hiersche that he might look at some creativity in the goal that Ms. Visnick has outlined thinking about some of the more affordable options. I know we struggle with substitute teachers and teachers are called out of classrooms often putting a big burden on our paraprofessionals when we don't have substitutes coming into the building. Also I had in my estimation assumed that a 25 %fee reduction would have achieved part of our shared vision towards free full day kindergarten in our District. As I understand there are only about 25% of our families paying full tuition and the way I look at it we owe our families a half day and for that incremental 3 hours the $4000 price tag is unfair. I would strongly recommend we look at that option to reduce the fee by 25 %. We heard from parents about athletic fees, budget and concerns over safety and not having supervision. I think we need to take a harder look at student safety. I noticed in this budget capital improvement is zero funded and having gone through warrants I'm seeing emergency repair expenses. Ms. Abell said she thinks we have delayed our capital improvement plan and encouraged asking for funding to start looking at that before we incur more emergency expenses. Mayor Cahill — The last point Ms. Abell made about capital funding when the superintendent spoke earlier that was one that didn't make it to the table Also, Mr. Ayles has anticipated the need to replace roofs at the 5 elementary schools and at McKeown, one a year and he has built it into the budget starting in 2019. Ms. Abell — one other is item, parking fees, Jean Sherburne reported the lack of parking fees being collected — I would look to remove that fee. Mayor Cahill — ask Mr. Ayles could you share some thoughts on what it would mean to add $600,000 to the budget in terms of how you're trying to manage our reserves and plan for building our stabilization fund to that level. Mr. Ayles — Wish it was easy but it is much more complicated and why we do 10 year forecasts. The extra $600,000 we potentially need to find could come from a number of sources - increase revenue projections to a level that assumes more risk. Significant risk if we go that route Another route is to reassess all areas within our budget see if there are other types of areas that we can subtract from and stay within a budget we are comfortable with. Risk for that: need to look to areas that are "retractable" something like capital equipment purchases or roads and sidewalks. These areas that are "retractable" then need to be reallocated to recurring expenses. Mayor Cahill - to Mr. Ayles those are two items we have long talked about that we have to retract from when the recession ends, if we retract from them now not being able to look to them in the future is of concern. To not go that route but say we actually more aggressively target revenues and build a greater percentage increase in to overall budget. If $600,000 is added that way do you have any concern about the bond rating agency's view of our budget growth when look to borrow for the middle school and whether that it might impact our bond rating. Mr. Ayles — Yes. Mayor and I have been sitting down for months trying to develop what a responsible FYI budget number is and in doing so we have relied on some of those variable revenue streams to get to arrive at the budget we are at now. When Ms. Visnick asked what we expect our positive variance to be this year I said about $2M on revenue side and half a million on the expenditure side. We have already tried to capture $800,000 to $900,000 of that in increased revenue projections to get to where we are at now. To build that budget even more now you're talking about growing these vulnerable revenue streams by $1.5M that is much closer to the margin of positive variances that we are seeing in FY17, in a good year. It's more likely that a downward economy it will affect us much sooner than it would if we were more conservative. Mr. Manzo — In order to add additional funds to the school budget for next fiscal year we either take more risk on revenue side or reduce somewhere else. Knowing municipal finances we try to avoid reduce risk and I am guessing we will see reduction somewhere else. That being said we sat here last June when city added $150,000 and made cuts to a number of other departments to come up with that amount. Mr. Ayles — probably be the first place where we would need to look. Ms. Silverstein — curious does it have to be all or nothing? All taking more risk or reducing expenses can it be a combination of those things. Mr. Ayles — I think if that is on the table than yes everything goes back on the table. Ms. Silverstein — I think when we talk about budget we think we assume we have to do all or nothing. Ms. Abell — call our attention back to the mission statement Dr. Hiersche presented and the sentiments of others, we have a mission to develop future citizens of our city. I agree safety on the playing field but I feel safety in the classroom needs to be talked about in this budget. Students wasting years in large classrooms because of behavior issues are of real concern. I understand there will be budget constraints when the middle school opens. I think this year, if possible, we address the 4 to 6 to 9 FTE's that I imagine we could use as a district and reevaluate that in next year's budget. I think that class size and class support is really important. Ms. Visnick — Asked where's the line between being fiscally conservative and investing in our future by spending some amount of our surpluses to educate our children? Stating she is incredibly firm in her belief that it's our job and responsibility. If city council sends our budget back with some of that money cut out then so be it but it would be irresponsible for us to listen to everyone who reached out and not even ask for the funds. Mr. Manzo — when started the first budget from Superintendent included $1.3M in pending requests that weren't approved additionally $143,000 in things that were approved but taken off the table to balance the budget. One thing we need to look at very clearly is the $1.3M to $1.5M the Superintendent has already removed but at one point deemed necessary. One thing I would want to see is a budget that clearly represents the Superintendent's original requests. Mr. Goodwin — would like clarification to the motion, it references 4 teachers to the highest class sizes I'd like to back away from trying to pin that on four classes. I would like to have the flexibility to have the Superintendent be able to allocate that money to classes around the school district that might need the teachers more. Ms. Silverstein — Clearly we have not had this conversation as a collective group about what we think as a school committee we would like to direct Dr. Hiersche towards, should we even see an increase in our budget. Perplexed with either motion that is very prescriptive and I think that we need to have a conversation about this. Mayor Cahill — I hope with the further motion it gives Dr. Hiersche the flexibility to express and bring back what his top priorities would be for the district if there were additional funds to work with, as well as, the other two versions from Ms. Visnick. Ms. Abell — the amendment gives the administration the flexibility. If I had made the motion I would have basically given the administration the tool set via request to put into an AD salary contingency account, not necessarily to have a plan that commits to teachers. Because of options we see over the summer we should be looking for a revised budget that has some flexibility. Ms. Silverstein —we have a motion on table from Ms. Visnick with a second from Ms. Abell and an amended motion from Mayor Cahill with a second from Ms. Abell. Mayor Cahill — People have said they want to direct School Committee to ask City Council for more money. In our City Charter that power is vested in the Mayor. The School Committee may choose to vote a higher budget and that request will actually go to me. Per City Charter it's the Mayor's responsibility to submit a budget to City Council that is in the best interest of the city. City Council is limited by charter to only cut not add nor can they cut a line item and redirect it. If there is a greater amount that the school committee chooses it will come to me. Our plan is to submit on May 30"' at a special meeting of the City Council. Also want to say that I plan to vote for this further amendment, I am also skeptical of our ability to add money to what has been put forward to date. Mr. Mullady — I think for the community as a whole it would be good to see what Dr. Hiersche would do with that extra money. It will be very helpful in terms of what has to be taken off the table. Ms. Silverstein —what we heard tonight are key points that were very helpful. Do we feel like as a committee we are okay to revisit this on Tuesday? Voting on the amended motion to direct Dr. Hiersche to come back with multiple versions of a proposed budget. 1 — one that will achieve the priorities outlined by Ms. Visnick of $600,000 additional funds 2 — one that will achieve Ms. Visnick's priorities at a higher number if that's needed 3 — attach what he prioritized if he were to build a higher budget at $600,000 that will achieve his priorities Roll Call Vote: Yes: Mr. Mullady, Ms. Visnick, Ms. Abell, Mayor Cahill, Mr. Goodwin, Ms. Silverstein No: Mr. Manzo Passes: 6 to 1 Open Forum for Citizen Input into Non - Agenda - Related Items. None Open Forum for Citizen Concerns or Citizen Input into Agenda - Related Item None Approval of Meeting Records A motion was made by Mr. Goodwin to approve the minutes from the March 8, 2017 School Committee Meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullady and approved by a vote of 7:0 with 1 correction. A motion was made by Ms. Abell to approve the minutes from the April 12, 2017 School Committee Meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullady and approved by a vote of 7:0 with 3 corrections. Items by Consensus Dr. Hiersche recommended approval of the following warrants. a. The Superintendent recommends the School Committee vote to approve Warrant #17038 in the amount of $107,383.63 b. The Superintendent recommends the School Committee vote to approve Warrant #17039 in the amount of $318,565.28. c. The Superintendent recommends the School Committee vote to approve Warrant #17040 in the amount of $368,854.56. d. The Superintendent recommends the School Committee vote to approve Warrant #17041 in the amount of $367,527.93 A motion was made by Ms. Abell to approve the warrants listed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullady and approved by a vote of 7:0. Communications from Committee Members None Report from Superintendent Hiersche 1. NEC Establishment of a Capital Fund Dr. Hiersche stated that he would like approval from the School Committee of the Northshore Education Consortium's establishment of a Capital Plan and Capital Fund. He stated the fund would be capped at $650,000 and remarked that this would allow the Consortium to maintain the property they own because they are not eligible for MSBA funding. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Mr. Manzo to approve the NEC Capital Plan. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullady and approved by a vote of 7:0. A motion was made by Mayor Cahill to approve the creation of an NEC Capital Fund. The motion was seconded by Ms. Abell and approved by a vote of 7:0. 2. Budget Update Reported above Report from School Committee President, Kris Silverstein 1. Naminq of the new Middle School Update Ms. Silverstein reported that two weeks ago the School Committee met, discussed and voted on the new name for the middle school - "Beverly Middle School ". Mr. Mullady stated that even though, at the time, he voted against it given the opportunity he would vote for it to show solidarity with his committee members. Report for School Committee Liaison to the Middle School Building Project — Paul Manzo Mr. Manzo reported that the working group has met twice, reporting at the April 18' meeting they discussed the removal of excess soil and fill from the site, the Topping Off Ceremony originally set for May 2 and design work. He reported at the May 2 meeting they discussed the rescheduling of the Topping Off ceremony to May 23rd and discussed the scheduling the next full meeting of the Beverly Middle School Committee. He stated they received an extensive construction update and that the excess soil was able to be removed for a minimal cost. Mr. Manzo stated the there was also a neighborhood meeting he was not able to attend. Mayor Cahill reported that he, Ms. Silverstein and Dr. Hiersche attended with the neighbors in immediate proximity to the site. He noted it was good meeting where they were able to discuss their concerns and questions. Committee Reports Standing Committee on Finance & Facilities — Lorinda Visnick, Chairperson Ms. Abell reported on behalf of Ms. Visnick that the Finance and Facilities Committee last met on April 26, 2017. She reported that due to time constraints they did not receive the report on the Buildings & Grounds but they received a revenue and expense update. They voted to approve the receipts of Gifts to Schools, voted to approve the DESE Grants and voted to approve Opioid Prevention Grant. The Committee reviewed the proposed budget discussing the total monetary request to the city for the school budget. Ms. Visnick proposed asking for an additional $500,000 to $600,000 to address class size, hiring additional teachers, reduction in kindergarten fees and athletic fees. Ms. Abell brought forward the following items for School Committee approval: Upon the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Finance and Facilities a motion was made by Ms. Abell to approve of the following Gifts to Schools: — February 2017: BHS — Imagination Destination $ 100.00 Global Child Ayers, Cove $ 150.00 Centerville, Hannah, North Beverly Ayers — PTO $ 197.97 Cove — Crovo Sports Science Materials $ 200.00 Hannah — Elementary PTO's $ 1,500.00 North Beverly — Baystate Textiles $ 27.00 Total $ 2,174.97 The motion was seconded by Mayor Cahill and approved by a vote of 7:0. Upon the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Finance and Facilities a motion was made by Ms. Abell to approve the DESE Grant 274 Special Education Program Improvement in the amount of $35,078.00. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullady and approved by a vote of 7:0. Upon the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Finance and Facilities a motion was made by Ms. Abel to approve the Attorney General's Office Youth Opioid Prevention Grant in the amount of $6,300.00. The motion was seconded by Mayor Cahill and approved by a vote of 7:0. The next meeting of the Finance and Facilities Committee will be on May 17, 2017 in the McKeown School at 7:00 p.m. Curriculum, Instruction and Student Life Sub - Committee — Paul Manzo, Chairperson Mr. Manzo reported the Curriculum, Instruction and Student Life Committee met on May 3, 2017. The Committee reviewed the School Improvement Plans for all schools. He stated the next meeting of the Standing Committee on Curriculum, Instruction and Student Liie will be on June 7, 2017 in the McKeown School building at 7:00 p.m. Negotiations Subcommittee — Paul Manzo, Chairperson Mr. Manzo reported that the Negotiations Subcommittee continues to meet with four of the 6 bargaining units. He stated that Unit A is progressing towards an agreement. Mr. Manzo reported they have met multiple times with Transportation Unit and once with Cafeteria. They are scheduling a future meeting with Clerical. Policy Review Subcommittee — Rachael Abell, Chairperson Ms. Abell stated that the Policy Review Subcommittee has not met since last reporting. She stated the next meeting is scheduled for May 17, 2017 at the McKeown School where they will be reviewing Section I (Instruction). She noted that she has spoken with June Kazes, Nurse Leader as this section covers wellness policies and that June Kazes will be joining them for this meeting. Community Engagement Mr. Manzo stated that his son will be graduating next month and expressed his appreciation to the all of the teachers. Ms. Abell gave a shout out to Briscoe students who are participating in the "Fame" musical production tomorrow evening. New Business — Reminders Ms. Silverstein requested if we could move the vote on Edward Armstrong appointment to Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical District School Committee as Beverly's Representative to the June School Committee meeting. Mayor Cahill stated if we wait till June he will not be able to attend the June meeting. Mayor Cahill requested having him attend Tuesday's COTW meeting at 6:30p.m. and possibly voting at that time. After a brief discussion Mr. Manzo making the following motion: A motion was made by Mr. Manzo to approve the appointment of Edward Armstrong to serve as Beverly's representative on the Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical District School Committee. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullady and approved by a vote of 7:0. Opportunity for Questions from the Press None in attendance Consider Executive Session A motion was made by Mr. Manzo to enter into Executive Session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with union and non -union personnel and not to return to open session. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullady and a roll call vote resulted in the following: Yes: Mr. Manzo, Mr. Mullady, Ms. Visnick, Ms. Abell, Mayor Cahill, Mr. Goodwin and Ms. Silverstein Motion Passed: 7:0 Motion to Adjourn Mr. Manzo made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mullady and approved by a vote of 7:0 The meeting adjourned at 10:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lorinda Visnick, Secretary Beverly School Committee Documents Reviewed at the meeting: Minutes for Approval: Regular School Committee Minutes — March 8, 2017 Regular School Committee Minutes — April 12, 2017 NEC Establishment of a Capital Fund Signature Page Letter from Mayor Michael Cahill requesting approval of Edward Armstrong's appointment to the Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical District School Committee