Minutes May 10, 2012

Date:

May 10, 2012

Time:

7:45 a.m.

Place:

Education Center

Present:

Board of Education
Alyson Kiesel, President
Jeffrey Mester, Vice President
Randall Katchis
Vicky Tipp
Karen Visser

Staff Members
Present:

Dr. Lyn McKay, Superintendent

Mr. John Chow, Assistant Superintendent for Business

Theresa Markley, District Clerk / Adm. Asst. to Superintendent

Visitors Present:

PNWBOCES District Superintendent, Dr. James Langlois and Assistant Superintendent John McCarthy

Board President Alyson Kiesel called the meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. Dr. Langlois was caught in a traffic jam and it was decided to proceed to an Executive Session. Karen Visser moved that the meeting be reconvened in Executive session to discuss the employment history of two particular individuals and matters leading to their potential discipline or suspension. Randall Katchis seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

At 8:20 a.m. Karen Visser moved to reconvene the public session. Randall Katchis seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Short/Long Term Planning: PNWBOCES District Superintendent Dr. James Langlois and Assistant Superintendent John McCarthy

President Kiesel welcomed John McCarthy. He offered to begin the dialogue regarding short and long term planning while they were waiting for Dr. Langlois.

Mr. McCarthy explained that after the bond was defeated this year to cover capital improvements to the forty-year old campus, they learned that their communication with the component districts needs to be improved. He suggested that board members do a walk through at their convenience to see what BOCES is doing and the challenges they have faced. Recent changes include appointment of a construction manager to help prioritize projects. To inquiries from board members about energy performance contracts, John McCarthy explained that the facilities are all electric and their costs are incredibly inexpensive. Three firms have evaluated energy reduction and there isn't enough savings for them to take it on. BOCES now has a Facilities Committee. It was suggested that they organize a facilities advisory board utilizing people from the districts to provide advice on what the individual districts have done that might be helpful. It was suggested that because Chappaqua uses facilities for staff development and not so much for students, why not build an aquatic center that all the component districts could benefit from instead of just investing in pool repairs. Mr. McCarthy explained that a change in footprint, or addition to footprint, would require approval of all 18 school districts and that their pool is smaller and used for occupational and physical therapy. He pointed out that BOCES works under different laws. They are not allowed to keep reserve funds to help with putting money aside for repairs.

At 8:50 a.m. Dr. Langlois joined the meeting. He reported the bond will be resubmitted no later than September because this work needs to be done and there isn't a scaled down version. The BOCES board is discussing plans looking at different options that is the least fiscally disruptive to districts. Each component district pays an annual fee and this fee could be increased that would not require a vote, but would put the districts in fiscally adverse situation. It still would not cover all the expenses. The alternative to the bond would be to let the buildings collapse or have BOCES send each district a bill as each problem arises, but they want to avoid that. A number of repairs have been made over the years from the operations budget, but the districts have not been aware of them. BOCES was set up as a cooperative to share services and the campus was built 40 years ago. Roofs have been repaired, but now 40-year old roofs need to be replaced. The pros and cons of renting facilities, the lack of reserve funds, and other legal constraints for only BOCES were discussed. BOCES use a 50% property value and 50% enrollment to assess districts to help balance the cost between lesser and more resourced districts.

John McCarthy noted that private funds have been raised by teachers, parents, students for a program, but that is not enough. The BOCES camps are not allowed to collect money. Our legislators are pushing for BOCES to be an exclusions in tax cap projects. It was a major problem that caused some of our districts to vote down the bond because BOCES was not excluded from the tax cap.

BOCES may be restricted by law, but it is evolving - online courses, high end courses and they want to know what more or different services can be provided.

Board members thanked the BOCES administrators for the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and understand some of the legal issues that constrain them financially.

Jeffrey Mester was excused at approximately 9:20 a.m.

1.

Recommended action: Personnel

Superintendent Dr. Lyn McKay made the following recommendation.

2.

President Kiesel gave Notice of Future Meetings:

Tuesday, May 15, 2012, Budget Vote/Election, Horace Greeley High School Gym, 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012, Board Meeting at Horace Greeley High School, 8:15 p.m.

3.

Adjournment

At 9:25 a.m., Alyson Kiesel moved to adjourn the meeting. Randall Katchis seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

At 9:30 a.m. President Kiesel asked to reconvene the meeting to address another piece of business. Karen Visser moved to reconvene the meeting. Victoria Tipp seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Randall Katchis was excused.

Addendum:

4.

Recommended Action: Other

5.

Adjournment

At 9:35 a.m. Karen Visser moved to adjourn the meeting. Victoria Tipp seconded. The motion passed unanimously.