November 18, 2008 at Georgia School Library
Board Present: Jennifer Petrie, Doug
Bergstrom, Carl Laroe, Casey Hager, Irene Bonin
Administrators: Flora Hurteau, Armando Vilaseca, Frank Calano
I. Call
to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:15 PM
II.
FY10 Budget Work Session – Chris presented
new numbers for the amount of students attending BFA-St. Albans. It was lowered since the budget she
distributed last week. The budget is
currently at a 4.08% increase. Armando
thought this was a very good starting point.
3.9% is the current inflation rate.
There will need to be an additional 4th grade teacher next
year. There may be a 5th
grade teacher who can fill the 4th grade position. There was a discussion regarding the core
teachers for the middle school in the next two years. In two years it will be asked for the Board to keep the 4 core
teachers even if there is a reduction in the class size. Chris distributed a proposed high school
budget. Chris is anticipating a 10%
increase in BFA-St. Albans tuition, and 5% for other schools. Estimating 10% instead of 8.5% equates to
$38,000/year. Special Education looks
good. It is dropping by almost 2%. All coaching positions have increased by
$100. Tech staff, district wide, has
been moved from the local budget to the Franklin West budget. There is a large increase in rental costs. Franklin West is looking for a larger
space. The lease for their current
space is not up until 2010. There was a
discussion regarding the phone service.
Armando suggested that the Town Report fee be left alone for
relationship purposes. The Treasurer
services have not been discussed with the Town either. Doug will try to get on the Town agenda for
the next meeting to discuss these issues.
Doug is concerned about the economy and asking for an increase in the
budget. Doug stated he would like to
see a 0% increase in the budget. That
is a $465,000 decrease. That could mean
multiple teaching positions. Armando
believes that a 0% increase is unrealistic.
Casey proposes a budget without the 1.3 addition for kindergarten, no 4th
grade teacher, no tech teacher increase.
The current budget could support a three full day and one 0.7 day
kindergarten program. Doug Bergstrom,
Carl Laroe, and Casey Hager voted in
favor of seeing the budget numbers with a 3% increase; Jennifer Petrie and
Irene Bonin opposed this idea.
Armando stated that the Board needs to discuss the kindergarten issue with the public.
III. Review Upcoming Meetings
● Regular Board Meeting: December 2nd at 6PM at Georgia School Library
● Special Budget Meeting
Session: December 16th
at 6PM at Georgia School
Library (if needed)
● FWSU Quarterly Meeting: December 17th
at 7PM at Fairfax Community Library