JANUARY 24, 2005

Members Present:

Richard Kowalski, President; Dawn Klida, Vice-President; Barbara Skowronski, Secretary; Terrence O’Hare, Treasurer; John Loop, Trustee; Patrick Shaffer, Trustee; Scott Sturm, Trustee

Members Absent:

None

call to order/pledge of

allegiance/roll call

Stacey Meininger, School Social Worker, asked to make a statement regarding Item 8E on the agenda.  It was the consensus of the Board that her statements be addressed during discussion of that item later in the evening.

board member recognition

Mr. Andress presented Board members with a certificate in appreciation for their service to the students, community, and staff members.  They also received a small gift in honor of Board Appreciation Month.

staff/student recognition:

academic all-state football team award

Mark Miller and the academic all-state football players were present to received certificates of recognition of the Board of Education.

election consolidation agreement with Bangor township

Janet Santos, Township Clerk, was present to answer any questions Board members had regarding this agreement.

A motion was made by Scott Sturm, supported by Barbara Skowronski, to approve the agreement.  A roll call vote was taken.  Ayes:  Richard Kowalski, Dawn Klida, Terrence O’Hare, Barbara Skowronski, John Loop, Patrick Shaffer, Scott Sturm.  Nays:  None.  Motion carried.

reports

Board Committees/Board Members:  None.

John Glenn Athletic Director:  None.

Recreation Director:  Ms. Stanton was not present due to illness.

Financial Consultant:  Mr. Lenar updated Board members on various items that included upgrading the banking system for electronic banking, a recent state-level meeting regarding revenue sharing, and important upcoming events.  Mr. Lenar also answered miscellaneous questions from Board members regarding retirement and insurance rate increases, as well as fund equity balances.

Superintendent:  Mr. Andress distributed a complete schedule for budget-reduction meetings to Board members.  After discussion with Mr. Kowalski, it was decided that an early March special Board meeting be scheduled to present and approve the final budget cuts. 

Mr. Andress also notified Board members, according to his contract, that the Board would need to evaluate him within the next two months.

Administrators:  Mrs. Smith distributed tokens of appreciation to Board members in honor of Board Recognition Month.

consent agenda

A motion was made by Dawn Klida, supported by Barbara Skowronski, to approve the Consent Agenda as follows:

1. Approval of Minutes:  January 19, 2005 (work session)
2. Approval of Monthly Expenditures

Grand Total All Funds ($2,173,508.59

(Payroll portion equals:  $1,661,670.16)

regular agenda

Approval of Resolution Setting Matters To Be Voted Upon – May 3, 2005 School Election:  A motion was made by Terrence O’Hare, supported by Scott Sturm, to approve this resolution.  Motion carried unanimously.

Recommendation to Approve 2005/06 Agreement with Bay-Arenac for Internet Access Services:  Mr. Andress explained that the agreement for 2005/06 had been reviewed by Mr. Allsopp.  Mr. Kowalski inquired how other districts received internet services.  Mr. Lenar gave him this information. 

A motion was made by Dawn Klida, supported by Patrick Shaffer, to approve this recommendation.  Motion carried unanimously.

At this time Mr. Kowalski, with the consensus of the entire Board, requested that the following two agenda items be acted upon as one item.

Request by Superintendent to Attend Superintendents’ Legislative Retreat in Lansing – February 16 and 17, 2005, and Michigan Negotiators Conference in Lansing – March 17 and 18, 2005:  A motion was made by Scott Sturm, supported by Barbara Skowronski, to approve both requests.  Motion carried unanimously.

Recommendation to Transfer Itinerant Special Education Staff to Bay-Arenac ISD:  At this time Stacey Meininger read a letter addressed to the Board from the six itinerant staff members affected by this recommendation.  The letter contained concerns by these staff members about the level of communication and deviation from the schedule to determine budget cuts. 

Mr. Kowalski said that this item had been discussed at the last work session.  For the previous two years the Board had decided to review this situation on an annual basis.  He felt that Mrs. Meininger was perceiving that this would be part of the general cuts and discussion.  Mr. Kowalski felt that this was an on-going consideration by the Board from the past and not part of the current cuts.

Mrs. Meininger stated that these staff members saw it as part of a reduction in staffing.  All of these individuals would be looking at a loss of $28-30,000.  Two or three of the individuals involved are considering teaching positions in the district.  These staff members have been actively involved and have supported the district for the past eight years.  She asked why the Board thought this was a good way to go to save money.

Mr. Loop felt that it was unfortunate, but the Board had to cut $1.5 million.  Even if the district did get an increase in funding, the percentage of increase for benefits and retirement would take this away.  Mr. Loop said there were benefits in having local control, but the Board would be making cuts in services, staff, and programs over the next few months.  Discussion took place about the special education secretary position and if this would be included with the itinerant staff.  Mr. Heinrich said that this had not been discussed previously.

Mr. Kowalski said that Mr. Dewey had informed him the earlier this was done the better it was for the staff involved and for the ISD.  He stated that there would be a time period for these staff members to make decisions on going into other teaching positions.  He said that if it was going to be a recommendation it was going to come on March 1^st or the Board could act on it now.

Mrs. Skowronski inquired about what the financial savings would be if the staff members who were able bumped into teaching positions in Bangor.  She felt this needed to be considered, as well as the money Bangor gets from Medicaid these staff members generate.

Mr. Kowalski explained that the Medicaid money would come back to the district at the end of the year.  Mrs. Skowronski said that the total amount would not come back, only a portion.  Mr. Loop said that he had reviewed the figures that had been presented to him at a previous meeting at the ISD.  Bangor would realize reimbursement of one-half of the Medicaid amount.

Mr. O’Hare asked what had drastically changed that the district would be saving $30,000 with this recommendation.  Mr. Heinrich explained that funds fell short in the health care benefit area.  He also explained what benefit packages these staff members received that cost the district approximately $66,000.  Medicaid generated from these individuals equaled approximately $38,000.  He explained how this money was distributed at the end of the year.  The first year that these staff members were back at the ISD, Bangor would not get any Medicaid money back.  It would take until the second year to receive any reimbursement.

Mrs. Klida stated that this had been discussed for the last three years.  The Board is completely aware that, no matter what the truth is or the responsibility, the board will be blamed.  What these employees have that others do not is the opportunity to keep a job.  The Board will be making decisions to pink-slip people and Mrs. Klida said this was an attempt to minimize the impact.  She reiterated that she did not support the transfer last year, but the decision had been to review this on a yearly basis.  She said that the time had come to make a decision based on what is best for the district at-large.  At this time, Mrs. Klida supported the move of itinerant staff back to the ISD.

Mr. Andress stated that he had tried every means possible to do dual employment, but the legal opinion from the district’s attorney confirmed that this was disallowed.  Contacting legislators also did not produce any help.  Mr. Andress agreed with Mr. Kowalski, Mrs. Klida, and the rest of the Board that this is one of the toughest decisions they had to make, but cuts would be coming.

Mrs. Meininger asked if a process of plan had been discussed to help protect these employees from their losses.  Mr. Kowalski said that there was nothing the Board could do about that.  Mrs. Meininger thought that there could be some discussion regarding the contract that could help.  Mr. Kowalski said that would be up to the ISD to handle.  Mr. Andress said that this would give them a direction to work toward.  Perhaps, it is well that they are doing this so that discussion can take place about these items.

Mr. Sturm thought that this decision had been made very quickly tonight.  He asked for more information regarding “perceived savings” versus “actual savings” figures.  He also inquired about the savings that would be seen regarding the special education secretary’s position. 

Mr. Heinrich stated that most of the other districts’ transfers did not involve the secretarial position.  He said that the benefits were similar in cost, but the wage was one-half of an itinerant’s wage.  This was the first he had heard about moving that position.  He also reviewed what that position entails.

Mrs. Klida respectfully disagreed with Mr. Sturm about this being a quick decision, and she did not think that actual dollars could be determined.  She also stated that this subject had been discussed for three years.  Unfortunately, the time has come for a decision.

Mr. Loop said that the Board members and superintendent have come to grips with the reality of the situation they are facing.

Mr. Sturm said that his point was the timing to bring this up this evening and that the affected people had just heard about it last Thursday and the issues were not clear.  Mr. Loop stated that they needed to make the transition as smooth as possible.  If information had changed since last May, they had not been informed. 

A motion was made by John Loop, supported by Dawn Klida, to approve the recommendation to transfer the itinerant special education staff back to Bay-Arenac ISD.  A roll call vote was taken.  Ayes:  Richard Kowalski, Dawn Klida, John Loop, Patrick Shaffer.  Nays:  Barbara Skowronski, Terrence O’Hare, Scott Sturm.  Motion carried.

other items for discussion

Mrs. Skowronski reported that the Board had failed to approve the additional class recommendations for the high school.  These classes did not include additional money.  The digital camera  class was not included.  If these were approved at this time, the counselors would have the opportunity to include them in the offerings for next year.  They will be meeting the freshmen and their parents and needed to have the additional classes available to them.  She asked that these classes be added.

Mr. Andress said that backup information on these classes had not been provided in the Board packets, and that he would prefer to take action at the February work session after the Board had reviewed it.  Mrs. Klida asked for a synopsis of this information.  Mr. Andress stated that this would be in Friday’s packet.  Mr. Shaffer said that there were cost issues involved.  Mrs. Skowronski said that the classes she was referring to, computers, and fine arts, did not have additional money involved.  She anticipated figures from the English and social studies teachers.  Mr. Andress preferred that this item be postponed until February.

Mrs. Klida said that the Board had not received any information regarding the $400,000 computer supplies.  She would like an update on where the money was spent, i.e., programming, training, etc.

Mrs. Klida said she thought that coaching items were going to be in the packet and on the agenda this evening.  She had the impression that the Board wanted to take action on that information fairly quickly.  She asked Mr. Andress to look into this.