School Board Meeting s2

Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 1 CULPEPER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD Minutes May 2, 2007A budget work session of the School Board of Culpeper County was held May 2, 2007 in the School Board Central Office (Colin Owens Conference Room) at 450 Radio Lane.Present were Elizabeth Hutchins (Cedar Mountain District), Chair; Robert Jenkins III (Catalpa District); George Dasher (Stevensburg District), Vice-Chair ; Robert Beard (East Fairfax District); Claudia Vento (West Fairfax District); Jennifer McCauley (Salem District); Division Superintendent Dr. David Cox and Executive Director of Administrative Services Dr. Larry Carter, Clerk of the Board Jeff Shomo, Construction Projects Manager Hunter Spencer, Parliamentarian Eric Conti, Budget Analyst Lauren Willis-Thomas, Director of Human Resources Starr Rowe, and Deputy Clerk Pearl Jamison. Leanne Jenkins (Jefferson District) joined the meeting at 6:06 p.m.At 6 p.m. Ms. Hutchins called the meeting to order and Dr. Cox called the roll.On motion of Mr. Dasher seconded by Ms. Vento, the Board approved the adoption of the agenda. Motion carried 6-0 by voice vote.Yowell Elementary School Update Dr. Cox asked that Ms. Hutchins and Mr. Dasher brief the board on the project budget for Yowell Elementary School. He said the construction contract was received today from Crabtree and Rohrbaugh and the board will be asked to give approval for the Superintendent and the Board Chair to sign the contract once it has been approved by counsel. Mr. Dasher said everyone knows that when we opened the bids on March 28th the apparent low bidder was Caldwell and Santmeyer at $16.3 million not including soft costs. He said our budget for the project was estimated at $12.9 million. He said since March 29th there have been several work sessions with the architects and builders and Mr. Spencer has attended a number of meetings with the contractor and architects. He said they have realized $1.8 million in value engineering changes without affecting the instructional space. He said today the price is $14.4 million for the building. He said we need $2 million for soft costs. He said the final price with the soft costs would be $16.4 million. Ms. Hutchins referenced some of the deductions that were discussed. She said they looked at eliminating the gym, library, library furniture, classrooms, stage, gym equipment, and mobile storage units. Mr. Dasher said he does not recommend any deductions but rather find other ways to fund the project signing a contract for $14.4 million. Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 2 Ms. Jenkins joined the meeting at 6:06 p.m.Mr. Beard asked what soft costs are. Mr. Spencer said architectural fees, permits, furniture. Mr. Beard asked if there is a contingency. Mr. Spencer said the contingency in the bid is $80,000. Mr. Dasher said they are also looking at other opportunities to increase the contingency number i.e., changes in outside lighting.Mr. Beard asked about the town improvements. Mr. Spencer said the widening of the road and sidewalks are included in the contract. Ms. Hutchins said the cost is about $800,000.Mr. Dasher said the Board of Supervisors asked who required the off-site improvements. Mr. Dasher said the Town.Mr. Beard said there is a remote possibility of grant money. Ms. Hutchins said we have received information on some grant funding. Dr. Cox said the Town has to apply for the grants.Mr. Beard said if we can find $1.6 million we can do this project without taking out the gym, library, etc. Mr. Spencer indicated that was correct. It will be very similar to other projects and we will look for other savings to build up the contingency.Ms. McCauley said perhaps the board should pass a resolution asking the Town to help the School Board fund off-site expenses. Ms. Hutchins said the board could vote on a resolution in May asking for assistance. The board agreed to request staff to draft a resolution asking the Town to help fund off- site costs to include relocating, signaling, and turn lanes up to $2 million. Mr. Spencer said we are giving the Town additional easements to realign and widen Yowell Drive. Ms. McCauley asked if the Town would help us with a police officer to help direct traffic for a certain period of time until the traffic lights are installed. Ms. Hutchins said the conditional use permit requires a traffic light before the final permit is issued. Mr. Spencer said a stop light is the safest thing for that intersection. Ms. Vento said the traffic light would be operational 24/7. Ms. Vento said she and Mr. Spencer met with the families on Yowell and they were concerned with the 522 traffic.Mr. Jenkins asked about the parking lot deduction. Mr. Spencer said 50 spaces would be eliminated but there still would be 100 spaces. Mr. Spencer said he is comfortable with the parking lot deduction. Ms. Hutchins said the bus loop will also provide additional Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 3 parking after hours for school events. Mr. Dasher said the space will be there just not paved.Ms. McCauley asked about the mobile storage units. Ms. Hutchins said there were 30 storage units and they were included in the casework. Ms. Hutchins said the recommendation is to deduct the storage units.Ms. Jenkins said we really need the elementary school and it needs a library and gym. She said the other things on the CIP were needed years ago. She said all the choices are bad at this point.Mr. Dasher said we told the Board of Supervisors that when something breaks we will go to them and ask for money. Ms. Hutchins said if the board desires they could request the Board of Supervisors to fund repairs. Ms. Hutchins said if we request more money for the school we would have to go back to the Board of Supervisors and it would take the project off schedule.Ms. Jenkins said we need to ask for additional money to fund the CIP items as soon as possible. She said it is irresponsible for us not to repair the items. Ms. Jenkins said our CIP is not a wish list.Ms. McCauley expressed concern about the differences between the two high schools with the way the old high school looks and functions. She said the Board of Supervisors suggested the board look at reducing salaries. She said we can save over $1 million if we lower raises. Ms. Hutchins said she needs authorization to sign the contract tomorrow in order to keep the project on schedule. Ms. Hutchins said the resodding of the field would come from parking lot money and the other repairs would not happen. Mr. Dasher said we are looking at a day for day impact if we do not sign this project. He said if we sign the contract tomorrow the completion date will be August 1.Mr. Shomo said we are looking at a possibility of year end funds now. He said it is hard to say what the balance will be. Mr. Shomo said the roof will not fall in but we will be dealing with little leaks. Mr. Shomo said we need to replace the chiller; however, the master plan needs to be completed prior to installation of a new chiller. Mr. Shomo said the school is more critical at this point than the CIP. He said the price per square foot is really good. Ms. Hutchins said they discussed rebidding the project but there is no guarantee it would be cheaper and be completed on time. Ms. Hutchins said if the building doesn’t open on time we would have to purchase trailers. Ms. McCauley asked if we have a price for the chiller. Mr. Parkinson said about $125,000. Ms. McCauley asked how much was allotted for the project. Mr. Shomo said $150,000. Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 4 Mr. Jenkins said the $900,000 is still needed for repairs. He suggested delaying some items such as library furniture or cafeteria equipment to fund CIP repairs and then go back and ask the Board of Supervisors for additional funding. Ms. Hutchins said we can’t sign the contract if we don’t have the money for it. Mr. Dasher said we have money to sign for $14.4 million; however, the soft costs aren’t incurred until one year from now. Mr. Dasher said it is a cash flow management issue. Mr. Dasher said we commit now but write the check later. Mr. Spencer said the gym equipment, stage equipment, and library furniture have been moved to soft costs. Ms. Hutchins said Crabtree is still looking for potential savings. Ms. Hutchins said the additional funding will come from the school system.Dr. Cox said the board needs to vote to authorize the Superintendent and Board Chair to sign the contract pending review of legal counsel.Ms. McCauley expressed concern with alternate 9 – revision of EPDM Roofing Color and alternate 12 – mechanical lift at the dock.On motion of Ms. McCauley seconded by Ms. Vento, the Board approved moving forward with the contract per the amended motion. Mr. Beard posed a friendly amendment motion: The board authorizes the chair and superintendent to execute the proposed contract between CCPS and Caldwell and Santmeyer substantially in the form presented to us tonight following approval by school board counsel. The amendment was accepted. Mr. Beard said we actually have in hand $14.4 million from the Board of Supervisors. He said his initial thought was we would have to delay the school. He said we will never be able to build the school for the same amount again. He said we are in the same position with Yowell Elementary School as we are with Eastern View High School. He said we are $3 million shy on Eastern View High School and $2 million shy on soft costs for Yowell Elementary School. He said we need $5 million. He said we are going to have to make tough decisions. He said we can’t go to the Board of Supervisors and ask for $5 million. He said we have to make this up over the next year. He said his concerns are stripping CIP. He said we do have the funds to approve this contract. He said we have to talk hard about where we can generate the savings.Ms. McCauley concurred with Mr. Beard. She said this school is necessary and we need to move forward. Mr. Dasher said in signing this contract we are committing to reprioritizing $590,000 of CIP tonight. He said we are committing $14.4 million and we have spent $1 million. He said we need $590,000 to be complete. Mr. Shomo said we need a total of $16,490,000 to complete the entire building including soft costs. Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 5The board observed a 5 minute break at 7:05 p.m.Ms. Jenkins asked if the mobile storage units have been removed from the contract. Mr. Spencer said no. Ms. McCauley asked if the board could do something similar later on relative to the mobile storage units. Mr. Spencer said yes but is a custom item that could cost more later. Mr. Dasher said the teachers love the mobile storage units. Mr. Spencer said we can elect to ask the contractor to remove the mobile storage units now or later; however, they could deny our request in the future. Ms. Jenkins said she would like to see the school have smartboards. Motion carried 7-0 by voice vote.Mr. Spencer said the contract has been forwarded to counsel for review. He said the value engineering items will be presented in more detail later. Mr. Spencer said Caldwell signs the contract first and then school staff.On motion of Mr. Dasher seconded by Mr. Jenkins, the Board moved to identify $750,000 out of the CIP fund to be allocated to Yowell Elementary School. Motion carried 6-1 by voice vote. (Ms. McCauley voted in opposition.)Ms. McCauley said we are looking at eliminating our CIP for Yowell Elementary School and not considering other ways to save money. Mr. Beard said we can find savings also in our operational budget.2007/2008 Operating Budget Adjustment to Appropriated Revenues Dr. Cox said we are still out of balance by $2.6 million. He said the staff has discussed how to eliminate the $2.6 million. He said he is not happy with any of the recommendations to balance the budget. Mr. Shomo reviewed page 2 outlining the proposed recommended budget cuts to balance the budget. Dr. Cox said staff is not recommending to cut staff salary increases.1. All new positions except – HS planning principal, .5 Elem planning principal, .5 activity director HS, and .5 guidance director EVHS 2. Instructional savings 3. Extracurricular and academic supplements remain at $36,004 4. Maintenance reductions 5. Liability insurance premium reduction 6. Energy savings a. 4 Day Summer Work Week Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 6 Dr. Cox said it would be a mandatory 4 day work week beginning the week after graduation. He said this would be implemented for a period of 7 weeks. b. 4 Degree Setback Ms. Jenkins expressed concern with the temperature fluctuations in the various buildings. c. 30 minute shorter heat/cool (5:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.) Ms. McCauley expressed concern with how this would affect day care. Dr. Cox said day care is not charged rent or the cost of utilities. He said the value is $159,000 that the school board expends. 7. Reduce substitute teacher days paid by 25% Dr. Cox said teachers use substitutes a lot for professional development. He said we are also trying to increase our attendance rate among staff. Dr. Cox reviewed the proposed substitute teacher pay rate increase. Dr. Cox said we would not advocate that anyone come to work sick. Ms. McCauley said professional development is crucial. Ms. Vento concurred. 8. Eliminate 5 new bus drivers Dr. Cox said the busses are 66 capacity based on 3 per seat. Dr. Cox said two students to a seat at secondary levels and 3 to a seat at the elementary level. Ms. McCauley said we have children on the busses so long now they are wetting their pants. 9. Master Base remains @ $2,000 10. Regional Special Education Reimbursement (revenue) 11. Contracted Services Administrative Reductions Dr. Cox said these fees are for consultants, board developments, etc. 12. Reduction in force through attrition (2 positions) 13. Computer replacement 14. Athletic Fee Charge of $60 per person per year would generate $40,000 with scholarships available - Ms. McCauley said she could never go along with charging students fees to participate in sports. Mr. Jenkins said he would be concerned with how much we set aside for scholarships. He said a football helmet cost $200. He said some sports generate the funds. Dr. Cox said this includes any after school athletics. Mr. Jenkins said we also might look at corporate sponsorships. Dr. Cox asked what a total football outfit costs including insurance. Mr. Jenkins said $350. 15. Increasing Building Fees (Rental and Utilities) by 50% would generate $30,000The board observed a five minute break at 8:20 p.m.Dr. Cox said last week the board asked staff the cost to provide athletic programs at Culpeper High School. Mr. Shomo reviewed page 5 which details the total athletic costs. He said the total costs for the year are $670,101. Mr. Shomo said we charge entrance fees for football, basketball, volleyball, and lacrosse. Mr. Shomo said the ticket sales generate about $50,000 in revenues. Dr. Carter said the ticket money is used to pay Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 7 officials. He said the officials cost approximately $30,000. Mr. Jenkins said all youth sports charge more fees.Dr. Cox said we acknowledge we provide programs above the SOQ required by the state. He said most school divisions provide more. Dr. Cox said most of the savings are positions. He said 85% of the total operating budget is personnel costs.Dr. Conti said once you lose a program it is difficult to get it back. He said programs are people. He said this is just a discussion. He said our primary responsibility is to provide principals with resources to do their job. He said we are saving money at the end of each year. Dr. Conti said our CIP is sitting at $12 million and we need 45 teachers next year. He said we need to keep focus on the anchor point. Dr. Conti said “program + enrollment = staffing”. He said in elementary we could reduce our full day Kindergarten Program to half day and charge the parents for the other half. He said we could eliminate elementary band and save $60,000. He cited further programs that could be cut. K-2 art Reduce MS strings Reduce MS foreign language Reduce MS alternative Education Redefine fully scheduled at CHS – Jr. and Sr. at 6 credits to be fully scheduled Eliminate repeater courses Rotate advanced classes Eliminate advanced classes – conditioning course in PE Eliminate foreign languages level 4 & 5 Eliminate advanced placement sections Reduce performing arts offerings 5 day school week to a 4 day school weekDr. Conti said at the secondary level it is about sections and at the elementary level it is about programs. Dr. Conti said we could generate revenue by running our own day care program. He said we could also compete for the Head Start Grant. He said if we take over those programs we could generate revenue. He said the deductions referenced above would get our school programs to the basics. He said our 9th and 10th grade PE classes are 30-40 students per class.Dr. Conti said the C&T program costs about $220,000. He said we could look at eliminating specific programs – automotive $1,000 per student, cosmetology $5,500 per student, building trades, etc. Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 8 Ms. Vento thanked staff for compiling this information and acknowledged how heart wrenching it is. She said she feels we are going back 12 years. She said this is ridiculous. She said we need to take a 10% reduction from the amount we are giving to everyone in raises. She said she does not want to see our programs go backward. Ms. Hutchins said that does not address next year when we have 45+ positions we need. Ms. Hutchins said next year this will be worse. Ms. Vento said in business if you don’t have the money you go to bare bones. She said we have worked so hard to get the programs we have. Ms. Hutchins said we compete with other school divisions for personnel. Dr. Cox said the salary recommendations are aimed at keeping us at the midpoint of the market not at the highest. Ms. Vento said it should be across the board. She said she would like to see the salary increase for the school board removed.Ms. Jenkins said this is outrageous and we have worked hard to get to the midpoint in raises. Ms. Jenkins said if we cut the salaries more we will not be able to fill them with qualified bodies. Ms. Hutchins said if salaries go down we will never get them back up. Ms. McCauley cited the delinquency, suicide, and prevention rates. She said suicide is the highest in the state and Culpeper teen pregnancy is the highest in a 5 county region. She said these rates are unacceptable and cutting programs will only increase them. Ms. McCauley said if we give our teachers 4%, classified 3%, administrators 2% and certified non-teachers 2% we could realize a savings of $1.4 million. Ms. McCauley said she had compared salaries for Culpeper County employees and Fauquier and Madison schools. Dr. Cox said in Fauquier they implemented a three year proposal in which they wanted to give their teachers $3,000 each year; however, this year they cut it back to $1,500. He said their beginning teacher salary will be $38,750 and they pay more for their Masters.Mr. Beard said he has a personal interest in this transaction because his wife is employed can fairly participate in this discussion fairly and objectively in the best public interests.Mr. Beard said parents will be angry when they don’t get the programs they want and there will be staff screaming when they don’t get the salary increase they want. He said we have appropriations from the Board of Supervisors and we have to build 2 new schools and operate the system. He said we are $2 million in the hole for Yowell Elementary School and $3 million in the hole for Eastern View High School. He said we cannot anticipate we will get $3.8 million. He said we have to pay bills from the money we have. He said the administration has worked very hard; however, we have to look at the one item we can cut – salaries. He asked what the impact is in changing the scale. Mr. Shomo said $1.9 million. Ms. Hutchins asked what the percentage increase is for teachers. Mr. Shomo said teachers are 8.1%. Mr. Beard said perhaps we need to delay the scale change or approve a lower percentage increase.Ms. Vento said the all the raises are $3.4 million with fringes and $2.4 million is to expand the teacher scale only. She said $1 million covers all the rest of the staff. Ms. Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 9 Vento said we have worked so hard to get the salaries to this point but we have to open the schools and pay the soft costs.Ms. Jenkins asked how much the day care and Head Start could bring in. Dr. Conti said he doesn’t know. Ms. Jenkins said we should certainly continue the day care discussion.Ms. Jenkins said she agrees with Ms. Vento that the school board salary should not be increased. Ms. Jenkins said if we don’t increase salaries we will continue to lose staff. She said we can’t continue cutting into salaries. She said perhaps we should reconsider our vote on signing the contract for Yowell Elementary School. She said she would rather have fewer good qualified teachers than more bodies.Mr. Dasher said he is absolutely against reconsidering the contract for Yowell Elementary School. He said the Board of Supervisors is spending $3 million on the Galbreath Marshall building. He asked if we could put programs there. He said he was very impressed with the curriculum catalog that was distributed earlier this year. He asked if we have looked at participation in all the programs to justify them. Dr. Conti said we require a minimum of 15 students. Mr. Dasher suggested that the minimum number be increased. Mr. Dasher said as distasteful as it is we have to look at salaries.Mr. Beard asked what the current cost for ESP. Mr. Shomo said $180,000. Mr. Beard said what was presented shows a deficiency of $2.6 million but it is more like $6 million. He said if we can find $1.9 in this budget then we are in a better position to go back to the Board of Supervisors next year and show what we did. He said we should not ignore the $4 million until the next budget session. Ms. Hutchins said yesterday at the Board of Supervisors meeting they were upset that we had a $900,000 end of year balance. Dr. Cox said Ms. Hunt, Ms. Rowe, and principals have to recruit staff. Ms. Hunt said recruiting teachers is getting harder and harder. She said teachers are becoming more and more savvy as to what they can get in other places – moving expenses, starting salaries, etc. Ms. Vento said there are more than 100 participants less at the recruiting fair and the number of recruiters has increased. Ms. Hunt said secondary and middle school teachers are critical. She said decreasing salaries will take us out of the competitive market. Dr. Cox said the fact remains that the county and town employees are not certified teachers. Ms. Rowe said we may have to recruit in a larger area. Mr. Houck and Mr. Hauman both said we need to increase salaries or we will lose staff.Ms. McCauley said we need to allow our parents to comment on the budget. She said in reducing programs we are reducing what colleges will accept. She said individuals are getting raises in jobs throughout the country. Ms. McCauley said we have lower standards than other states when hiring teachers. Ms. McCauley said we need to investigate the use of the Galbreath Marshall building. Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 10 Ms. Hutchins said all meetings are publicized and are listed on our web site. Ms. Vento said we need to think out of the box on how to pay for the difficult positions we need to hire.Mr. Beard apologized for upsetting staff. He said he does not want to balance the budget on the backs of the teachers. He said the teachers are the primary providers of the service. He said at the end of the day the school board has to pay the bills. He asked staff to present a plan to pay the bills with the proposed salary increases.Ms. Jenkins said she appreciates the ideas Dr. Conti presented tonight. She said she would like to see a dollar price tag on each thing. Ms. Jenkins thanked the staff for helping the board understand what the reality is out there. Mr. Jenkins said every time we discuss money it causes tempers to rise. He said the buildings are in bad shape. He said members of the community don’t understand everything that principals and teachers do. Mr. Jenkins said he is still waiting for the “Jubilee.” He said 6-7 years ago our piece of the pie was 80% and as the school division has grown the piece of the pie has gone from 80% to 50%. He said education is important but a lot of the public does not understand everything that goes on. He said we have to hold tight as a group – the building is important and the salaries are important. Mr. Jenkins said we do appreciate the teachers and administrators.Ms. Hutchins said we keep focusing on the teacher salaries. She said the teachers are not the only ones looking for jobs. Mr. Dasher said he believes we should go back to the basics of SOQ and see what that gets us and then figure what we can put back in. Ms. Vento said perhaps we should have an activities fee for all students in the school system to offset costs. Ms. Vento said there are more and more licensure qualifications for staff. Ms. Vento said she feels going back to basics is not a good idea. Dr. Cox said there is no school system in Virginia that only offers the basic SOQ requirements. Ms. Hutchins said she is not aware of extracurricular activities at the elementary level.Ms. McCauley said perhaps we should look at 6% raise for teachers. Ms. McCauley said she is not picking on staff or trying to make anyone mad or upset but it is the board’s job to be objective. Ms. McCauley said she feels Mr. Dasher’s idea is very intelligent; however, that could be a procedure we set in motion for following years. Mr. Jenkins said we are all a part of the school family and we have to share in the whole problem. He said some programs could become self-sufficient programs. He said we are one of the few schools that do not charge for baseball games. He said most people are Culpeper County School Board 6/2/2018 ~ 10:11:30 PMMinutes May 2, 2007 Page 11 willing to pay the price for something they want. Mr. Jenkins said at some point we need to revisit merit pay. Ms. Jenkins said we don’t have enough money to do what we need to do. She said perhaps we should start at the bottom and rebuild our programs. She said she would support fees.Ms. Vento said all employees deserve good raises. She agreed that perhaps we need to look at merit pay.Ms. Hutchins said her husband works for the system. She said if we don’t have teachers we can’t deliver instruction. She said she has a problem with handling the soft costs with our operation budget. She said she would rather go back to the Board of Supervisors to ask for additional monies. She said we can’t be credible as an employer if we continue to cut increases in salaries.Dr. Cox said it has been a very difficult couple of weeks. He thanked staff members for their hard work. He said school employees are here because they love children. He said he wishes all of our community shared the passion. He thanked the school board for providing a mission to empower all learners to maximize their potential. He said there is a direct disconnect when it comes to funding public education in Culpeper County. He said there are amazing things that are happening everyday in our classrooms. He said it is all about kids and we need to make everyone understand that. He said teachers did not choose their position to get rich.Ms. Hutchins noted that Josh Thomas passed away this week. His funeral is tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Hazel River Assembly of God. Ms. Hutchins noted that the Awards Banquet is tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. at Reva Fire Hall.On motion of Ms. McCauley seconded by Ms. Vento, the Board voted to adjourn at 10:30 p.m. Motion carried 7-0 by voice vote.______JEFFREY R. SHOMO, CLERK ELIZABETH HUTCHINS, CHAIRThe board agreed to hold another work session on Thursday, May 10th at 6 p.m.

School Board Meeting s2

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