Finance committee

I missed the start of the meeting

Susan Guthrie (SG) Diane diBonaventura (DD) Lisa Pliskin (LP) Gary Friedlander (GF) Jeffy Novick (JN) Chris McGinley (CM), Mike Kelly (MK) George Frazier (GFz) Victor Orlando (VO)

They are planning on act 1 budget exceptions to create the next budget
SG wants to see budget without exceptions
$1m in social security reimbursement going away
Transfer tax has been relatively good
Collection rate went up more then they expected
JN: does the "no program cut" still hold in the worst case scenario
VO: yes. the next thing to look at is retirement reform - especially if the exception goes away
JN: Rendel was trying to cut the exceptions for retirement

MK talks about special ed
LMSD has an obligation for child find- have to seek out kids that need services
MK says more people in private schools are asking for services
JN: wants to know if testing is done in house
MK: yes, also IUs have some obligation to do testing
Increase in autistic support teachers has been huge
This year there are a lot more kids coming into grade K with special Ed requirements
DD asks about how this effects classroom space
ADHD is also increasing, slid speech and language services, diabetes

GF: do any surrounding school districts have a comparable special ed program
MK: they do, but a little behind

MK: talks about caseload maximum, state regulation

Gladwyn has the full time autistic, Cynwyd has the diagnostic kindergarten
Students are supported on the buses, after school programs, job placement, etc

GF: how much increase is special Ed?
8% - about 2.4M, salary, benefits, out of district placement (costs of services goes up- we try to shrink number of kids there) 2 new aids

SG: unclear if the special ed aid is also able to help the classroom teacher, help with other kids, etc
MK: if it is a 1:1 aid, there is no extra time; other aids are assigned to the whole class
SG: are we capturing the downtime of aids?
MG: they are on a pretty full schedule

Technology - same budget as last year - $4M
35% hardware and software maintenance
50% 1-1 program - hardware
Minimal on new initiatives (new asset management program, delivering a virtual desktop, etc)
4% outsourced services
3% network costs
Salaries are not included in the $3.9m, another $1.3M in personnel +400k in benefits
More savings once the new paperless hr, finance software gets in - no more paper checks

3 years ago there were a lot more computers in the middle school - they are down lower now (1-1 in high school, 1.5-1 in middles school, 2-1 elementary school)

Each high school has loaners - this is where the 4 year computers go - not down to the elementary school

After 4 years old computers get recycled or sold on eBay (400 sold this year)

GF: wants to explore keeping computers longer. Wants to see what the savings will be
GFz will look into it. But laptops are refreshed annually - need to have reasonably up to date hardware to use the current refresh

475 teacher laptops at middle schools and elementary schools
about 3,000 at the high schools (2500 kids, 250 loaners, 250 teacher)


JN: How are we doing at shrinkage?
GF and CM: Seems to be getting better - total thefts are down
We don't have a theft tracking product right now. In general computers are locked up and secure. Most thefts were students leaving computers around

CM: we will save money as buses come back from rented parking lots. Also, We will get rid of union avenue, this will go into capital budget

School board business meeting 3/21/11

notes from Gigi Tevlin-Moffat
Regular Business Meeting
in attendance-
Fran Keeveney
Mr. Orlando
Mr. Roos
Mr. Kelly
Superintendent McGinley
SB-
Virginia Pollard
Gary Friedlander
Diane Di Bonaventuro
David Ebby
Melissa Gilbert
Jerry Novick
*Announcements from Superintendent-*
Award and retirement of Jack Cozer(sp) effective(August 31, 2011)
Harriton- Gives extraordinary production of Joseph and the Amazing....
LM Girls Basket Ball makes it to the final four in the state. To be played at State College.
Governor's budget proposal- leaves LMSD 1.2 mill loss from state $$. LMSD had predicted a loss of 1/2 million.
Another large amount lost from state on SSI reimbursement, and charter schools.
March 29, Finance Meeting(8 am first floor Admin Conference room) will be held to discuss closing the $$ gap.
Real Estate transfer $$ and collecting of school taxes are up, stronger that predicted.

*Retirement announcements-*
Bruce Barnner- Director of Counseling Services for the district.
Marge Kaplan- Teacher at Cynwyd ES
Carol Fisher- Teacher at Cynwyd ES
Presentation by Geogre Frazier-see page 3, item #5
Presentation by Pat Guinnan- work with GC on energy audit for the district
*Policy Committee *
Reviewing the 100 series of LMSD policies ;136, 103, 104 are up for second read and a vote
Up for first read 130, 134, 137, find ALL policies here- www.lmsd.org/sections/about/default.php?t=board&p=board_policy&menu=board

*all recommended action-approved*
March 28, 7:30pm Communications Committee-1st floor admin Conference Room
March 29, 8am Finance Committee-same location

Policy Meeting - homework, Equal Opportunity, Laptop

Board members attending:Susan Guthrie (SG) Lisa Pliskin (LP) Virginia Pollard (VP),
also Chris McGinley (CM) Ken Roos (KR) Mike Kelly (MK)

(all the policies are in the handouts - but my scanner isn't working - I will post as soon as I can)

See the agenda here:
Policies
103 Equal Opportunity Programs for School and Classroom Practices
104 Equal Opportunity Program for Employment Practices
136 Home Education
are going up for a second read

[I cannot find the first read - did anyone see it? ]


In March we will see a first read for policies
130 Guidelines Concerning Religion
134 LMSD Net; Student Use, Rights and Responsibilities- Policy and AR
137 District Issued Laptops: Student Use, Rights and Responsibilities

HOMEWORK
a group of parents have done a lot of homework and presented some research relating to homework.
the entire board will take up the issue. there will be a process laid out soon, and parents will have the opportunity to participate. watch the website for a meeting schedule.

the schedule will roughly look like this:
April policy meeting: discussion
May: joint policy and curriculum meting
May Board meeting: final decision for implementation in the fall

Curriculum Meeting - March 2

Board members: Susan Guthrie (SG), Diane diBonaventura (DD), Melissa Gilbert (MG), Virginia Pollard (VP)

see agenda here

I came in late and they are talking about Cyber Bullying. They are using NSteen website videos
SG: discussing how to get message out
Mike Kelly: working with ISC on a FAQ and panel discussion

Mike Kelly: update on holistic needs of kids
last semester focused on self-harming, now looking at resiliency program, looking at screening survey's for kids
DD: uncomfortable with screening
MG: what do other districts do?
DD: starts a discussion on the advisory program - seems to be successful

ATTACHED: Timeline of Elementary Review