FILING FOR DISTRICT OPENINGS
Individuals wishing to file for District openings must do so between Wednesday, 1/19/11, and up until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, 1/28/11: one moderator position (1 year term), two at-large school board positions (3 year terms), and 1 Madbury position (1 year term).
DELIBERATIVE SESSION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011
Oyster River High School 7:00 p.m. Auditorium
Snow date is Wednesday, February 9, same location.
CANDIDATE’S NIGHT
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2011
Oyster River High School 7:00 p.m. Location: TBD
Snow date is Wednesday, February 16, same location.
ELECTION DAY TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2011 Town Voting Locations
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
ORCSD PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING 1/12/11
ORCSD PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING
The School District Public Hearing on the FY12 budget will be held on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 7 PM in the High School Multipurpose Room (snow date of January 13). Citizens in the Oyster River School District are encouraged to attend the Hearing as their primary opportunity to make comments and recommendations about the budget for later deliberation.
ORCSD Advisory Budget Committee (ABC) FINAL Report on the Proposed FY12 ORCSD Budget
ABC Report 1/21 1/4/2011
ORCSD Advisory Budget Committee (ABC)
FINAL Report on the Proposed FY12 ORCSD Budget
January 4, 2011
I. Introduction
The ABC began its work in late October 2010, well after planning for the FY12 budget commenced. The ABC has spent the past eight weeks attempting to understand the budget as well as the budget process. We have begun to review historical and current financial budget data, facility plans, SAU requests, overviews and tours of each school and summaries of special education, technology, transportation, and food service among many others. Since late October, the committee has been working its way up the learning curve. That said, we offer this initial set of observations and recommendations on the FY12 budget.
II. Executive Summary
It is apparent that the staff in the district worked hard preparing the budget. We are very pleased with the efforts of Susan Caswell who, in a short time, has identified areas where budget items were overstated, misplaced or not organized properly. We also are very pleased with the level of involvement by the principals of each school in the budget process. We also recognize the valuable contributions of Meredith Nadeau, Danielle Bolduc and others who were part of the process.
Our greatest overarching concern is the lack of a long-term strategic plan that integrates with the budget process, as well as outdated capital plans and capital budgeting which promotes a short-term focus rather than a strategic, long-term focus on infrastructure. In other words, budgets seem to be built based on historical and current needs, but not necessarily with an eye on the future. Therefore, we suggest the following:
A. The budget process at ORCSD must be significantly improved. Roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined, the process must start earlier in the year, a complete budget proposal must be made earlier in the year and a summary of additions and reductions to the budget from the current year and prior years must be presented. The board should be provided with a high level proposed budget comparing it to current year projected and budgeted amounts as well as prior year actual amounts. The proposed budget should be accompanied by a summary of staffing and tax rate impacts.
B. The financial reporting process at ORCSD must be significantly improved. The chart of accounts must be adjusted to allow easy comparison from year to year in meaningful categories. Quarterly financial projections vs. budgeted amounts should be presented to ORCSD management and the ORCSD board during the year with major variances and proposed uses of any surpluses explained. The audit of annual financial statements should be completed no later than September each year. Financial information such as projections and the audited financial statements should be made available to the public on the ORCSD web site.
C. The FY12 proposed budget should put ORCSD in a position to best serve our students and at the same time be highly sensitive to the financial situations of the taxpayers of the district. Some taxpayers have lost their jobs, many have had their wages frozen or reduced, and in the case of seniors, all have experienced a 0% increase in their social security benefits for two consecutive years. Every dollar in the expense budget must be scrutinized and all opportunities to increase non-tax revenue must be seriously considered. Large, year-end surpluses (in excess of $500,000) should not occur as they have in recent years.
We believe that the FY12 ORCSD budget for FY12 should not exceed $36.4 million. We believe that this figure is easily achievable and perhaps can be reduced to a lower number. We offer the following possible solution to the School Board for getting to $36.4 million:
Fund 10 Total as of 1/4/2011 $37,129,033
Possible reductions:
Proposed .4 FTE World Language position (32,000)
Consolidation of small high school classes (2.5 FTE) (200,000)
Proposed non-staff budget in IT (70,000)
Switch to lower electricity provider (40,000)
Do not fill vacant custodian position (40,000)
Do not fill 34th bus driver position (40,000)
Proposed ORMS and ORHS office improvements in CIP (115,000)
Reduce ORMS Librarians from 2 FTE to 1 FTE (80,000)
Bus building lease (5,000)
10% medical benefits increase vs 13% (135,000)
Total possible reductions (757,000)
Total Adjusted Fund 10 Budget 36,372,033 $
There are alternatives to the above – for example the consolidation of small high school classes could be exchanged for adding 20 tuition paying students. More information on these items and other aspects of the budget follows.
III. Specific Recommendations on the Budget and Reporting Process
A. The budget process must be significantly improved.
1. Roles of the School Board, ABC, Superintendent and his leadership team are unclear. These must be clearly defined at the start of the process.
2. The budget process must begin earlier in the year. A suggested timeline:
a. The School Board is provided with a year-end summary by the Superintendent and sets overall goals and targets for the budget by June 30th.
b. A preliminary budget is submitted to the School Board and ABC by the Superintendent by September 1st.
c. The Superintendent works with the principals and staff to develop a revised, comprehensive budget that meets the School Board’s goals and targets by November 1st.
d. The Superintendent presents the proposed, comprehensive budget to the Board and describes and defends major changes (subtractions and additions) by November 15th.
e. The ABC presents its report of recommendations to the School Board by December 15th.
f. The School Board reviews the report and works with the Superintendent on refining the budget to a final proposed budget to be presented at the Deliberative Session by December 31st.
3. The proposed budget should be presented when the budget is complete and comprehensive. It should show a complete picture of all funds of ORCSD, not just Fund 10. Activities in other funds have a direct impact on Fund 10 and need to be presented alongside Fund 10. As of 1/4/2011 a full budget has not been developed or presented by ORCSD for FY12.
4. The budget presented to the Board should include a summary with accompanying details. The summary level should include major revenue and expense categories with historical and current data for comparison purposes. Major changes should be avoided or must be explained by management in sufficient detail to enable year to year comparisons. Some preliminary examples are shown in Appendix A.
5. The budget presented to the Board must include a projection of the tax rate impact with comparison between previous and current years.
6. Since staffing is the bulk of the ORCSD budget, it is very important to understand the changes in this area. The budget presented to the Board must include historical, current and proposed staffing levels by employee type and department with an accompanying explanation of changes.
7. Budget information (historical and current) should be made easily accessible to the public on the ORCSD web site so that there is more transparency in the process, and historical information can be compared with current information. It should be easy to find and use in a standard, open, machine-readable format.
8. An accompanying glossary of terms that explains budget terminology to the public should be developed. For example terms such as GMR, FTE, CIP, etc. are often used to describe aspects of the budget. People close to the budget process understand these terms, however, most people outside of that group do not.
9. Every effort should be made to develop a budget that contains a reasonable contingency to address unforeseen cost increases and that reduces the likelihood of large, year-end surpluses similar to those ORCSD has experienced in the past few years.
10. The practice of budgeting at the guaranteed maximum rate (GMR) for employee insurance needs to be re-examined. We believe this practice is extremely conservative and is a reason the ORCSD has experienced large year-end surpluses in each of the past five years. For FY12 we believe the increase should be three percentage points less than the GMR which would yield approximately $135,000 in savings.
Monday, December 13, 2010
ABC Meeting Agenda for 12/13/10
Oyster River Cooperative School District
Advisory Budget Committee
Meeting Agenda
December 13, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Location: High School—RoomTBD
(Please note that topic times are approximate and likely to change or be adjusted.)
7:00-7:10
1. Call to Order
2. Approval of Agenda
3. Approval of Minutes
4. Review/Discuss Correspondence
5. Public Comments
7:10-8:00
5. Discussion/questions with Randy Loring
8:00-9:00
6. Member updates
7. Review proposed cost savings by each committee member
8. Discuss possible bottom line adjustment recommendation (should the budget be decreased by $xxxx?)
9:00-9:45
8. Continue to edit preliminary report and add in decide how/where to add in items agreed upon above (agenda item 7 and 8)
9:45-10:00
9. Set next meeting date and preliminary agenda
10. Public Comments
11. Adjourn
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Mast Way bus policy discussions--Voice your opinion
If you have comments or concerns about the Mast Way bus policy, here is your chance to voice your opinion.
________________________________________________________________________
On December 8th at 9:30am (in the MW library meeting room) and December 9th at 7pm (MW North Commons), Superintendent Howard Colter is inviting parents to a discussion of what lead to the changes for the daily afterschool arrangements and to solicit feedback from parents. Please come and join us for one of these discussions.
_________________________________________________________________________
If you cannot make these meetings but want to provide your thoughts, e-mail the Superintendent at: hcolter@orcsd.org
________________________________________________________________________
On December 8th at 9:30am (in the MW library meeting room) and December 9th at 7pm (MW North Commons), Superintendent Howard Colter is inviting parents to a discussion of what lead to the changes for the daily afterschool arrangements and to solicit feedback from parents. Please come and join us for one of these discussions.
_________________________________________________________________________
If you cannot make these meetings but want to provide your thoughts, e-mail the Superintendent at: hcolter@orcsd.org
Friday, December 3, 2010
ABC Update
Oyster River Cooperative School District Advisory Budget Committee (ABC) Update
The Advisory Budget Committee (ABC), comprised of Robert McEwan-Madbury: Jay Hilyard-Lee; Bill Bryon-Lee; Anne Knight-Durham; Jenna Roberts-Durham; David Proulx-Durham; David Taylor-Durham, and Tom Merrick-Durham, has met frequently since October 26th and attended School Board meetings and budget workshops in order to become educated about the ORCSD budget. In addition, committee members have taken guided tours of the four schools to see the facilities, to meet the administrators and some teachers, and to learn more about the educational programs.
Citizens in the Oyster River School District are invited to contact the ABC using the email address abc@sau5.org about school district budget matters. An ABC member will respond to such emails. Meeting minutes and any supporting published documents are placed on the ORCSD website www.orcsd.org under School Board/Subcommittees/Advisory Budget Committee http://www.orcsd.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=103&Itemid=203 soon after they are approved.
All ABC meetings are open to the public. Future public meetings (usually 7 PM at ORHS) that will include school budget discussion are:
12/6 School Board Mtg with budget discussion about SpEd, Technology, Prof Devel, District
12/8 School Board workshop with budget discussion about Facilities, Transportation, Food Serv
12/9 ABC meeting 7 PM C123
12/13 ABC meeting 7 PM C120
12/15 School Board Mtg with budget discussion – ABC preliminary recommendations
1/3 ABC meeting 7 PM C120
1/5 School Board Mtg with budget discussion – ABC report
1/12 Public Hearing on School Budget – ABC presentation included
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
School District Advisory Budget Committee Formed
School District Advisory Budget Committee Formed
A new Advisory Budget Committee was approved and charged by the Oyster River Cooperative School District (ORCSD) School Board on September 8, 2010. The purpose of this committee is “to become educated about the ORCSD budget and provide budget recommendations to the School Board that meet the needs of the students and is fiscally responsible to taxpayers.” On October 21st the School Board voted on the membership of the Advisory Budget Committee (ABC), choosing eight people from the 15 volunteers who applied. Serving on this committee are Robert McEwan-Madbury: Jay Hilyard-Lee; Bill Bryon-Lee; Anne Knight-Durham; Jenna Roberts-Durham; David Proulx-Durham; David Taylor-Durham and Tom Merrick-Durham.
ABC held an organizational meeting on October 26 selecting Tom Merrick as Chair, Jenna Roberts as Vice-Chair, and Anne Knight as Secretary. Committee members have begun attending budget deliberation workshop meetings of the District and will attend School Board meetings that involve budget discussion.
Meeting minutes and any published recommendations are placed on the ORCSD website (www.orcsd.org) under School Board/Subcommittees/Advisory Budget Committee (http://www.orcsd.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=103&Itemid=203) soon after they are approved. All ABC meetings are open to the public. The committee's next meeting is scheduled November 16, 7 PM in Oyster River High School, Room C120.
Public meetings (usually 7 PM at ORHS) that will include school budget discussion:
11/16—Advisory Budget Committee Meeting
11/17—School Board Mtg with budget discussion about middle and high schools
11/29—Advisory Budget Committee Meeting
12/1—School Board Mtg with budget discussion about elementary schools
12/6—School Board Mtg with budget discussion about SPED, Technology, Prof Devel, District
12/8—School Board workshop with budget discussion about Facilities, Transportation, Food Serv
12/15—School Board Mtg with budget discussion
1/5—School Board Mtg with budget discussion
1/12— Public Hearing on School Budget
Next ABC Meeting 11/29
OYSTER RIVER COOPERATIVE SCHOOL DISTRICT
NOTICE OF ADVISORY BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING
November 29, 2010 Oyster River High School 7:00 p.m. Conference Room C120
The Oyster River Advisory Budget Committee will meet in the Conference Room – C120 at the Oyster River High School at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, November 29th, 2010.
NOTICE OF ADVISORY BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING
November 29, 2010 Oyster River High School 7:00 p.m. Conference Room C120
The Oyster River Advisory Budget Committee will meet in the Conference Room – C120 at the Oyster River High School at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, November 29th, 2010.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
ABC Web Link & Upcoming budget schedule
ABC now has a dedicated section on the ORCSD website. Check it out at:
Upcoming Budget Meetings @ High School Room C124
11/10—School Board budget workshop 7:00 p.m.
11/16—Advisory Budget Committee Mtg 7:00 p.m.
11/17—School Board Mtg with budget discussion
12/1—School Board Mtg with budget discussion
12/8—School Board budget workshop 7:00 p.m.
12/15—School Board Mtg with budget discussion
1/5—School Board Mtg with budget discussion
Public Hearings
1/12--Public Hearing 7:00@high school auditorium
2/8—Deliberative Session @high school auditorium
3/8—VOTE!
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