Employees and Bargaining Committee 

of Lisbon/M.S.A.D. No. 75 RPC

{Printed copies are duplex printed on both sides of paper.}

 

Minutes

January 30, 2008

 

The Employees & Bargaining Sub-committee of the Reorganization Planning Committee (RPC) met during the breakout session on Wednesday, January 30, 2008, at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham, Maine.

 

Employees and Bargaining Committee members present were: Steve Harris (Chair); Kim Totten, Jim Henderson, and Kim Benjamin.

 

Also present was Lisbon Superintendent Shannon Welsh.

 

Chair Harris called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m.

 

Superintendent Welsh distributed the central office job descriptions.  No discussion ensued.

 

The Maine Department of Education model for 4,500 students was received via email prior to the meeting.  The new model shows an Accounts Payable and Human Resource position, which answered a few of the questions proposed by the Sub-committee at the previous meeting.

 

Superintendent Welsh advised the Sub-committee that the “Proposed Administrative Organizational Chart” presented at the January 16th meeting is calculated to be $300 per pupil.  This figure is more than the nine positions recommended by the State, but what both Superintendents believe an “ideal” organization chart would look like for 4,500 students.   Mrs. Totten recommended the Business Managers run the administration costs against the total budget to find what percentage of the budget was spent on administration versus programs.

 

Discussion ensued around the responsibilities of the extra positions being requested under the new RSU versus what the State recommended as an “ideal” model.  Although there are four positions in the new RSU over what is recommended, there is a total reduction of three positions as the current structure is. 

 

Position

MSAD75/Lisbon

RSU

State Model

Superintendent

1/1

1

1

Asst. Superintendent

1/0

1

1

Business Manager

1/1

1

1

HR/Benefits

2/1

3

1

Payroll/Bkkpr/Acct

3/1

4

3

Admin Asst/Sec

3/1

3

2

 

 

 

 

Total Staffing

11/5 (16)

13

9

 

 

 

 

 

 

Page 2 – Minutes – Employees & Bargaining Committee – January 30, 2008

 

Ms. Benjamin inquired if there was data available of other similar schools currently administering student populations around 4,500 and what their organizational structure looked like.  Superintendent Welsh responded with a chart that was compiled at the beginning of the process, for this same purpose.  It was a survey of highly efficient, highly effective schools.  Examples included:

 

 

MSAD 35

Bangor

Brunswick

Auburn

Student Population

2,575

4,015

3,204

3,555

Staffing

8

12

11

14.5

 

The additional information requested during this meeting will be helpful in communication to the public, but was not necessary to make a decision on how to proceed. The Sub-committee informally agreed to present the organization chart to the full RPC with a recommendation to accept it. 

 

The Sub-committee concluded by discussing how communication to the public will be important, especially in explaining how although the cost per pupil is at $300, there has been a reduction in staffing and an overall cost savings of $333,608.

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. for RPC group debriefing.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Kim Benjamin

Scribe

 

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