Employees and Bargaining Committee

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

 

Minutes

October 24, 2007

 

The Employees & Bargaining Sub-committee of the Reorganization Planning Committee (RPC) met during the breakout session on Wednesday, October 24, 2007, at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham, Maine.

 

Committee members present were:  Steve Harris (Chair); Prudence “Prudy” Grant; Kim Totten; Jim Henderson and Kim Benjamin.

 

Also present were Lisbon Superintendent Shannon Welsh and M.S.A.D. No. 75 Business Manager Ron Lavender.  

 

Chairman Harris called the meeting to order at 7:29 p.m.

 

Mr. Harris opened the discussion by distributing a map reflective of the area covered by the M.S.A.D. No. 75 and Lisbon consolidation proposal.

 

There were no changes to the previous minutes.

 

Contracts:  Superintendent Welsh and Mr. Harris distributed the deliverables from the previous meeting minutes.  The list of collective bargaining agreements was reviewed, and discussions followed on how best to proceed with renewal recommendations under the current units and as part of the transition plan.  Members of the Committee were cognizant of having the teaching and support staff renewals fall in different years.

 

Teacher Contracts

School Unit

Contract Expiration

Recommended Renewal

M.S.A.D. No. 75

2008

2 year

Lisbon

2010

Not applicable

 

Support Staff Contracts

School Unit

Contract Expiration

Recommended Renewal

M.S.A.D. No.  75

2009

Not applicable

Lisbon

2008

1 year

 

Administrative Staff Contracts

School Unit

Contract Expiration

Recommended Renewal

M.S.A.D. No. 75

2008

1 year

Lisbon

2008

1 year

 

Therefore, under the new RSU, the Superintendent will re-negotiate as follows:

 

2009                             Support staff and administration

2010                              Teaching staff

 

The Committee unanimously agreed to propose this as the first recommendation to the full RPC Committee.

 

The lists of all M.S.A.D. No. 75 and Lisbon staff were discussed next.  The percentages on the Lisbon list indicate what percentage of staff salary is currently funded by Lisbon, as part of the Union 30 unit.  Superintendent Welsh advised that the lists were current as of October 17, 2007.   As required under the Plan, the document will need to be updated the day prior to submitting the RSU plan to the Department of Education and again the day prior to the formation of the new RSU.  There was no action required at this time.

 

Transportation:   Superintendent Welsh explained that Commissioner Gendron believes the RFP for State transportation routing software will meet the required 5% transportation savings as required by Law.  Mr. Harris spoke to Ron Lavender about M.S.A.D. No. 75’s VersaTrans investment, and he was of the belief that another town may want to bid on it.  In addition, the consolidation of bus maintenance is projected to save 3.2% and will also be included in this category.

 

Special Education:  Superintendent Welsh explained that the State took the current Special Education population and compared it to what the State subsidized last year.  Because of the decrease in enrollment and the decrease in the identification of students, the required 5% reduction has been met Statewide.

 

Organization Chart:  In June, Superintendent Welsh requested a model from the State DOE of what the State felt was a highly efficient administrative office, which has not yet been received.  Commissioner Gendron had assured the Superintendents that they would receive it soon.  In the meantime, Superintendents Welsh and Wilhelm met to devise an organizational structure, which they believe will accommodate the needs of 4,500 students.  The document presented was still in concept form, but the group was debriefed on how the potential savings could be met by position consolidation.  The draft plan would eliminate some higher-paying Director jobs but would create other positions at a lower pay scale to ensure continuity of services to the students.   Additional cost savings may be attained through the closing of Lisbon’s Central Office facility.  The target goal is an expenditure of $204 per student. 

 

Mr. Harris asked if Lisbon has started any conversations around incentives or severance packages as a retention tool.  Superintendent Welsh responded by explaining the Board had started discussions but agreed to wait until December, when the RPC work is complete, to decide how to proceed.  The number one concern voiced by staff is continuity of health benefits post employment.  Mr. Lavender advised that discussions have begun for M.S.A.D. No. 75 as well, but they have not taken it to the level that Lisbon has.  The group unanimously agreed that a severance package made sense to retain the same quality of service to our student population until the new structure was in place.  With our timeline, it should also give staff appropriate time to find a new position.

 

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

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Kim Benjamin

Scribe

 

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