PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MINUTES WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FINAL UNTIL THE RPC HAS APPROVED THEM AT ITS NEXT MEETING.

 

LISBON/M.S.A.D. No. 75

REORGANIZATION PLANNING COMMITTEE (RPC)

 

February 27, 2008

 

The Lisbon/M.S.A.D. No. 75 Reorganization Planning Committee met at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27, 2008, at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham, Maine.

 

Committee members present were:  (from Bowdoin) Tim Lavan, Leroy Letourneau, and Kim Totten; (from Bowdoinham) Dan Billings and Joanne Reinhart; (from Harpswell) James Henderson, Elinor “Ellie” Multer and Joanne Rogers; (from Topsham) Stephen Harris and Robert Hill; and (from Lisbon) Prudence “Prudy” Grant, Gina Mason, Martha Poliquin and Charles Smith.

 

Not present were Kim Benjamin, James Trusiani and student representatives Cam Bubar and Sam Prindall.

 

Union 30 Superintendent Shannon Welsh was not present, as she was attending a previously-scheduled meeting on behalf of Durham’s consolidation efforts.  M.S.A.D. No. 75 Superintendent J. Michael Wilhelm arrived late, due to another commitment.

 

Jay Bartner, Moderator and Facilitator, was unable to attend, due to weather conditions.

 

Business Managers Peter Gray (M.S.A.D. No. 75) and Catherine Messmer (Union 30) were also present.  Mr. Hill introduced Mr. Gray as the new Business Manager for M.S.A.D. No.75, replacing Ron Lavender.

 

Donna Frisoli of Harpswell Channel 14 TV was present to record this evening’s meeting.

 

A.        Call to order

 

The meeting was called to order by Co-Chair Martha Poliquin at 6:30 p.m.

 

B.        Approval of minutes of the January 30, 2008, RPC meeting

 

It was moved by Mrs. Rogers, seconded by Mr. Smith, and VOTED ( 12 yeas, 0 nays, 1 abstention, and 2 absent) to accept as printed the minutes of the January 30, 2008, RPC meeting.

 

Voting yea were Mr. Letourneau, Mrs. Totten, Mr. Billings, Mrs. Reinhart, Mr. Henderson, Ms. Multer, Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Harris, Mr. Hill, Ms. Grant, Ms. Poliquin and Mr. Smith {with Ms. Mason and Mr. Smith employing the one-person/one-vote agreement in sharing a seat on the RPC}.

 

There were no nay votes.

 

Abstaining from voting was Mr. Lavan.

 

Absent were Ms. Benjamin and Mr. Trusiani.

 

C.        Public Comment

 

M.S.A.D. No. 75 Board member Dee Carrier was in the audience.  No public comment was heard.

 

D.        RPC update/vote on recommendations

 

Ø         Governance – It was reported that this Committee’s recommendations had been voted on at the last meeting.

 

Ø         Financial – No recommendations need to be voted on.

 

Ø         Employees & Bargaining – Mr. Billings asked whether the RPC had voted on the administrative structure of the new RSU.  Ms. Messmer indicated that Superintendent Wilhelm will present copies of the planned administrative structure.

 

E.         Local cost-sharing discussion

 

Co-Chair Poliquin asked Ms. Messmer to present the cost-sharing options.  RPC members were provided copies of the different scenarios.

 

She pointed out that that systems don’t receive subsidy unless the total additional local share is raised.

 

Ms. Poliquin noted that she hasn’t seen anything that demonstrates that a community can design its own cost-sharing formula.

 

Mr. Hill clarified that the penalty noted on each scenario is the loss Lisbon would bear if it does not consolidate.  He also pointed out that M.S.A.D. No. 75 still has to deal with reductions to be made in Special Services, Transportation, and Operations/Maintenance.

 

Ms. Multer pointed out that another factor which will come into play is the difficulty of projecting costs beyond one year.

 

Title I funding was discussed, with the point being made that with Lisbon’s consolidation with the towns of M.S.A.D. No. 75, five of six M.S.A.D. No. 75 schools currently eligible for this funding would no longer be eligible for this funding.  With the addition of Lisbon, the Title I funds available to M.S.A.D. No. 75 will be reduced.  M.S.A.D. No. 75 currently receives approximately $400,000 of Title I funds, while Lisbon receives $249,000.

 

Mr. Hill reminded RPC members that the purpose of Title I funds is not to supplant current positions/programs but to support programs.  Ms. Multer stated that additional funds would have to be raised to support programs currently funded by Title I.

 

Mr. Billings asked if Title I funding is shown as revenue.  Mr. Hill stated it is revenue and positions are paid for from those funds, reiterating that the funding cannot be used for “regular” instructional programs.  Without those funds, the positions will “go away;” and the RSU will have to make a decision on whether to raise additional funds to keep them.  He recalled that several years ago, similarly-funded positions were lost in M.S.A.D. No. 75.

 

Mr. Gray related that Dr. Wilhelm had explained to him that if five of six schools had a Title I funded program, all would have to be offered the program.  There was some confusion at this explanation, and it was decided to await Dr. Wilhelm’s arrival.

 

Mr. Billings favors staying with the EPS formula.  Mrs. Rogers agreed, feeling it is the fairest option.  Mr. Letourneau also agreed.

 

Mr. Lavan would have liked to be able to see how a 50/50 formula and the EPS formula would change over a two-year period.  Mr. Harris pointed out that there are others numbers which would affect the formula, for example, Impact Aid funding.

 

Ms. Poliquin stated that the question is how can the RPC mitigate some of the additional local share.   She continued by stating that while there appear to be many additional educational benefits to consolidating, she’s trying to answer the question which many will be asking of “why will consolidation cost me more?”

Mr. Letourneau stated that the EPS formula will have to be used if the legislative amendments to the Law don’t pass.

 

Ms. Messmer pointed out that all districts are losing dollars.

 

Mr. Hill is trying to put himself into the position of Lisbon voters, in asking if “I vote, what are my choices or how can I change it?”

 

Ms. Poliquin stated that the RPC will have to explain why it reached the decision it will (on cost-sharing).

 

Mrs. Totten stated that we need to present more than just the “bottom line,” and need to start showing voters what the benefits of consolidation are.

 

Mr. Letourneau emphasized that the RPC needs to “sell it” and noted that the Superintendents are generating a side-by-side comparison of said benefits.

 

Ms. Multer asked whether it would be reasonable to say there’s no chance of cost reduction.  Ms. Messmer suggested that “cost avoidance” could be used, and Mr. Harris provided the example of “boiler redundancy.”

 

It was moved by Mrs. Rogers, seconded by Mr. Letourneau, and VOTED (12 yeas, 1 nay, 0 abstentions, and 2 absent) that the RPC utilize the EPS formula in calculating cost-sharing of the RSU(for additional local share, no variations to the formula).

 

Voting yea were Mr. Lavan, Mr. Letourneau, Mrs. Totten, Mr. Billings, Mrs. Reinhart, Mr. Henderson, Ms. Multer, Mrs. Rogers, Mr. Harris, Mr. Hill, Ms. Grant, and Mr. Smith {with Ms. Mason and Ms. Smith employing the one-person/one-vote agreement in sharing a seat on the RPC}.

 

 Voting nay was Ms. Poliqin.

 

There were no abstentions.

 

Absent were Ms. Benjamin and Mr. Trusiani.

 

Mr. Hill reminded the RPC that in pending legislative amendments, there is a provision to revisit this issue.  He stated that the RPC could put into the Plan (to be submitted to the State) similar language to the effect that the RSU could revisit the issue within a stated number of years to determine whether the formula is equitable to all.

 

F.         Wrap-up and schedule of meetings

 

Relating a conversation he’d had with Dr. Wilhelm, Mr. Hill suggested convening a meeting of the two Superintendents, both Business Managers, co-chairs of the RPC, chairs of each committee to determine what issues still need to be discussed before the public hearings and finalization of the Plan.  March 12 is the scheduled final meeting of the RPC before the March 15th public hearings.

 

March 6th and 10th are the dates of the next meetings of the M.S.A.D. No. 75 and Lisbon Boards, respectively.

 

Since Ms. Messmer and Dr. Welsh are presenting the school budget to the Lisbon Town Council at 6:30 on March 4th, it was decided that this new committee would meet at 4:30 to accommodate their schedule. 

 

Ms. Multer stated she’s more concerned about being prepared for the hearings than in finalizing the Plan and that she feels that the State will wait for details to be finalized.

 

Ms. Poliquin suggested the March 4th meeting could be held in Lisbon to maximum the time available to spend with Ms. Messmer and Dr. Welsh (before their 6:30 commitment).  {It was subsequently decided to meet in Lisbon.}

 

Mr. Hill stated that another purpose of this meeting will be to identify any items needing to be addressed at the March 12th meeting.

 

…        Dr. Wilhelm arrived at 8:10 p.m.

 

He clarified that Title I funds can indeed only be used to supplement programs and cannot be used to supplant them.

 

He further stated that in consolidating with Lisbon, eligibility for funding is based on census figures (instead of percentages of students receiving free and reduced lunch); and everyone will lose funding in that calculation.  The amount of funding would decrease, and it would have to be shared.  He said that the total amount of Title I funding would go down, and that the dollars would flow into one Lisbon school and the smallest school in M.S.A.D. No. 75.  He said that while Lisbon probably would not lose its eligibility, M.S.A.D. No. 75 would lose a major portion of its current funding.

 

The aforementioned new committee will meet on March 4th, with the full RPC meeting again on March 12th prior to the March 15th public hearings. 

 

Information regarding the public hearings – 10:00 a.m. at Lisbon Community School and 1:00 p.m. at Orion Performing Arts Center at Mt. Ararat Middle School – will be posted on Friday, February 29.

 

The meeting was declared adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Rebecca A. Brillant

Recorder

 

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