4.24.2023 Fall River School Committee

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like to call to order the special meeting in the Fall River school committee for April 24 2023 um I guess we're going to do this a little differently let's salute the flag first pledge allegiance which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all yeah pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may

transmit the meetings or any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings of Transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged in permissible Mr Hart is joining us via Zoom I just want to make everybody aware of it Deb could you please call the roll let's try again here Mr Bailey yeah Mr Hart here miss Roderick here mayor Coogan

here any citizens input no there is none there okay Committee of the whole this is a vote to approve the Pharaoh Public Schools this school 2024 draft operational budget in the amount of one 163 million 920 197 for the purpose of public release and preparation for the public hearing scheduled for May 15th any discussion thank you Mr Mayor no that's okay I just wanted to clarify we um since our last

meeting we have done some um revisions of the proposed budget um after further review we're going to be we're going to be adjusting the budget for transportation originally we had a placeholder if you recall of 1.5 million dollars to pay for out of District transportation after lots of discussion and feedback and meetings we've updated the budget to reflect one million one hundred and fifty seven thousand four

hundred ninety six dollars and not the 1.5 million this figure represents the two years of reimbursement in circuit breaker associated with Transportation that's only been allowable allowed for two years in FY 22 we received 231 000 and 92 dollars and in FY 23 will be receiving 926 000 404 dollars this totals one million one hundred and fifty Seven dollars and 496.

um these funds will be used to offset out of District transportation for the fiscal year 2024.

um because of this change we're going to have to increase the transportation budget in fy24 the new amount of Transportation non-net School spending will now be 10 million three hundred forty two thousand five hundred and four dollars and the change from and that's a change from 10 million dollars to the 10 million 342 504 represents the difference between the 1.5 million and the one million one hundred and fifty

seven thousand four hundred ninety six dollars originally this was going to be funded by Circuit Breaker funds but will now be funded through the transportation budget non-net School spending in addition we're going to free up funds and circuit breaker revolving fund we will be proposing to move 342 504 in tuition that was proposed to be funded an operating budget and will now be funded

in the circuit breaker revolving fund with that uh the above move we're proposing to add we're going to reinvest that money into the special education departments we're proposing to add one special education supervisor to speech language Pathologists one evaluation team chair and one special education clerk this totals 342 504 dollars there's no change to the school's operating budget

thank you okay on 3.1 do I have a motion and a second any discussion motion to approve I have a motion a second Mr agya I think she had her hand up oh you had Jennifer yeah I did for both um this this appears to me a much more logical approach and feels like we have a better understanding of where the money is coming from where it's going to go and I actually really

do appreciate the reinvestment in special education because that's what we've been talking about all along that that's an area that really means that level of support my only question with that is is this enough right first you know that's always the question that I'm going to ask because we've talked before about potentially you know an assistant director or an assistant superintendent

and things like that so I just want to hear do you feel like enough all of us could answer and rhetorically and say I don't know if it's going to be enough at this point to be honest with you again have to remember I've been here since November 28th I can tell you right now we are really working on this the systems the processes the procedures what I'm proposing now is strictly kind of filling the

the well that we already have right the holes in some of our spots that we already have so when we talk about potentially bringing on you know an assistant director or whatever we want to call them like maybe not yet and here's why I say maybe not yet because the well still has some it still needs to be filled a little bit more to deal with our current issues that we have in special education I've

said it from the get-go I just met with our speech and language pathologist and we increase our our numbers of students receiving speech and language I believe and again I don't have the number in front of me but I can get it significantly like almost a hundred kids right so our current Staffing can't withstand that it's already kind of busting at the seams so that is my immediate priority need right what do

kids need right now I've talked to you a lot about the etcs and their caseloads being so big and in order to deal with our compliance needs and um building family relationships those positions are really important to me to fill right now so that's what you see the proposal for right now I'm not going to tell you this is it because it's probably not it's probably not it's probably going going to be for now and

that's the best I can do in the six months now or something I've been here no I actually think that's a really great answer because I wasn't looking for any specific answer but that helps me put into perspective just what the thought process is and then you know what do we need in the future so if we're pulling from this fund you know how much more needs to be there to make

sure that we have enough to sustain what you could need because that is a department that really hasn't gotten the intention right he's needed over the years and as I like figure that out and I want to come back to you with a strong rationale for why I need additional or new positions right like something like an assistant would for me would be new and what would that look like and why is

that needed right I already have some ideas in my brain but I'm not there yet and I don't want to make any Rush decision I want to be able to have a proposal in a clear understanding but I think this is a great start for again filling the well that needs to be filled right now now and maybe it is needed along the way but honestly how do you know that just based on what you're

saying if we haven't been able to fill the positions that we currently need so we don't know right and I need the systems and the processes and those structures in place to know where everybody fits in that right so thank you I yield Mr Egg yeah just following up on that so I agree with what you had stated relative to some of the positions but I've been um on here for a while and have some

historical perspective on what we had and what we did and so when you say that it's the assistant director would be a new position that's not really accurate and you wouldn't know that because you haven't been here we used to have in what was called an executive director of special education which is the equivalent of your position now we elevated that to an assistant superintendent

x amount of years ago but we used to have a position called executive director which was be like you at the same time as we had that we had a position a union position called director of special education which I'm considering would be like the assistant to that executive director okay and when you have done the org charts for who you are responsible for my personal belief is there's too many

it's either it's you and then it's all Union official Union positions all throughout your ranks and that makes it very difficult for you to hold those other people have anybody else hold them accountable to make sure that this once the structures are in place you can't do all of the things that need to be done because you can't have one Union supervisor supervising another one and you get into that kind of problem

so when I'm looking at logic and trying to say how would we want to give you the best tools to do all the things that you need to do my mind is we need to have an assistant to you that's a non-union position that doesn't have any any hold on well I can't do this I can't do that it would be your assistant at the same time as those positions in my opinion

they could do some of the fill-in work because they're going to have a skill set to do other things so it might look like well we're going to have an assistant it's like having a vice principal in a school but they also can teach chemistry so if you had a need in the chemistry and I'm a vice principal but I can teach chemistry I Could Teach the chemistry when you're filling in those gaps that

you're talking about so I think we should change instead of doing adding I think we should change to an assistant director with a new job description that you would create with the superintendent that says they could do other things as well and when I look at the salaries which you know I've looked at as far as the structure the salaries that we're going to pay for some of these positions that

you have here are union positions defined by how many days they work and meanwhile you're making short money more than them working five times whatever it is much more hours uh throughout the year so I am totally in favor of adding the number the dollar figure for you but I would like to ask that you and the superintendent get together to come back with a an attempt to look at or we can

have a meeting if we need to to to consider having an assistant director that does some of the same that can help you with those things so I don't want to I'm not trying to force anything but I know that it's sometimes it's difficult you knew right now all of a sudden I want to come in and have an assistant right you know and you go oh I can't do that well if you're new and we

if we're just being honest you're adding 130 000 125 000 position right here so I'd rather say to you why don't we add a hundred and forty thousand or whatever position as your assistant but make no mistake about it this isn't like we're hiring a bunch of lower level people in this group is people that are making a good salary in a union with a defined number of days and in order to

do the change I think that we need in your department and this District we should expand it to be able to have an assistant director of special ed so I would ask that the superintendent look at because this is only going to be a draft and we've got another month to figure out the final budget but I think hopefully you're taking all of the things into consideration and will come

back to us with a look and say maybe it makes sense maybe it doesn't but I would want to have a second look at sure and I appreciate the historical perspective for me too to go to the transportation piece the um I do think that this is logical to do based on the reimbursement I wasn't aware that until after the last meeting I had a conversation with Mr Almeda relative to

that the state is giving some funds specifically for the reimbursement for auto District it's a little confusing because then they have the circuit breaker we had a conversation today where it was try to clarify again I think it's more logical that says if the state is going to give us money to pay for auto District tuition whatever the number that is that number should go towards the tuition it's just a very logical

thing and this year I believe there's two two years combined into one but I think as a I'm assuming that they're going to continue to do the same thing or give more next year if there's a million dollars that they give us as the reimbursement for transportation that million dollars should go towards Transportation not more money that we could use for other things so I appreciate the superintendent looking at

it and coming to this you know logical conclusion but I do think that it's better the way that it is now than it was uh before so I do appreciate that related to the budget that we are um putting forth there can still be changes correct right yes like in the line items relative to right today you're proving to release the budget on the budget you're not approving until May 15th they actually

so I would say you know I'm going to support the budget today but I also think that some valid points have been made by members of this committee members of the public principles other people that we should look at tweaking it to make sure that in May it's the best budget that we can do for the kids across the board so I have some ideas that I've brought out already that I

think are valid suggestions so either they should either be shot down or some discussion would need to happen one for instance I was just looking at something on the Essa funds and one of the things is that we were going to have increased attendance offices in the s or package well we haven't added we added prior to Esser I believe so we haven't added attendance offices but last meeting I brought up the issue of we

should add one for like after hours so that they can come it's up a time and whatever I think that's a valid point when somebody makes valid points I think we need to either talk about them further and either say we're choosing not to do it or we're choosing to do it by May 15th not just say well this is what we are stuck with so we're just going to run it through

we've had that happen in the past on the prior superintendent and it became a mess because we had positions that nobody knew we got a position still going on that we had didn't even know about so I'd rather we do it in a logical methodical way so that we get the best budget we can so I'm going to be voting to support this and I think it's logical and it can be sustained

going forward if the the if the state says we're going to cut it in half the reimbursement then the reimbursement should be cut in half but I think they're going to continue to raise it up one question I did have was the Medicaid reimbursement for uh is that do you know offhand is that a million dollars or I can get you an answer by the end of the week yeah so what reason why I'm

asking that is because say we look at it at this transportation we say this is logical that says you know the money comes in for special ed for transportation we should put a touch special ed my argument has been for a long time that the Medicaid reimbursement that we received the city receives is actually for funds that come out of the school budget so that's illogical in my opinion and I think that we need a

one-pager on what that is and what it's not so that the rest of the committee can see it's illogical to have funds come out and then they get the city gets the reimbursement and then we don't even acknowledge the fact that that was happening so if you could get that to us I'd appreciate it too because I think it's all relative it's a it was used to be a million dollars or something at one

point I know it was as high as like 1.8 to almost 2 million dollars and it's fluctuated over the years it's come down a bit but I know it's starting to go back up a little bit so and my only last thing voting on this is we still have an outstanding issue with a bus vendor that hasn't been paid for several years and I believe I know I believe that they

deserve to get paid I think most of the central office believes that they should get paid and is still not rectified so I'm hoping that by May 15th when we vote on this number for a final thing that that situation is rectified so that we don't have that hanging over our heads when we're going to vote because if so it's going to change my vote with that I yield

I get to say something to that one I think that was settled yeah I thought that was settled no no is this one part so we had one little pot which about a hundred thousand dollars if I recall the other issue was when the um the bus company when we chose to cancel school on those Wednesdays it was around seven hundred thousand dollars when I've asked repeatedly to try to get

information I keep getting told by the city folks now the attorneys or whoever oh that's in litigation that's in litigation I'm pretty sure that I could tell you if it was settled great if you give us a one-pager but I'm pretty sure that was settled um maybe last week I'll let you know whatever it is I just think we need to put that aside before we move forward yeah I could have sworn I heard that it

was that that was the discussion thank you okay so any further discussion on uh 3.1 a vote to approve I have a motion and a second Deb would you please call the roll nostrad yeah yes yes yes Miss Pereira yes Miss Rodricks yes Mary Kruger yes uh question number two is a vote to approve the forward Public Schools fiscal year school budget 2022 draft transportation in the amount of now that number has changed since we

know up above um to 10 million three hundred and forty two thousand five oh four not the 10 million you see listed there do we have to uh take a motion in a second to amend that one piece Mr Mr Assad okay let's do that that motion to amend I have a motion a second could I get a roll call and change into the new number of 10 million 342 504 please Deb

this Dragon yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Hart yes Miss laravey yes Miss Pereira yes Miss Roderick yes mayor Kruger yes now on I guess we still have to go with a vote of the as worded vote to approve the far Public School fiscal year 2024 draft budget in the amount of ten three four two five oh four for the purpose of public release in preparation for the public hearing scheduled on Monday May 15 2023. can I

get a motion a second motion is saying any discussion on that Deb would you please call the roll let's try again actually sorry can I have one question on that sorry uh we'll hold the vote Mr agya just on the budget I don't have it in front of me but the um the amount of uh we went from 12 I think it was 12.8 did we have the number I

know we spoke about it today about what it was last year is it can I ask a question on the how you got to the 10 million I don't have it in front of me but because I think there was a number in there for uh can answer funds to take out to get to it yes 800 000 I believe can you tell us the history of that did we pay that last

year too did we like where did we get I know it was for pre-k but trying to figure out the logic behind where the numbers were coming from and moving forward how we're going to do that so so we have we've increased Transportation this year due to the Early Learning Center and we've got some Pre-K Transportation that's increased this year compared to previous years and so that's why we increased that amount and

that's why the amount is what it is so the 800 000 I just found it now so it's uh eight hundred thousand dollars in sr3 for preschool that's a one-time uh uh payment that's going to be that's going to be a payment for next year and that's that's it for next year yes but moving forward the city will have to pay for that it's a one-time yes sir this is not a necessarily and it's due

to not having a site or whatever correct so it's one time and then McKinney vento is 500 000 to get you down yep and that's what happens if the state which I believe they are saying they're going to do fully funds McKinney vento what happens to this number so let's say we approve this today at 500 000 in here for McKinney vento and then the state pays 750 000. do we get

250 000 no it stays it stays in the account it stays in the mckinney-vento account I didn't I didn't I didn't think that was that crazy of a no no no no I'm just joking with Kevin all right I thought it was a logical comment that if they send Transportation that's what that's for though right isn't that just 100 Transportation that's what that's what it's used for yes okay yeah but

what I'm what I'm suggesting though is that just like the logic that we use here so if the mckinney-vento transportation right now is projected at 500 000 because you think it's only a 50 reimbursement sixty percent reimbursement if that goes up to fully funded that's going to change that number by three hundred thousand and we're voluntarily giving 800 000 investor funds to get to that number so

if the 10 million is the number we're trying to get to or whatever that comes out to 10-3 truth in advertising is we've got to acknowledge what is the mckinney-vento um reimbursement gonna do to those pieces do you understand what I'm saying we've got time between now and may to sort of figure that out but I do think that the legislature has they've told me personally that they were going to we're

going to advocate for it if that's the case I think we should at least acknowledge where it is as well as acknowledging that 800 000 is one time I'd appreciate that so we don't get next year caught in the bind of well you paid it this year so without you thank you very much all right can we vote on do we have a motion a second we do we do Deb could

you please call the roll Mr yes Mr Bailey yes yes your heart Paul yes okay Miss laravey yes Miss Pereira yes Miss Rogers yes mayor Kruger yes I'll entertain a motion to adjourn so move second a motion second dead police call the roll Mr Dragon yes Mr Bailey s yes Ms rodericks yes mayor Coogan yes adjourned