Jan 12th BOE meeting update

Thanks to Ed Greene for this summary:

Here is a rundown of the meetings I attended:

5:30 - Call to order

Pat Widlitz and Ed Meyer spoke for several minutes. Both reps. forecasted tough economic times in the coming months. They are going to work hard to make sure that the burden is not simply shifted to our local boards and governments. Senator Meyer said he has been very impressed with Mark McQuillan, Commissioner of Education. Commissioner McQuillan publicly stated that Rell's demand for a 10% cut ($280 million) would be disastrous and shortsighted. Both felt that it was important to keep funding education in order to be well positioned when the economy turns around.

Dr. Forcella passed out copies of the budget that was being proposed. They talked about the reduction in capital expenditures (30%). They were impressed but concerned that this may cause problems in years to come.

7:30 - After several agenda items Dr. Forcella presented initial draft of next year's budget.

Started with the difficulty that lay ahead and that each administrator was very in touch with the need to be conservative with such a difficult economic situation on the horizon. Spoke about the process of student learning and all the work that has gone into that area over the past couple of years.

Indicated that ALL areas of the budget had gone down EXCEPT salaries and benefits. The biggest single decrease was in capital expenditures (30%). This would be accomplished by pushing back several projects that were planned in the coming years. Another area that was cut ($50,000) was year 3 of the 5-year technology plan.

They did not want to cut what was determined to be Priority One projects. This mainly revolved around health remediation projects at Adams MS.

Dr. Forcella also talked about the need to offset costs by applying for grants and trying to collaborate with neighboring towns like Madison to cut costs on things like transportation and special education.

The total budget increase was 3.67% - smallest increase in recent years.

Concern from Ted Zuse about when we would get final educational specifications related to new building costs. Answer: February would be when they would have updated costs from Fletcher/Thompson. They need to see what the change will be now that the turf field and science wing would be incorporated into the project. Will not exceed $112 million - will most likely be under $100 million.