Reorganization Planning Committee Meeting

6 August 2008    DRAFT Minutes

Present:  Bill Ferm, Facilitator     Gail Marshall,  Chair     Brian Hubbell, Vice-Chair

Bar Harbor:  Bob Garland, Paul Murphy    Southwest Harbor:  Amy Young, Kristin Hutchins

Trenton:  Judy Sproule, Mike Swanson     Mt. Desert:  Patrick Smallidge     Swan’s Island:  Tammy Tripler

Others in attendance:  Rob Liebow, Joanne Harriman, Nancy Thurlow, Rick Barter, Selena Dunbar,    Dick Broom, Beth Dilley, Craig Kesselheim, Matt Haney, George and Marion Peckham, Elsie Flemings,

Anne Marie Swanson, Carol Chappell, Norm and Lori Fineman, Oka Hutchins, Scott McFarland, Mia Brown, Heather Jones, Dick Atlee, Ted Koffman, Amy Davis, Ruth Eveland and E. Pat Foster

Commencement of Meeting

Gail Marshall called the meeting to order at 7:02 a.m.

Review of Draft Minutes from 30 July 2008

Minutes were not presented.

Report from Superintendent and Business Manager

No report was presented.

Public Forum on Reorganization Plan

Bill Ferm - Explained the difference between the inter-local agreement and the plan. 

Gail Marshall - We had to reorganize the central office for Union 98 to comply with the law.  In the last legislative session language came about to reorganize small school systems as alternative structures if you can show you are going to collaborate and coordinate key administrative functions.  The language was crafted almost exclusively on how the MDI school system operates.  The way we accomplish this reorganization is we create an inter-local agreement.  Any job a government entity has to do can combine with another government entity to share services.  In this case it's managing our school system.  We created, with our attorney, how we operate now and how we intend to operate in the future.  The four MDI towns, high school, outer islands, and Trenton will, by virtue of this agreement, define duties and responsibilities of the central office.  Members of school boards will be selected for representation on the AOS board.  Page 5 - describes what the board will do.  Mostly the same as what our boards have done in the past and currently. 

Paul Murphy - Clarify the school committee – we are talking about the central office only.  If you're in a town within Union 98 and you’re a school board member, you're a member o f 3 boards.  This will continue to be the case.  This is talking about the board that replaces Union 98 board.

George Peckham - Explain why the high school board isn't part of this board?

Gail Marshall - Because people from the four towns on this island represent the high school.  We would have to designate some to represent K-8 and some to represent the high school.  We wanted them to represent K-12.  If I come to that board and I represent Mt. Desert, I represent high school as well as K-8.

Paul Murphy - We paid a lot of attention to this and thought we may have to have separate representation on the high school board.  The legal opinion is we did not need to have separate representation.

Dick Atlee – This may be the way things are now, but you say each member of a school committee is also a member of the central committee and yet there are more school committee members than there are on central committees.

Gail Marshall – It’s a little confusing.  If you are a member of the elementary board you also are a member of the Union 98 board for voting purposes.  At the high school we only have 10 voting members.  Encourage every board member to attend the high school meetings, but only 10 are voting members.  The central office board is going to be worded differently.  Still want to encourage all members to attend all meetings.  AOS board will be slightly different.

Brian Hubbell - The section of the agreement that covers the voting members on the regional board is taken exactly from the same language of the Private and Special Act.

Gail Marshall - Not going to go through all these -  currently what we do now.

Scott McFarland – Could you go through the minor differences?

Gail Marshall - We have to appoint an administrator of transportation.  While Rob has always participated in overall questions regarding bus purchases and employees, he's never had that official title and since we have to have one now, the board will probably appoint him the director of transportation.  The other way it's different is this explicitly applies what we have done over a matter of decades.  It's now clear that we will have a director of curriculum in the central office.  We took that upon ourselves a number of years ago to do this.  Special education director and business office.  Budgeting will be different.  Town offices interaction with our business office will change.  We will now have MDI RSS checks instead of town checks.  Services are going to be centralized differently.

Nancy Thurlow - All of our towns have separate sets of books.  They will be rolled into one but we will have to keep things separate.

Amy Young – Like one book with 9 chapters.

Kristin Hutchins - Preserving local control, but towns will still want it split out.

George Peckham – Who, under this new organization, will be responsible for hiring the superintendent?

Gail Marshall – The AOS board.  But we'll be called the MDI RSS.

In order to put this document into effect, on page 7 it says the voters in each of the four towns on MDI will have to approve the agreement for this to take effect.  Because the outer islands are so small we didn't want to hold up the whole works if one of them voted no.  We anticipate we'll still have discussions with them.  Trenton is very new to our system.  Voters will determine if this is a good fit.  MDI voters should vote for this since it's the way we've been doing things.  From the beginning, we've said you will get a vote; your town will get a vote.  We need each town to be on board to be successful. 

Pat Foster - What if one town says no?

Gail Marshall - We have an obligation to go back to the table to resolve those differences.  Towns will be allowed to coalesce.  We have to go back at least once.

Amy Young – We are taking Union 98 and putting a new label on it.  It will essentially be the same.  If one of the towns on the island does not approve, we have to go back and find another way to do it.  This is the most painless way to comply with the law.  To go back and make it fit another way means we've lost the two years of work we've been through.  We need to get back to running our schools. 

Patrick Smallidge - The intent of this law was to separate the individual resident taxpayer from the decision-making process during the town meeting.  Otherwise, the purest form of democracy being exercised on an individual town-by-town basis in terms of education was going to be exterminated.  1,800 school board members would be fired.  Throughout this process, which was being done to offer 34 million to help balance the budget, these people have worked to replicate what we have now.  It's the format we have lived with for decades that produces a quality education.  And it complies with the law.  Local control is still in tact. I support this plan.

Gail Marshall - Don't think anybody should come away with the impression that we have the perfect model and that it will never change.  We have a system that has evolved over the years and meets the needs of our students and we have consistently improved and looked for ways to save money and work more efficiently.  Hope boards will continue to do that.  This is a structure that will allow the local communities to continue doing this.  With respect to the budget process, as most of you may know, we went to town meeting and then the state required the validation referendum.  This will happen for the next three years.  We can eliminate that process after the 3 years if we want.  We will have the equivalent of a town meeting in the winter.  The central office has to be done first.  Once that is set and approved at that meeting we'll do the high school budget, then the elementary meetings.  When that's all done, all of those budgets, after the last town meeting has taken place, then voters will go to the ballot box and vote on all budgets.  The central office budget will be included in the elementary and high school budgets.  It gets assessed to each school it serves.

George Peckham - That redundancy is expensive.

Paul Murphy - Yes.  It's not by choice.

Patrick Smallidge - The redundancy is a result of the state.

George Peckham - We're supposed to be saving money with all this.

Gail Marshall – The central office budget will then be apportioned through a formula that is similar to what we have now.  The only difference, hopefully, is that we will be adding Trenton. 

Rob Liebow - Small change to that formula.  Page 9 b and c - b is one of the variables when it looks at the number of pupils.  It takes the Oct. 1 enrollments - what this does is take an average of the previous April and averages the two.  It smoothes out what might be an up and down nature to it.  State already calculates its numbers based on this.  If you have a dramatic increase in enrollment, say on Cranberry you have 5 and then 15, that would be a huge difference in that percentage.  Initially it would average the 5 and 15 and create a mid-line number.  Kind of like the high school formula with valuation in consideration.  Small difference but more in line with how state calculates figures.  It's the calendar year.  Current October and previous April.  Enrollments can change dramatically.  The high school could have 720 students and then in April the number could be a lot lower.  It looks at two parts of a school year and averages those. 

Scott McFarland – This was never part of it before, was it?

Rob Liebow – It just asked you to look at one enrollment figure.

Scott McFarland – The staffing piece.  Was that part of it?

Rob Liebow - Fox formula.  Three variables involved - the percentage the budget relates to as a total, staff size, and enrollment.  Puts those together for a figure and creates a minimum amount everyone will pay.  A school might have 2 kids, but one might be special ed and use lots of resources.  You have to have payroll and forms, would use more than what 2 students would show.  All these together create a better figure.

Dick Atlee – Rob says this is to cover the span of one school year but it says April and October of the previous school year. 

Gail Marshall - It is correct how it is written.

Paul Murphy - It is two different school years, but it looks at how your school ended and how it begins.  The number of students that begin this year and the number of students that ended last year.

Rob Liebow – It’s your latest demographics.  Trends for that school.  Takes a wider window of enrollment and staff size.

Gail Marshall - Allocation of state subsidy.  The difference here is that the state used to give each of our schools a subsidy.  Frenchboro and Trenton are not minimum receivers.  We've been getting separate checks.  Now there will be information about school's special ed figures and one check will come from the state and we will have to split it and direct it fairly to each school.  What flows from that, is a rather complicated discussion of how the state is going to send it to us and then how we’re going to calculate to achieve that principal.  Rob and Nancy have spent time talking to Dick Spencer and Jim Rier about this.  The current formula the way we have written it comes as close to dollar for dollar of what you should have been receiving. One year a school may have low needs and then get hit with extraordinary needs.  Can't just split by enrollment.  Allowable expenses will be given to the central office by each school.  Then we'll distribute the state subsidy check as fairly as we can.  If the state changes the subsidy or how they allocate the subsidy, we will have the opportunity to change how we divvy it up. 

George Peckham - Was under the impression that the state subsidized those that qualified with a check, then they subsidized those that qualified for special ed with a separate check.

Gail Marshall - Separate subsidy for what Frenchboro and Trenton get.  We only get some of the money we spend for special ed.

George Peckham - Didn't Trenton and Lamoine get a subsidy other than that?

Rob Liebow - They are regular receivers.  We would be deemed to receive nothing if there wasn't a provision in the law that says we get a percentage of that.  Recently set at 50% of what your costs are.  Frenchboro and Trenton are regular receivers, they get subsidy based on what their town is expected to pay toward education as a function of their mil rate.  That is set at 6.55 mils.  Once they get to that, really poor community reach 6.5 mils quickly, but expected costs for education go above that.  Cranberry pays one or two mils toward education.  There's a minimum special ed law so they get some of their special ed expenses back.  State will split our regular ed subsidy and other.  Special ed will be divvied up by relative expense for each group.  If one group has big expense they'll get a bigger part of check.  State wouldn't do it that way. We're trying to give back the minimum special ed money based on what their expenses were.

Paul Murphy - It does get confusing.  We asked Rob and Nancy to run models on special ed distribution.  Everybody in model was within $3,000 or less in difference of what they would have gotten.  That's highly acceptable from our point of view.

Gail Marshall - All the real estate and property become that of the RSS.  School closing.  Only a matter for the affected community.  It has nothing to do with the central office board.  We have learned over the years that it is important for people in the school union to be pulling in the same direction.  Page 12, #15 we defined a procedure where a constituent member of this community decides to go in a different direction, there is a mechanism for the rest of the school communities to say come back to the fold or we will consider you not part of our school system.  One of the challenges for folks in Trenton in regard to the teacher collective bargaining agreement is the extended ramp up to become consistent with our collective bargaining agreement.  Need to have this mechanism to keep cohesion. 

Brian Hubbell - Make sure people understand that these are two separate documents [plan and inter-local agreement] but you can't have one without the other. 

Paul Murphy - Budget piece - K-8 budget for each town will appear in the referendum only in that town.  The high school budget will not appear on Trenton's referendum or the outer islands.

Ruth Eveland – Discussion at Bar Harbor town council.  Dates for the vote.  Bar Harbor has to have all be ready for ballot in three weeks.  They don't want a special election in January.

Gail Marshall - This has to go to each of our school boards after tonight.  Then sent to the commissioner for approval.  We'll work with you to expedite this.

Brian Hubbell - We do have a timeline that reflects that.  We're proceeding on that.

Gail Marshall - The inter-local agreement is the contract between our towns.  The plan is really a report to the commissioner about our inter-local agreement. 

Scott McFarland - This is in fact a school union worded differently.  Isn't it likely other school unions will create systems like this?

Gail Marshall – The commissioner said it was okay as long as it wasn’t worded as “union”.

The plan lays this out the way the law requires us to.  Delineates all the legal stuff that we indicated in the inter-local agreement.  The transition plan addresses the budget.   If this is approved at the town meetings, then the school boards would appoint members to the new MDIRSS board which will immediately start preparing the budget for the next fiscal year.  The Union 98 board will continue to provide supervisory functions it does through June 30, 2009.  If Trenton is with us they will have representatives on the RSS board but not the Union 98 board.  Describe that we'll continue contracts for tuition.  13E - plan as Rob has laid out for attempting to meld collective bargaining agreements and what is currently Union 98 and Trenton.  Essentially there is a seven year plan and allows Trenton to gradually increase some salaries and benefits.  Sick leave, other leaves, and responsibilities of teachers.  Those things will have to get processed.  We will engage in a process that allows us to bring contracts in synchrony with one another.

Rob Liebow - School teachers association representatives - this assumes there will be three year contracts.  That's a negotiable contract.  Have to put in plan to show how we’re going to come to consistent collective bargaining agreements.

Paul Murphy - The fact that we have been successful in bringing all Union 98 schools together to negotiate contracts in common but still separate contracts played a huge role in our ability to get this AOS approved.  It is the lynchpin that sealed the deal.  Without that it would not have happened.  The governor said we were already doing what they wanted schools to do.

Beth Dilley - As teachers have started working on negotiations, already discussed having Trenton negotiators come in and participate at some level.  Nothing negative was said about that.  Good idea.

Scott McFarland - Want to publicly thank RPC for all their work.  On behalf of principals, thank Rob for buffering us from all of this by letting us handle our schools and taking the burden and stress upon himself.

Paul Murphy – Union 98 staff included.  Put in countless hours in support of our work.  Rob has shepherded us through this whole process in his methodical, calm, step-by-step way. 

Gail Marshall- Within these documents contains the explicit statement that contractual and hourly employees who are now Union 98 will all be transferred over to be employees of MDIRSS.  There were questions about whether we would have to advertise and interview for these positions.

Craig Kesselheim - Have there been or will there be any silver linings to this?  Is anything more coherent?  Long term benefits?

Gail Marshall – Very limited yes.  In having to sit down and articulate everything we do some interesting questions came up.  How we choose people to show up and vote at centralized meetings.  We have developed patterns and practices over the years that we might be able to do better.

Patrick Smallidge - Thank members of this board who have been here from the start.  Amount of work has been staggering.  Brian, Paul and Gail for using big dirty political stick. Looking forward to working with you in the next legislative session.

Paul Murphy - silver lining - big positive in this is that it formalizes a relationship with Trenton.  They have been a close partner for a number of years and this draws that relationship closer. 

Brian Hubbell - Good for the future of our high school to have this relationship with Trenton.

Tammy Tripler – Swan’s had choice as an island to be exempt.  Good to be part of a whole instead of separate.  All discussions have been good. 

Dick Atlee – If the opponents get the repeal passed, is it safe to say you would still try to continue with this process?

Gail Marshall - We can only do what law allows us to.  If repeal goes through then the original structures, the Unions, SADs, etc. would rise from the ashes and that would be the governing law that would define what school systems can and can’t be.  This would all be for naught.

Dick Atlee – Is there anything about this that’s inconsistent with the concept of the Union where you have Trenton involved now, to formalize what you have been doing right now anyway.  Is there anything that would evaporate?

Gail Marshall – We would be back at square one.  The inter-local agreement wouldn't be recognized.

Bob Garland - It is useful to point out that a lot of systems are going through this.  Everyone is struggling.  Hope the department of education, legislature, or somebody comes through and realizes what all these entities have done.

Paul Murphy – Union 98 would survive and so would Union 92.  Would Trenton then want to leave Union 92 and come to Union 98?  We haven't even wrestled with that.

George Peckham - If this plan is accepted by the commissioner, and if the private and special act prevails, have you considered that there should be some amendments to the special act?

Gail Marshall - It would not be the job of the RPC.  The legislation, the private and special act, continues in perpetuity until the legislature changes it.  This document and this plan don’t speak at all as to whether it should or could be changed.  Towns that are part of that would have to come together and make changes.  The RPC is going to be out of business.  This is all we were authorized to do.

Paul Murphy - The funding formula is not the business of this committee.

Gail Marshall - The inter-local agreement - there has been ongoing work with Dick Spencer on this as late as yesterday. 

Paul Murphy - MOVE to approve an inter-local agreement for the creation of the Mount Desert Island Regional School System as an Alternative Organizational Structure pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. Chapter 115. Bob Garland seconded.  Mr. Murphy added to his motion, “approve and in so doing, forward it to the respective school boards for their approval.”  

Brian Hubbell – The inter-local agreement is something that will be entered into between respective school boards.  The RPC sets the agreement as is and sends to school boards to adopt.

Rob Liebow showed the inter-local agreement with changes that were made. 

Gail Marshall - Right now the superintendent, by law, is the secretary of each school board and is by law required to attend each school board meeting in person to serve as the secretary.  We added a section to ask permission to allow school committees to designate someone else with administrative certification to serve as superintendent from time to time to attend school board meetings.  Otherwise it may be impossible for him to get to all the meetings.

Brian Hubbell - Interesting legislative history to that.  Explicitly in the Damon amendment.  Thought it was going to be within the law that replaced the Damon amendment, but it fell between the cracks.  Hoping to accomplish the same thing by including it in the plan. 

Gail Marshall called the motion.  Inter-local agreement unanimously approved.

MOVED by Patrick Smallidge, seconded by Bob Garland and unanimously voted to approve the reorganization plan as presented.

Date and Time of Next Meeting - RPC will continue to exist until the four towns on this island approve the plan at the ballot box, or June 30, 2009, which is the day before the new law takes effect.  It is this board that will send the documents to the commissioner.  This board may want to have role in communicating this to the public.  We're going to be taking this presentation on the road.  May want to do a presentation to have everybody in the whole system to come and then be available to each constituent town.  Significant responsibility of individual school committees, but RPC may want to be involved.  Take a couple of weeks off now and then meet as needed.

Scott McFarland - Are you allowed to make endorsements for the referendum? 

Gail Marshall - Not on the ballot itself, like saying “MDES school board recommends passage.”  No.

Paul Murphy - Not a place on the ballot.

Patrick Smallidge - The way that's presented in the inter-local agreement it goes to each individual town.  Where this is a multi-town committee, it wouldn't have a place at the ballot box.  Would definitely be the province of the individual town school board and the warrant committee.

Judy Sproule - When we bring this to the individual school boards do we also need a vote on the Notice of Intent?

Rob Liebow - Yes, you will need to vote on the Letter of Intent, the reorganization plan and the inter-local agreement.

Gail Marshall - Our letter of intent is only changing to include Trenton.

MOVED by Paul Murphy, seconded by Tammy Tripler and unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting at   8:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Selena Dunbar

Recording Secretary