Final
2005 Pentucket Regional Agreement (RA) Task Force
Merrimac Public Library – Special Collections Room
86 W. Main Street
August 10, 2005 @ 7:00 PM (Meeting #4)
Present from Merrimac: Bonnie Collins, Robert Sinibaldi, Sandy Venner (at large).
Present from Groveland: Bette Gorski (co-alternate), Barbara Sheehan (co-alternate), Andrew Wildes (at large). Absent: Selectman William Darke
Present from West Newbury: Mary Harada (at large), Selectman Glenn Kemper & Ann L. O’Sullivan (alternate).
Present from School Committee: Thomas Atwood, Chairman & Maureen Moran (alternate).
Others: Anne Jim, Rob O’Keefe, and Nick Tarzia.
Bonnie Collins called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM.
Member Introductions & Voting Members
Ms. Collins asked present members to introduce themselves and identify who’s alternate, selectman or member at large. From Groveland: Barbara Sheehan and Bette Gorski are co-alternates and Andrew Wildes member at large. From Merrimac: Sandy Venner as member at large, Bonnie Collins as selectman and Robert Sinibaldi as selectman. From West Newbury: Glenn Kemper as selectman, Ann L. O’Sullivan as alternate and Mary Harada as member at large.
Ms. Collins then proceeded to ask if all three representatives from each town should be voting members. Ms. Sullivan said that there should be 7 votes: 2 votes from each town plus the school committee liaison member. Mr. Kemper added that the alternate votes when a voting member is absent.
Ms. Collins was looking for someone to act as a chairperson, an individual to set the agenda and ensure that meeting minutes are distributed. Ms. Venner indicated that in past RA task forces, usually the school committee member would chair the meetings, although one task force did have a member at large serve as chairman. She suggested that an outside person should serve as a facilitator whose duty is to make sure that the meetings are run smoothly, but doesn’t participate in the discussions.
Ms. O’Sullivan suggested that since Merrimac currently has not decided on the voting member for their community, maybe one selectman could act as chairperson / alternate on this task force and the other as a voting member.
Ms. Sheehan supported Ms. Venner’s idea of naming a facilitator outside the Task Force. Ms. Venner explained the importance of the facilitator to understand the issues and to know what’s pertinent for discussions. KC Swallow of West Newbury was mentioned as a viable candidate for this position. Must be someone who can remain neutral. Ms. O’Sullivan volunteered to call Ms. Swallow.
Ms. Collins spoke about a small group of people who were trained to be facilitators through the schools. Wendy McGrath and Ruth Wight were mentioned as possible candidates and will be asked if they want to serve as facilitators.
RA Meeting Schedules and Location of Meetings
Ms. O’Sullivan questioned whether these RA meetings should continue to be rotated between the three towns or held at a fixed location such as the school. Ms. Sheehan stated that one location would be best, making it easier for the public. Mr. Atwood said that once school is in session, the Middle School Conference Room could be used.
The duration of these meetings was discussed not to make them lengthy and meeting every other Wednesday at 7PM was agreeable to all.
Ms. Sheehan wanted to confirm if names of possible facilitators should be brought up at the next meeting. Mr. Kemper suggested first voting for a chairman to take care of the responsibilities of the meetings, before selecting the facilitator who can then oversee and direct the meetings. Maybe each community could bring in names and the Task Force could debate it.
Minute Taker and Distribution of Minutes
Ms. O’Sullivan had reservations about rotating selectmen’s secretaries to take minutes - an added duty for her secretary for which she’s not compensated for. Maureen Moran volunteered to be the Task Force secretary, agreeing to record and type up the minutes for all future meetings of this Task Force.
Once the minutes were drafted, Ms. Moran should e-mail them to the members for review. Mr. Atwood described the School Committee’s process of minutes reviewing and correcting: members are e-mailed the draft minutes and each has an opportunity to reply with changes and at the following meeting, the changes are recited and voted upon.
Mr. Sinibaldi wanted verification that West Newbury and Groveland have confirmed on their voting members and Merrimac has not. Apparently, Mr. Sinibaldi believed he was the voting member and Ms. Collins the alternate and vice versa. The Merrimac Board of Selectmen will meet and to clarify this.
Anne Jim, Secretary to the Merrimac Board of Selectmen shall provide the approved minutes of June 22, 2005, and Kristine Pyle, Administrative Assistant to the West Newbury Board of Selectmen shall supply the approved minutes of July 13, 2005. Nancy Lewandowski, Administrative Assistant to the Groveland Board of Selectmen provided the draft minutes of July 13, 2005 for this evening’s meeting.
Minutes Corrections For July 27, 2005
Ms. Sheehan mentioned that she didn’t second the approval of the meeting minutes, since she was absent from that meeting. Ms. Gorski seconded the approval of July 13, 2005 meeting minutes.
Mr. Sinibaldi requested a correction to the spelling of his last name.
Ms. Gorski congratulated Mr. Kemper on becoming the new selectman for West Newbury and welcomed him on board. Mr. Kemper thanked her.
Ms. Collins interrupted the session saying that they first take care of agenda items prior to making further amendments to the meeting minutes.
Posting of Meeting Minutes
Ms. Collins asked if the RA minutes should be posted on the website. Mr. Wildes said that minutes can be posted on Groveland’s website and that Merrimac and West Newbury could link up to it.
Minutes Corrections For July 27, 2005
Mr. Wildes offered a correction on page 1, the vote was taken on July 27th to accept the minutes of July 13th.
Review of Questionnaire
At a previous Task Force meeting Rep. Harriett Stanley mentioned that Triton’s Administration, her office and other individuals had gathered to assist Triton’s Task Force in reviewing their Regional Agreement. That document was forwarded to Ms. Collins by Rep. Stanley. The purpose of the data collection was to assist Triton in making changes to their Regional Agreement.
For our Task Force purposes, Ms. Collins removed items pertaining to legal implications, since those items did not apply to Pentucket. This evening, Ms. Collins wished to review which points should be included for the Pentucket’s data collection before forwarding a list to the appropriate people for answers.
Questions For the Pentucket Administration & DOE
Question 1. Who figures the Chapter 70 funding formula for the Pentucket Regional District? (Pentucket Administration) Task Force decided to REMOVE this question - amounts are determined and provided by the state.
Question 2. Please provide the CH 70 calculations for the district and each individual community for the past five (5) years. (Pentucket Administration & DOE) Task Force decided to INCLUDE this question. Also added was, Please include the source and dates of data used.
Ms. Venner said that this is “critical” for the two-step method of calculation. Ms. O’Sullivan said that Salisbury’s (Triton District) contention was “they attract an awful lot of state aid above and beyond of what the formula would provide, so they should get credit for that extra state aid.” Ms. Venner explained much of the aid that Salisbury receives is due to the formula and other special circumstances of that community. Mr. Atwood said that the Department of Education (DOE) does not provide the lump sum breakdown for each community. According to Ms. Collins, DOE provided the information from 1999 to 2001, and since then viewed the district as a whole. Whether they would provide the breakdown upon request remains unclear.
Mr. Sinibaldi firmly believes that Merrimac brings in a disproportionate amount of state aid to Pentucket District, but Ms. O’Sullivan wants for voters’ sake, evidence proving this.
Mr. Wildes mentioned that Tony Castiglione, former School Committee Chairman, once provided figures at a School Committee meeting (FY2005 budget), showing what assessments were when employing the two-step method of calculations. Mr. O’Keefe will speak to Mr. Castiglione.
Ms. Venner said that if one community is in fact bringing in more state aid, we want to be able to show it.
Mr. Atwood read off FY05 operating assessments under the two-step method compiled by Gordon Gibson, Former PRSD Business Manager:
Town Actual Assessment Two-Step Method~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ Difference
Groveland~~~~~~~~~~ $4,539,787 $4,729,570 $189,883
Merrimac~~~~~~~~~~~~ $4,568,611~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ $4,138,084 ($430,527)
West Newbury $3,257,117 ~~~~~~~~~~~$3,497,737 $240,620
Ms. Moran would like to see how CH 70 is calculated in comparison to the two-step.
Question 3. Is there a way to determine whether or not that a CH 70 calculation error has been made? (Pentucket Administration & DOE) Task Force decided to REMOVE this question.
Mr. Sinibaldi felt that looking for past error calculations was “a waste of time”. Task Force should concentrate having the correct calculations going forward.
Question 4. What were the minimum local contributions required of each Pentucket community over the last five years? (Pentucket Administration) Task Force decided to INCLUDE this question.
Mr. Wildes wondered if this even applied to the two-step method. Ms. Venner would like to seek the minimum foundation for the district over the last five years. Mr. Atwood expressed that the terminologies foundation amount and minimum local contribution have the same meaning.
Question 5. What were the local contributions actually paid by each Pentucket communities over the last five (5) years? (Pentucket Administration)
Mr. O’Keefe recommended using the terminology local contribution instead of assessment.
Question 6. What would be the local contributions by community have been if they had been calculated per two-step method over the last five (5) years? (Pentucket Administration)
Ms. Collins asked to expand the question to include the calculation. Ms. Venner added, “What are the sources of the dates of the data that are used.” Ms. Collins believed that this should also be posed for the CH70 and two-step method.
Question 7. Location of Schools in the Regional Agreement refers to “magnet classes.” Please define a magnet class. Mr. Sinibaldi and Ms. Venner added, Are there any magnet classes in the Pentucket Regional School District? (Pentucket Administration)
Policy and Regulation Oriented Question
Question 1. Have all changes to the original Regional Agreement been approved by the DOE? If so, please include signed approvals. (Pentucket Administration)
Amendments were made in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2004. Ms. Collins would like to obtain DOE approved documentation for communities’ files.
Ms. Collins would like the administration to define “magnet class.” Mr. Wildes offered his understanding that a magnet class pulls students from specialized areas from different communities into one location. Ms. Venner would like to add, “Are there any current magnet classes?” Mr. Sinibaldi and Ms. Venner would like to know the location of them. Mr. Kemper wondered if the question should be stricken at this point. Ms. Collins said that if there is no definition or did not apply, then it can struck from the Regional Agreement. Mr. Sinibaldi felt the terminology should be removed if no one can offer a definition.
Ms. Collins asked the members if there were anything else to be included to this list of questions. List must then go out to the Central Office for answers. Ms. Sheehan believed that the communities’ finance directors should be able to tackle some of the questions. Mr. Kemper wondered how responsive the Central Office would be and how soon answers can be obtained. Maybe they should be asked as a last resort if finance directors cannot answer them.
(Copies of the Cherry Sheet could not be made – copier at the library out of order.)
Mr. Kemper would like to gather as much information as possible and then approach Steven Greenberg, Business Manager. Ms. Collins stressed the importance of collecting the right information from the same source.
Mr. Sinibaldi excused himself at 8:07 PM for his appointment with the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Mr. Wildes read a letter from Groveland’s finance director explaining that he does not have access to all information. Ms. Collins volunteered to research information if the Task Force would agree to it. It was suggested that she also seek assistance from the offices of Senators Bruce Tarr and Steven Baddour and Rep. Harriett Stanley.
Ms. Moran said that the state’s data is very outdated. Ms. Collins would seek assistance in the calculation of the two-step method from Sen. Baddour’s office. Mr. Atwood suggested that she also speak to Pentucket’s Interim Superintendent, Bill Compton, and Ms. Collins is also willing to work with Steve Greenberg. Triton managed to complete their data collection within two weeks.
Mr. Wildes announced that there would be a joint Finance Committee meeting on September 12 for Groveland, Merrimac and West Newbury, including finance directors and Business Manager, Steven Greenberg. Ms. Moran reminded members that Mr. Greenberg relies on budget information provided by the School Committee. Mr. Atwood said the budget process should commence early in order to meet the deadline for town meetings.
Ms. Collins reiterated that she would seek guidance from Dr. Compton and Mr. Kemper will seek as much information as possible from Tracy Blais, West Newbury Finance Director. Ms. Collins wanted to know if the RA items identified at a previous meeting should be prioritized.
Ms. Moran suggested that each member could prioritize the RA items and e-mail them to Ms. Collins, so that the list is available at the next meeting. It was agreed to put things in logical order, tackling “easier things first”.
Mr. Wildes referred to question #2 of the data collection list and wondered why that question was necessary. Ms. O’Sullivan explained that there’s a perception that Merrimac is attracting a disproportionate amount of state aid. Ms. Harada said that the perception needed to be dealt with, which may or may not be true. Mr. Kemper said that all perceptions must be cleared before moving forward.
(Due to the room being very cool, Ms. Venner offered to move the meeting into the adjacent periodicals room. No action taken.)
Members agreed to the following for the meeting of 8/24/05 @ 7 PM, West Newbury Town Offices, 381 Main Street:
o Minutes of the first three meetings would be distributed by the end of this week;
o RA points should be prioritized and ranked in order of importance;
o Bring names of facilitators;
o Merrimac must announce their voting and alternate members for the Task Force;
o Chairperson would be selected;
o Vote for a Task Force Facilitator.
Ms. O’Sullivan reiterated that two selectmen from one community cannot be voting members. Merrimac must return at the next meeting with a selectman voting member and an alternate. It was clear that Ms.Venner was Merrimac’s member at large.
MOTION
Sandy Venner motioned, Glenn Kemper seconded, and voted unanimously to select a facilitator outside of the Task Force to run the meetings and a separate individual within the Task Force shall serve as coordinator to ensure that all tasks are followed through.
Mr. Kemper said that any member could add to the agenda and Ms. Venner recommended setting a time limit for each agenda item. Mr. Kemper disagreed citing that as a duty of the facilitator.
Ms. Collins volunteered to do the agenda for the next meeting. Mr. Wildes inquired about the Task Force’s timetable. Ms. Collins said that the agreement was to have a progress report in the Fall with concrete details by the end of December. (The RA copy dated 10/03/99 has revisions from 1997 through 1999. Changes voted in 2004 not yet included.)
Meeting adjourned at 8:43 PM
Respectfully Submitted,
Anne O. Jim
Secretary to the
Merrimac Board of Selectmen
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