WEBSTER CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT Webster, NY Board of Education Virtual Regular Business and Workshop Meeting Tuesday, March 15, 2022 The meeting was held virtually via Zoom Video Conference
Members present:
T. Gurowski, J. Richardson, M. Alt-joined at 5:39 p.m., J. Birdsong-Ng, L. Dioguardi, S. LaDelfa, M. Rigillo Administrators present: B. Neenan, B. Freeman, D. Swinson, E. Land, C. Armstrong Others present: CALL TO ORDER: President Gurowski called the Tuesday, March 15, 2022 Regular Business and Budget Workshop #2 meeting to order at 5:37 p.m. via Zoom Video Conference. M. Rigillo motioned, J. Richardson seconded to move into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation. Vote: 6: Yes; 0: No; 1: Absent: M. Alt. Executive Session Attendees: Board Members, M. Alt joined at 5:39 p.m., B. Neenan, D. Swinson President Gurowski called the Regular Business meeting to order at 6:09 p.m. There was a quorum. L. Dioguardi motioned, J. Richardson seconded to move out of Executive Session and into open session. Vote: 7: Yes; 0: No. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING 2nd Reading of 2022-2023 School Calendar Superintendent Neenan highlighted key dates on the 2022-23 calendar. M. Rigillo motioned, J. Richardson seconded to accept the second reading of the 2022-2023 school calendar. Vote: 7: Yes; 0: No. Resolution to Approve the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction's Employment Agreement President Gurowski read the resolution for Erin Land’s employment agreement. Superintendent Neenan commented on Ms. Land’s amazing resume, and the way she cares about students and staff. Ms. Land was congratulated by board members and Superintendent Neenan. L. Dioguardi motioned, J. Richardson seconded to accept the resolution to approve the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction’s employment agreement. Vote: 7: Yes; 0: No. The Regular business meeting adjourned at 6:12 p.m. and the board immediately moved into their budget workshop session #2. BUDGET WORKSHOP #2 Vice President Richardson welcomed everyone to the second budget workshop for the 2022-23 school year. The board prides itself on developing strong goals and presenting a balanced budget to the community. Goals help the district measure its success. The goals and community input from the Thought Exchange will help guide the budget process and prioritize needs. The focus this evening centers around the classroom and areas of education directly related to student learning and extracurricular activities. The board is dedicated to the educational and social emotional well-being of our students and staff.
Assistant Superintendent Freeman reviewed the agenda for the instructional budget components. Curriculum Budget One new position will be added, a director of family engagement and inclusivity. BOCES costs are up this year and we are expecting increased participation this year. There is a proposed increase to the curriculum budget of 0.30%. Instructional Budget Motivation and excitement at school correlates with academic success. Mr. Freeman gave an explanation regarding smaller class sizes for elementary students. Class sizes were reviewed by building, sections, number of rooms available (some are used for OT/PT), speech, and other supports. Targets for class sizes for grades K-2 is 20 or below and the target for grades 3-5 is 22 or below. Kindergarten registration is the “wild card” at this point. Projections will be updated that may impact the total FTE, while working within our space availability. Supports are planned for specials such as art, music, library and PE, mental health, RTI Reading/ELA and math. Early intervention services and supports are planned across all levels. Details were shared on what the budget addresses at the elementary and secondary levels, along with building budgets. The overall proposed instructional budget is up 4.8%. Special Education Budget Changes to the proposed budget include 3.0 FTE for program continuum K-12, and 2 FTE for OWL secondary level expansion, while BOCES and private placements remain flat. Comments from the budget community ThoughtExchange were shared. Overall, there is a 3.57% special education budget increase. Technology Budget Mr. Freeman reviewed the three-year technology lease cycle. The proposed budget includes a commitment to the lease program through BOCES, network costs/upgrades, and fiber network upgrades that increase the budget. State aid equipment and software lines are unchanged. Comments from the ThoughtExchange include technology upgrades to prepare students for the future and to have all the tools necessary to succeed academically. The proposed increase to the technology budget is 2.35%. Library Budget There are minor changes to the library budget due to an enrollment decrease, upon which state funding is based. Comments from the community ThoughtExchange include: provide more funding to the arts, music, band, library, creativity; the freedom to be expressive which gives students confidence; the importance of updating the library collection with current and diverse authors. The proposed increase to the library budget is 3.9%. Pupil Services Budget There will be additional slots for occupational education for high school students. Four (4.0) FTE nurses will be added to better align Webster CSD with staffing in other districts, partially funded through COVID-19 federal stimulus funds. Overall there is a 2.78% increase in the pupil services budget. Athletics/Co-Curricular Budget The budget includes physical education support at the program level and all club and advisor positions. Prices have increased on contracts with facilities outside of our control for events, supply chain price increases and uniform increases where there is a three year cycle of replacement. There is a proposed increase of 5.75% for the athletics/co-curricular budget. Community Education Budget The budget includes higher salary increases. This is due to the fact that the returning rate for seasonal staff will increase, there will be special rates for large events, and the district will reinvigorate the offered programs, in addition to aquatics. Facility upgrades will include lighting, a new scoreboard, sound system, and HVAC improvements. There is a proposed community education budget increase of 14.90%. Mr. Freeman reviewed the instructional budget breakdown and respective percentages.
The proposed total for budget workshop #1 was adjusted to $89,685,563. The budget workshop #2 total is $106,128,094, and the combined total is $195,813,457, a 3.7% increase over 2021-2022. Next steps were reviewed and all budget documents can be found on our website: www.websterschools.org/budget. Key dates: April 5 is budget workshop #3; April 12 is budget adoption; May 1 budget materials are published; May 3 is the budget hearing; May 17 is the annual vote, and July 1 begins the 2022-2023 fiscal year. ADJOURNMENT J. Richardson motioned, M. Alt seconded to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Vote: 7: Yes; 0: No. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Cushman Cynthia Cushman, District Clerk
All documents that are duly made a part of these minutes are kept in a supplemental file that corresponds to the date of this meeting.