4/26/2010 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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Mashpee Public Schools Mashpee, Massachusetts TO: Don Myers, Chair Board of Selectmen FROM: Richard Bailey, Mashpee School Committee Chair DATE: April 21, 2010 Proposed Town and School Committee Commitments for the FYI 1 Budget The school committee and the board of selectmen have a mutual interest in maintaining quality schools in the context of the entire town of Mashpee. To this end, I propose the following commitments for the schools and the town. If the town can commit to two items, the schools will be able to reduce the number of positions to be eliminated for FY 2011 from 18 to 10. The petition article will be removed. 1. School committee commitment: Upon written agreement with the town, the petition article seeking $450,000 in stabilization funds for the schools will be withdrawn. 2. Town commitment: The town will be responsible for all reductions to Chapter 70 funds for FY 11. As of today,the reduction is expected to be $180,000. 3. School committee commitment: The school committee will reduce the out of district tuition account for FY 11 by $250,000, bringing it from $1,427,872 to $1,177,872. We will increase salary line items by $250,000. Combined with the "restored" Chapter 70 funding of approximately $180.000, the school committee will have $430,000 to "buy back" approximately 8 positions, thus reducing the number of positions eliminated for FY 11 from 18 to 10. 4. School committee commitment: Before using the appropriation budget for out of district tuition, the school committee will expend $219,721 in ARRA and Circuit Breaker funds. When those revenue sources have been depleted, the school committee will begin to use the operating budget account for out of distraction tuition, $1,177,872. This provides a total of$1,397,593 available for out of district tuition for FY 11. 5. School committee commitment: If out of district tuition costs exceed $1,397,593, the school committee will cover costs up to an additional $60,000, for a total of$1,457,593. Out of district tuition costs are carefully documented and readily auditable. If the budget expenses approach the limits we have set, we invite the town to audit the total account to verify to its satisfaction that all expenses are legitimate (within limits of confidentiality).