What if a school district decided to spend $17 million and nobody cared?

At its only meeting in June, on the 24th, the Blue Ridge School Board formally adopted a spending plan for the fiscal year that will begin on July 1. The new budget anticipates spending $16,995,707, and increasing property tax rates by the maximum allowed by the state, 1.1 mills or 2.4%, to 46.99 mills. Enrollment at Blue Ridge is expected to fall marginally, yet expenditure per student will rise by almost $1,500, to $15,914. Total expenses will be higher by almost $1.3 million, or 8%.

No one but administrators and Board members was present for the unanimous vote.

The Board also approved the Homestead/Farmstead Exclusion for the year at $7,930,88 under section 342 of Act 1 of 2006. The exclusion offers property tax reductions for eligible property owners who make application through the school district.

The Board’s evening began with a gathering of the Facilities & Grounds Committee to hear a report by Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Price, who said that the summer season has begun smoothly. He presented 3 options for paving projects; the committee offered, and the Board accepted, a bid by Pro Seal Paving & Asphalt of Binghamton to apply seal coating to most of the parking lots for a total of $17,250.

The committee also considered the replacement of the stairway from the student parking lot to the track. Mr. Price is trying to find a way to get the job done for under $18,000 to avoid a formal bidding process, but the engineering alone could cost $6,000. Mr. Price will also look into purchasing pre-cast stairs that could avoid the engineering costs.

He also reported that an inspection of the elevators revealed deterioration of the “pit support channels for the hydraulic cylinder” in one of the elevator shafts. That elevator has been locked out until repairs can be made. Otis, the company charged with maintaining the elevators, quoted a price of $5,535 to do the work. In the meantime Mr. Price will acquire some recommended paint and add the channels to his maintenance schedule to keep this from happening again.

Once the business meeting got under way, Board President Laurie Brown-Bonner immediately called an executive session, for a personnel matter. When members returned they took up a motion to pass the 18-item agenda as a block. Ms. Brown-Bonner was the only vote against the motion, and on that hung a prolonged discussion of the new handbooks.

Ms. Brown-Bonner questioned several parts of the handbooks in detail, requesting clarification and more consistency. Administrators, including Assistant Principal Joe Conigliaro, had worked over the handbooks, but even Mr. Conigliaro conceded that some parts were left somewhat “vague” awaiting completion of a thorough review of the Board’s own policy manual currently under way. In the end, most Board members were willing to allow administrators more discretion in handling the kinds of disciplinary and scheduling details that Ms. Brown-Bonner wanted more clearly defined.

In other measures, the Board eliminated the position of “Attendance Officer Coordinator” without comment. And they approved (unspecified) salary and rate schedules for classified employees and non-instructional substitutes for the coming year.

The Board approved an agreement with Donna Brink for occupational therapy services at a rate of $75 per hour on an as-needed basis and at the direction of the district’s director of special education. Similarly, Elizabeth Richmond Rudolfi will provide speech and language services for this summer’s “extended school year” in the special education program.

The Board accepted the request of Dustin Ralston for financial assistance for a trip to the South Pacific as part of the People-to-People Student Ambassador Program. Mr. Ralston’s request is the last among the 5 or 6 such requests for the school year just ended; he will share in a pool of money set aside by the Board for such purposes.

The Board accepted a bid from Kurtz Brothers of Clearfield, PA for general supplies for next year for a total of about $26,000 for all 3 schools. DiRienzo Brothers of Binghamton, and Bimbo Bakeries, headquartered in Pittsburg, will supply bread products next year. Hartt Dairy of Susquehanna will continue its long relationship with Blue Ridge supplying dairy products to the cafeteria. And bids for custodial supplies from a number of vendors for the wide variety of products were accepted on the recommendation of Mr. Price, for a total of about $16,000.

A 19th item was added to the agenda at the end, to hire Bradley Sherman as a summer substitute in the Maintenance Department, on the recommendation of the Facilities & Grounds Committee. Mr. Price reported to the committee that of several students who were offered summer positions, only Mr. Sherman seemed to be interested.

Being the only meeting for the month, the Board adjourned the business meeting to a workshop, hearing from the various committee chairs. Mr. Empett, for Facilities & Grounds, reported better morale among the maintenance staff, largely due to cross-training that allows greater flexibility as well as a more varied work experience.

Christina Cosmello, chair of the Activities Committee, reported several openings for coaches, including a recent resignation that opens up a position for an assistant varsity soccer coach.

Ms. Brown-Bonner, who also chairs the Budget, Finance and Transportation Committee, asked for the status of an investigation into equipping the buses with cameras. New legislation in Harrisburg would allow audio recording as well, so she wanted to be sure that the $17,000 in next year’s budget for cameras will be enough to cover audio-capable recorders. Someone else suggested possibly enlisting the help of responsible older students to monitor the buses, so Superintendent Robert McTiernan agreed to begin a study of the proposal, including a selection process.

Christina Whitney, chair of the Curriculum & Career Development Committee, in collaboration with High School Principal Matthew Nebzydoski, is looking at software that will offer students a virtual interview environment, to help prepare for a job search.

Mr. McTiernan and Technology Coordinator Mike Stewart have given a phone system upgrade top priority when funds are available. Mr. Stewart said that the existing fiber network in the buildings needs an upgrade as well, a project that could cost upwards of $170,000.

The Fundraising Committee didn’t have anything to report, but Mr. Nebzydoski and Mr. McTiernan thanked everyone for a successful and gratifying graduation just past. Ms. Brown-Bonner was especially pleased with the awards ceremony at which the Committee presented scholarships totaling $5,000, mostly as a result of April’s “first annual” golf tournament.

The Blue Ridge School Board is scheduled to meet only once in July, on the 15th. Meetings are held in the cafeteria in the Elementary School and generally begin at 7:30pm. Be there.

At the June 27th Special Meeting of the Montrose School Board, the final budget was approved in the amount of $23,884,696. Mr. Ognosky explained that this was the expenditures figure, and that it was probably $50,000 more than the previously approved tentative budget. The increase was due to the adjustment of a number of staff step placements (bachelors to master’s, etc.).

The next motion declared the board’s intention to commit funds to offset PSERS costs increases for the financial statement ending June 30th of that year, in accordance with GASB 54 regulation.

Another motion approved the utilization of $189,168 of the committed fund balance to address the increased pension costs in the final budget. This number, Mr. Ognosky explained, would likely be adjusted when the final budget passed in Harrisburg. Mr. Caterson noted that this would require the board to meet again.

Mr. Caterson then asserted that between the motion regarding the fund balance and the next motion to increase taxes, if the latter passed, the budgetary shortfall gap would be closed. The shortfall would have been $297,000 otherwise. Mr. Wimmer spoke of the fear that perhaps the savings would be used up at some point. Mr. Caterson replied that this was a real concern, and was why they had discussed addressing the shortfall through a mixture of methods.

The motion regarding taxes was then made: to set tax rates at 43.5 mills of assessed valuation on real estate, $5.00 per capita Act 679, $5.00 per capita Act 511, 75 mills of assessed valuation for occupation, and ?% for real estate transfer. The same motion set the real estate collection periods. This represented a half a mill increase in taxes, which represented about $108,842 in revenue. It was the first time in seven years that they had raised taxes. Mr. Caterson said that finances were becoming harder and harder. Twenty-four positions had been cut in recent years. The district had hit rock bottom, he said, if the government’s goal was to get the district to cut to the bone, they had done so. Salaries had only been increased about $50,000 in the new budget, which was good given the cost of salary increases alone. He said that they needed some help, and so were asking the taxpayers for a little money. Mr. Gow said that he wanted to thank all of the administrators, staff and everyone who had contributed to this budget. He said that had worked non-stop since January and had made a brutal attempt to keep the budget under control. He commended their dedication to the district.

Mr. Ognosky explained that only the real estate taxes had been raised half a mill; all of the other taxes stayed the same.

A motion was made to set the assessed value of Homestead Farmstead exclusion at $8,015 for a tax dollar value of $348.65.

The Dean of Students position was eliminated at the Junior-Senior High School. A motion was then made to create a 260 day Assistant Principal position at the school. This made the Dean of Students position more into an administrative position- one which supervised professional staff more than acted as a peer. Mr. Ognosky explained this, pointing out that the new position would also be able to evaluate educators under the state’s new educator evaluation requirements, whereas the Dean of Students would not have been able to do so. The former Dean of Students, Michael Boccella, was appointed to the new position.

Molly Nasser was hired as an English educator for the 2013 summer school program.

The 2013-2014 calendar revisions were proposed. They had planned to begin the year with 5 in-service days up front, beginning Wednesday August 21st and going through August 27th. It was being proposed, however, to take the first of those in-service days away and move it to January 31st, as a parent conference day. In order to preserve June 6th as the last scheduled day of school, then, it was proposed to eliminate Monday March 17th as a day off. These changes would provide for another parent conference day without disrupting either the first or last day for students.

Near the beginning of the June 24th Mountain View School Board meeting, recent graduate Veronica Robbins gave her last report as the district’s Student Government Liaison. In this capacity she provided a quick review of what the student clubs had been up to.

She noted that 9 students from the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science attended the state competition in State College. Of these, 4 placed first and 5 placed second. Kate Moore and Sam McWhir were recognized by the Science Talent Search and received certificates and letters of recommendation to a college of their choice.

The Scholastic Team had attended nationals in Chicago from June 6-11. They had won 3 games and lost 3 games. Benjamin Maitland won the “Who Wants to be a Game Show Host?” contest .

Sixty students were certified for infant, child, and adult CPR, AED training, and conscious and unconscious choking. There were 47 students who attended the senior class trip to Virginia Beach, a trip which reportedly went well. Keagan Ficarro participated in an Arts on Fire cast iron sculpting.

The A Cappella choir had sung at the Montrose Memorial Day service. Mr. Williams later noted that the VFW considered this event very favorably.

Mr. Williams pointed out that it was Ms. Robbins’ last meeting. He thanked her very much and led those present in a round of applause. Dr. Shea opined that she would be a hard act to follow.

The Dean of Students job description was put forward as a motion. It was clarified that although it would be approved that night, it was subject to discussion, “a living document”. There was a roll-call vote, in which two board members voted against the motion.

Mr. Barbolish was then appointed to the Dean of Students position. It was noted that the appointment might be for only one year, something which Mr. Stoddard suggested be included right in the motion. That time there was only one nay vote.

A motion was made to remove a custodian from employment. A visitor asked if anyone had checked with the solicitor to see if that motion, which named the man, was legal. It was responded that the solicitor had actually written the motion. Certain items were a matter of public record, it was noted.

Abigail Fitzpatrick had resigned from her position as girls’ volleyball coach.

The company working on the security system was planning to begin its work, Mr. Taylor reported. It was suggested that the process might take six weeks per building. A board member asked if there was any way this could be expedited, as 12 weeks from that time would run into September. It was clarified that the twelve weeks was not needed to hard wire, but to complete the entire project. After the wire was lain the work would be done in a room, not out where the students would be. Mr. Taylor also opined that he didn’t think the work would actually take twelve weeks.

The car and van contractor list was motioned and approved, though the bus contractor list was not acted on that night. Someone asked why the subs were not listed. Mr. Patchcoski responded that they were granting the contracts to the contractors, and not the subs. Mr. Stoddard suggested that there ought to be a companion motion to approve the subs as well. It was stated that it could be done at the next meeting.

Next the car and van contractor rate was approved, being set at $1.14 per mile for cars, $1.18 per mile for vans, and $1.78 per mile for handicapped vans, with a layover rate of $8.00 per mile.

The 2013-2014 budget was motioned and approved in the amount of $17,825,013.00 based on 35.8608 mills real estate tax, $5.00 per capita tax under 511, $5.00 per capita tax under section 679 of the Public School Code, Occupational Assessment Tax at 100 mills, 1% earned income tax under Act 511, and 1% real estate transfer tax. The millage rate was set at 35.8608 mills. Ms. Rhinehart-Cowan had asked for a roll-call vote, and voted against the budget motion, explaining that she was concerned regarding the deficit. She was the only dissenter.

Letters of resignation were accepted from Earl E. Cottrell, Sr. from his part-time custodial position, and Alexandra Konsur from her secondary English position. Alicia Washko and Leslie Gossage were appointed as Reading Specialists K-12. Ms. Sondra Stine was appointed as the school district treasurer.

Mr. Patchcoski wished the board to know that it was passed in the senate that audio recording be allowed in busses, and the motion was to go to the house. Starting the next year, the busses would be able to record the audio of the students on busses as well as the video, for disciplinary purposes.

Mr. Presley mentioned the boys’ soccer team, who were invited to be highlighted at the Montrose 4th of July parade.

Mrs. Voigt noted that it was the first day of the V-linc summer school. The school had held an orientation. There were about 18 students in the program. She said that they looked forward to a successful summer.

Also, Mrs. Voigt had attended a meeting at the IU regarding PIMS reporting. There was to be an increase in the amount of PIMS reporting, and no period for correction for errors. The data would then be linked to the school’s profile. Because of that the state had suggested that the intermediate unit lead a discussion and provide district support, explaining how the process should go and what expectations were. The data quality team would consist of the district superintendent, etc. She opined that Mountain View had been on the ball for many years in terms of data entry.

She had provided the board with PSSA summaries for the 11-12 school year, these results were reported in the papers twice a year. She had wanted to provide the board with a comparison regarding where the district was as opposed to the state average. The 7th and 11th grade scores were not good, but the 8th grade scores were very good. In some areas the district scored above the state average, and in others it scored below it. It was hoped that the Olweus and Reading Apprenticeship programs would help the scores. This was to be the last year for the 11th grade PSSA’s, she explained, in the future 7th and 8th grade would have the test but upperclassmen would look toward the Keystones.

She noted the 7th grade longitudinal scores and asked those present to look at the results year by year. She outlined how some of the scores were decreased from other recent years.

She continued on to explain that they were working hard to ensure that the students showed their best.

Mr. Presley spoke slightly about reading specialists and remediation, and putting remediation back into the secondary schedule. Mrs. Voigt pointed out that in years where there was EAP tutoring the 11th grade scores seemed to be higher. Also, a lot of the students who had participated in the 21st Century program had shown improvement. Mr. Slezinsky said that they had been working towards ensuring the continuation of directed study and resource periods for students with ieps, so that they could get the support they need.

Mr. Twining asked a question of Mr. Presley, to confirm that the following year some students went into a remediation course rather than into a directed study. It was confirmed that this was true. There would be certain days where the staff would provide remediation. It was stated that they needed to free up the resource period, this would free up the special education staff a little bit so they would be more free to help students.

There were 16 or 17 students enrolled in v-linc, and there was one going to a different school for Math instruction face to face. Mr. Presley said that he would like to discuss bringing back an in-school summer school to the building. V-linc was expensive, and there was no face to face time, at least in Math and English. Scranton ran one, and allowed out-of-district kids to participate too, though it was slightly more expensive. Mrs. Shea said that charging tuition would help offset a cost.

A visitor noted that it was $120 more to do v-linc than it was to go to Scranton and have a face to face instructor. Mrs. Rinehart-Cowan asked if summer school instructors had to be fully qualified. It was said that there was some difficulty in the past finding professional staff to run it.

Mr. Twining asked about students affected by a change in policy, to ensure that students having trouble in classes at Mountain View would have a chance to remedy it. If students failed one core course, or at least if they failed a course which would hold them from graduating with their peers, they would not be able to go to vo-tech without making the course up. It had previously been possible for a student to do well in vo-tech but not be on track to graduate at Mountain View. This would no longer be possible; if they were not on track to graduate they would be required to do summer school in order to go on to vo-tech.

At 9:00AM the Commissioners called the meeting to order and the prior meeting minutes were approved. The following financial items were approved: Jury Expenses on 6/12/13 $1,202.94; General Expenses on 6/13/13 for $293,413.00; 6/18/13 CYS Expenses of $86,798.55; Net Payroll on 6/19/13 of $165,844.87; Employee Retirement Contributions 6/19/13 of $14,979.35; $7,340.55 for State Withholding taxes on 6/19/13; $61,624.30 on 6/20/13 for Federal Payroll taxes; and 6/20/13 $95,761.66 for General Expenses. Additionally there were several seminar requests which were approved.

The Commissioners then voted to adopt Proclamation 2013-04 proclaiming August 22, 2013 as Center for Independent Living Day in the county in honor of their 25 years of service. Bids for insulation and siding work at 88 Chenango Street were opened and a decision on which of the three contractors will be selected will happen at the next meeting. Jones Kohanski CPA of Moosic, PA was awarded a contract to be the auditors of the County’s books for the next three years for a total of $106,500. The Commissioners then authorized a Service Agreement between Susquehanna County Services for Children & Youth and Adelphoi Village, Inc. of Williamsport for a Foster Care Certificate Unit ID AA for $70.35 per day and ID AB for $80.78 per day.

The Commissioners then had several personnel tasks including the resignation of two people and the reappointment of members to the Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development advisory Committee for the upcoming year. The final planned agenda items involved the property at 88 Chenango Street. The Commissioners approved and signed the Memorandum of Understanding between Susquehanna County Commissioners and the Board of Directors of the Susquehanna County Conservation District for the next three years regarding the occupancy of the above mentioned property. Additionally an agreement between the Susquehanna County Commissioners and Penn State Cooperative Extension was entered into for the next three years for the same location.

A resident of the County inquired about the Compressor station release that occurred on Father’s Day. He was concerned about what had happened and if an evaluation is being done. Commissioner Hall noted that an in depth evaluation is on going as to what specifically happened. There was also a question about the Leatherstocking Groundbreaking and if it was known what the price for the school, new hospital and Trehab to connect would be. As the contract is directly between Leatherstocking and the company the County has no information on pricing. It was additionally noted that this unknown cost is the responsibility of the company being hooked into the line and not something the County will be funding.

The County Commissioner’s meeting was closed at 9:17 a.m.