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HomeMy WebLinkAbout041717ssmJOINT MEETING HARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS HARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION Minutes of Special Meeting April 17, 2017 The Harnett County Board of Commissioners met jointly with the Harnett County Board of Education in special session on Monday, April 17, 2017, in the Board Room of the Lillington Education Center, Lillington, North Carolina. Members present: Staff present: Board of Education Members present: Staff present: Gordon Springle, Chairman Joe Miller, Vice Chairman Barbara McKoy, Commissioner Howard Penny, Commissioner Abe Elmore, Commissioner Joseph Jeffries, County Manager Paula Stewart, Deputy County Manager Dwight Snow, County Attorney Kimberly Honeycutt, Finance Officer Margaret Regina Wheeler, Clerk Brian Haney, Director of Community Relations Bill Morris, Chairman Eddie Jaggers Vice -Chairman Vivian Bennett, Board Member Roger Farina, Board Member Jason Lemons, Board Member Aaron Fleming, Interim Superintendent Brookie Ferguson, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Nancy Holmes, Assistant Superintendent Vera Jones, Assistant Superintendent Brooks Matthews, Assistant Superintendent Monica Thompson, Assistant Superintendent Charles Bullock, School Board Attorney Tammy Magill, Finance Officer Terry Byrd, Clerk Patricia Harmon -Lewis, Director of Public Relation Chairman Morris reconvened the Board of Education. Chairman Springle called the meeting of the Harnett County Board of Commissioners to order. Commissioner Penny led the invocation and Vice -Chairman Miller led the Pledge of Allegiance. The Board of Education amended their meeting agenda. April 17, 2017 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 1 of 3 Thomas Dudley and Mathew Palmer from the Operations Research and Education Laboratory (OREd) provided a presentation covering the Harnett County Land Use Study, membership forecast and school out -of -capacity tables. They presented a data -focused membership and utilization forecast study for Harnett County Schools by using membership forecasts, GIS analysis/land use studies, out -of -capacity analysis, school site optimization, and attendance zone optimization. The next steps for OREd and Harnett County Schools are: • continue to monitor changes in residential growth and student generation rates in the district, and • continue to monitor current and potential charter school impact in„ and in proximity to, the district, and • explore potential school site and attendance boundary optimization scenarios. Superintendent Fleming presented the following proposed 2017-2018 Draft Budget for Harnett County Schools: 2017-18 Current Expense Additional Request $4,398,454 Total 2017-2018 Current Expense Request $27,073,792 Total 2017-18 Capital Request $5,626,917 Total 2017-18 Current & Capital $32,700,709 New Current & Capital $10,025,371 The 2017-18 Current Expense Additional Request totaling $4,398,454 included: - SS & Retirement for $1,055,200 for original $1000 teacher supplement $263,589 - $1000 Supplement increase for certified staff not included 2016-17 appropriation $527,580 - $500 additional supplement increase for certified staff including benefits $791,390 - $500 supplement for classified staff including benefits $316,220 - Early College Start Up $581,617 - 28 Teachers to reduce class room size (Pending K-3 Legislative change) $167,0816 - 1 Dual Immersion — HPS (based on 2016-17 avg. with benefits per DPI) $59,672 - Pending state approved salary increase — 4% $187,570 Mr. Fleming and staff responded to several questions by commissioners regarding these additional requests. The group discussed teacher's supplements. Chairman Springle said when they first talked about this program they wanted to reward classroom teachers who were staying with us. He said the agreement was to pay $1,000 to every classroom teacher who was here September 1, 2015, they had to be here the whole school year, and teachers who were not here the previous September were not eligible for it. Chairman Springle stressed that the Board of Education's supplement is different; this $1000 is not part of their supplement plan. Commissioners said they have a certain amount of money that they are going to spend on this program. Commissioners reiterated the $1000 is in addition to April 17, 2017 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 2 of 3 the school' supplement plan and will be paid separately in November. Superintendent Fleming said they do not have the Finance staff to manage all of this. Chairman Springle asked that we come up with a way in which we all agree this is going to be handled from now on. He said we need to agree on the definition that we are going to use for classroom teacher or certified teacher and how to show measured improvement from one year to the next. Chairman Morris said staff would e-mail a definition of a classroom teacher and how many there are before the close of business the following day. Commissioners will discuss this information at their next meeting. Chairman Springle said, regarding the additional $500, we are looking for a definitive way of measuring improvement. Superintendent Fleming responded his recommendation would be district improvement because some teachers may be in a school that is low performing but they themselves are a high performing teacher or vice versa, a low performing teacher in a high performing school. Chairman Springle asked that they not get it to where it is going to be easy or an automatic thing. The group discussed the Board of Education's request of $263,589 for social security & retirement for $1,055,200 for original $1000 teacher's supplement. Commissioners stated it was not their intent to pay social security and retirement benefits on the $1000 supplement. Chairman Morris discussed a draft packet distributed that provided the Board of Education's outstanding project debt service of about $15,000,000 of capital needs and various things. He said they had broken it down into what they feel are their immediate needs. Commissioners said that the capital improvement plan was exactly what they needed so that the County's Finance Officer could start putting money aside so when things do happen we will have it. Superintendent Fleming mentioned school buses as an immediate need. He also noted they had gotten a quote on the Overhills High School dining expansion for just over $503,000. Chairman Springle said there is a possibility the Overhills cafeteria expansion could be done with the money we are getting for the Benhaven School project. Chairman Springle recessed the meeting of the Harnett County Board of Commissioners. They will reconvene for their regular meeting :,�.!!� in the County Administration Building. t Regina W1*eler, Clerk April 17, 2017 Special Session Minutes Harnett County Board of Commissioners Page 3 of 3