LAWRENCE PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
BOARD OF EDUCATION
WORK SESSION
MEETING
Tuesday, January 9,
2007 - 8:00 P.M.
Middle School
The Work Session of the Lawrence Union Free
School District Board of Education was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Asher Mansdorf,
President. Upon motion by Pamela Greenbaum and seconded by Uri Kaufman,
the Board immediately entered Executive Session for the purpose of litigation.
At 8:15 p.m. upon motion by Pamela Greenbaum and
seconded by Uri
Kauman, the Board left Executive
Session and immediately reconvened the Work Session.
Pledge Of Allegiance was led by Asher Mansdorf.
The following Board
members were present: Asher Mansdorf, President,
David Sussman,
Vice President, Murray
Forman, Pamela Greenbaum,
Michael Hatten,
Uri Kaufman, Stanley Kopilow.
Also present were: Dr. John
T. Fitzsimons, Superintendent, Dr. Vicki
Karant, Asst. Superintendent for Curriculum and
Instruction, Mrs. Elsie Friedman, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Dominick
Minerva, School Counsel, Mrs. Alice Laino, District Clerk.
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Dr. Fitzsimons discussed the Excel
Grant reiterating the fact that this Excel grant is a legislative grant. It
was not given by Senator Skelos. It was authorized by the entire legislature
to all districts with very clear directives.
The expenditure of any money from this grant, unless it is declared a
necessary and contingent expense, can only be done with voter approval. We have expended about half this money on
the high school ceiling and the middle school elevator under the contingent
budget. It is the administration’s
recommendation that the remainder of the money should be spent on a new
telephone system that is desperately needed.
John
Piccarella was asked to comment
on the phone system and the technology needs.
The cost of upgrading the technology program will be approximately
$5,250,000 over a three year period. The central data center infrastructure
is fundable with Excel grant money. It
would be a state of the art data center for the entire district. The current
phone system will not support the servers.
A technology program needs to be supported by the district in its
budget every year. A grant is not a good
method to fund a technology program.
Dr. Fitzsimons added that the
antiquated system in existence has been known to go down leaving the district
without phones. It is a health and
safety issue. It does not have the
capability of having caller ID or 911 service.
The Board members
discussed the needs for these things and whether the Superintendent was
declaring it an emergency because it is a health and safety issue? The Superintendent said that call is for
the Board of Education.
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Superintendent Report and Presentations
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John Piccarella was asked if the
technology department received $750,000, what would he need to maintain the
department in 2008? He answered, that
at least ½ to 1% of the budget should be spent on technology each year. The Board asked Mr. Piccarella
to submit to the board the scope of the work that needs to be done. He said he would have the information by
the January 23 meeting.
The Board discussed the
budget goals and assumptions and recommended changes and questioned some of
the assumptions and goals. They will
be updated and brought back for discussion.
Dr. Mansdorf
said he has asked Carolyn McCarthy, Dean Skelos, Jeff Toback, and Harvey Weissenberg
for grants to the district. It would
be helpful if the residents would please write letters to these officials
requesting grant money for the district also.
The Village of Lawrence
granted the variance to the builder to add a fourth floor to the plans at the
#1 Site. This will give the district
several million over the original amount.
Mr. Kopilow thanked Asher
for contacting the legislators in search of grants and for his support , as
well as the other board members, to fix the buildings. He asked Mr. Minerva,
school counsel, to clarify the timeframe in which a referendum would have to
be held for the voters to vote to establish a capital reserve fund to secure
the money from the sale of the building for the necessary repairs and
improvements that need to be done to the remaining district facilities. Must the referendum take place before the
closing on the sale or before June 30, 2007, the closing of the fiscal year? What if the closing is mid May and the
referendum is the beginning of June? Mr.
Minerva said he would research
the questions and get back to the board with an answer. Is it a fact that if we do not have a
capital reserve fund set up before the closing or the end of the year all the
funds from the sale must to go back to the tax payers and our ability to use
any of the funds to fix the buildings would be lost? Mr. Minerva
is researching to be sure to cover all the assumptions and questions that are
being made are addressed.
The budget goals for
2007-2008, relating back to the audit, should include that the lunch program
should be able to be self-sustaining or at least breaking even, if not making
a profit.
The board discussed all the
policies presented for the first, second and fourth reviews.
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The board received
warrant reports #11 and MR6.
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Warrant Reports
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The meeting adjourned At
9:25 p.m., upon motion by Pamela Greenbaum and seconded by Uri Kaufman,
and unanimously accepted.
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Adjourn
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Respectfully Submitted,
Alice Laino
District Clerk