Minutes of Regular
Board Meeting
May 16th,
2006 7:00 PM
Location: Regional Office, Grand Falls-Windsor
Present:
Mr. Thomas Kendell (Chair) Mr. Randell Mercer, Director
Mr.
Mr. John George Ms.
Mr. Peter Gibbons Mr. Shawn Brace (Recorder)
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Ms.
Mr.
Ms.
Mr.
Mr. Robert Hannaford
Mr. Bill Sceviour
Regrets:
Mr. Peter Budgell
Ms. Bonnie Lane-McCarthy
1. Approval of Agenda
Motion: to approve the agenda as
circulated. (Harris/Sceviour). Carried.
2. Minutes of Meetings
2.1 Regular Meeting April 25th,
2006
Motion: to accept the minutes of the April 25th,
2006 as circulated. (Woolfrey/George). Carried.
It was noted that item 5.1 should be referenced as “CDLI Presentation”
and not as a committee report.
3. Business Arising:
3.1 Restructuring Update
The Minister of Education has recently announced the following:
· New school for Baie Verte
· Extension and Renovations for MSB
Planning on the above will commence this year, with construction commencing on the MSB project.
Mr. George raised a matter concerning capital funding for St. Stephen’s All Grade relating to a multi-purpose room. This project has been included in our capital requests for funding.
The Director informed the Board that the Provincial Budget contained 6.5 million for restructuring and 17.1 million for building envelope and other capital issues.
The only two announcements to date relate to the above for Baie Verte and MSB.
Mr. Langdon asked whether projects are approved on a project by project basis or based on a prioritized list. Projects are approved based on both priority and the availability of funding.
The Chair circulated an article that appeared in the local paper (Advertiser) on the amendments to the board’s restructuring plan. This was a positive review.
We are still waiting for tenders to be called on the following projects:
·
· Botwood Collegiate – extension – planning complete
·
At the request of the school
council, the Director, the Assistant Director, Mr. McCormack and the local
trustee,
The Director noted that many extension and renovation projects require a longer time to complete than just the summer break. Construction will often have to run into the school year. However, these projects must begin during the prime construction season during the spring and summer.
3.2 Trustee Vacancy
The Chair noted that we still have
a vacancy in the
3.3
Queries on
Quarterly Financial Report
The Assistant Director – Finance provided responses to the queries that were raised at the last board meeting.
Mr. Noble inquired as to who authorized the renovations for new offices. These renovations were required due to increased funding for additional staff and the resulting need for additional offices for the expanded staff. Funding for both the additional staff and associated office space was provided by the Department of Education beyond the original revenue allocation for the Budget 2005-06.
The Director advised of the process for submitting the capital priorities. In addition, the matter of under staffing at district offices last year was also referenced. As a result, there was an increase of $250,000 in additional revenue for staffing and $125,000 for renovations which covered the renovations for the new offices.
It was also noted that the schedules in question “IM3” and “IT3” did not exceed the total budget allocated. These schedules are revised internally to reflect the actual operations. Revisions are made on an ongoing basis throughout the year.
With respect to the query on technology cost, the largest expenditure in this category relates to a sound system that was purchased by the District for District events. Also, the Department of Education has agreed to cover 50% of the expenditure. This will decrease the overrun by approximately $6,000. Also, monies from other line items have been transferred to cover the balance of the overrun.
Shut
These two schedules include the budget for instructional travel and materials only. Included in other line items throughout the budget are budgets for Operations and Maintenance training and Bus Driver Training totaling $33,000.
With respect to PD costs for employees, included in the schedules of December 31 Quarterly Report on page 13 and 17 are reserves in the amount of $29,053 and $27,500 respectively. These reserves were budgeted to cover any possible overruns in addition to reallocating any surpluses from any other line items on the individual schedules. Due to lack of experience with the enlarged district reserves were held outside of the specified budget line to account for this eventuality.
As of the statement date, all expenditures for the shut down including other parts of the operation were charged to this account.
The balance of the overrun has been reallocated from other components in the budget.
The Department of Education approved a Capital Expenditure budget for this in the amount of $125,000 in late fall. Unfortunately, the budget did not include this revision as of the statement date.
These expenditures were submitted for reimbursement in early March.
Mr. Hannaford raised concerns about getting a file folder just before the regular meeting containing information required for the meeting.
The Chair informed the Director of the need to provide information to the trustees in a timely manner.
The Director added that one of the issues is a very aggressive calendar of monthly Board and Committee meetings. In particular, a board meeting, an executive meeting, plus 4 committee meetings. The scheduling constraints and post meeting report preparation add to the difficulty in getting all information out before a regular board meeting.
4. Committee
Reports/Updates
4.1 Executive Committee – deferred to next meeting
4.2 Finance/Property Committee (see attached report)
Motion: to accept the March 31st, Quarterly Financial Report. (Pritchett/Brown). Carried.
Exploits Valley Intermediate – Property Matters
Motion: to
recommend agreement in principle to deduct appraised value of the land required
for grounds development at the site of Exploits Valley Intermediate from the
outstanding receivable from the Central Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation
for demolition costs associated with the
Summerford Primary
Motion: in
light of the lack of action by the Salvation Army to assume ownership of
Summerford Primary and in the interest of safety, we would proceed to change
the locks to the school and board up the windows to minimize vandalism. (Pritchett/Brown). Carried.
Motion: to
accept the report of the Finance & Property Committee. (Brown/Pritchett). Carried.
4.3 Programs Committee
Mr. Sceviour clarified item #3 by informing that the report should be called a stakeholder report.
Item #4
· No documents attached as indicated; these will be provided later.
Motion: to accept the report of the Programs Committee. (Sceviour/George). Carried.
5. Correspondence
No questions on correspondence log.
The Chair referenced a letter of
response dated April 18th from the Minister of Education to Mr.
Letter from the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor concerning notifying the Town of vacant school buildings.
6. New Business
6.1 Closed Session - deferred
6.2 NLSBA AGM -deferred
Motion: to
defer items 6.1 and 6.2 to the next regular board meeting. (Sceviour/Gibbons). Carried.
6.3 Presentation by Tanya Noseworthy – Strategic Planning
There was a two hour presentation from Tanya Noseworthy of the Transparency and Accountability Office.
Mr. David Moore, Accountability Coordinator from the Department of Education was also in attendance.
A copy of the presentation is attached.
There was also an opportunity for questions and answers. Trustees raised questions ranging from the time period to have this completed, the number of staff involved and the involvement of trustees.
6. Date of Next Meeting
The next regular meeting of the
Board will be held on June 20th, 2006, 7:00 PM, District Office,
7. Adjournment
Motion: to adjourn the meeting at 10:30 PM (Pritchett/George).
Carried
_____________________________ ____________________________
Chair Recorder
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