WSESD Finance Committee Meeting Meeting Agenda and Minutes

Windham Southeast School District
Finance Committee Meeting – Tuesday, November 9, 2021
5:00pm Meeting @ WRCC Cusick Conference Room

Members: Shaun Murphy – Chairperson, Michelle Luetjen Green, Jaci Reynolds
Board Recorder: Wendy Levy

Optional Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87075844851?pwd=Z2ZVM0xuRW5zNzgzWThtOG93Ym1FUT09

Meeting ID: 870 7584 4851
Passcode: 8wq174

Agenda

1. Approval of Minutes – October 12, 2021

2. Whetstone Village WRCC property transfer update

3. Fiscal Year to Date Financial Statement

4. FY23 Budget Planning Timeline & update

5. Capital Project updates

6. Recommendation to Board to Approve Warrants and Payrolls

7. Other

…

Note: These proposed minutes should be considered preliminary until they are approved by the board at a future meeting.


WINDHAM SOUTHEAST SCHOOL DISTRICT (WSESD) FINANCE COMMITTEE
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021
REGULAR MEETING – 5PM
WRCC CUSICK CONFERENCE ROOM
DRAFT MINUTES

WSESD Finance Committee Members Present: Chairperson Shaun Murphy (SM), Michelle Luetjen Green (MG), Jaci Reynolds (JR)

WSESD Finance Committee Members Absent:

WSESU Administrators Present: Frank Rucker (Finance Director)

CALL TO ORDER:

SM called the meeting to order at 5:02pm.

I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Chair SM tabled this until later in the meeting.

II. ACADEMY SCHOOL ADDITION PROJECT

a. Project Update

Frank Rucker gave an update. Highlights included:
• An overview.
• The bid was awarded to All Seasons Construction at the last Board meeting. They accepted.
• The project is on-schedule.
• Sub-contractors are in-demand, but they have been secured.
• All Seasons and WSESD signed the contract the day after the Board awarded them the bid.
• Project oversight personnel are at work.
• The construction start-date is to be determined.

SM noted the permit application fees, sent to the state, appear in the current warrants. Frank confirmed this, and gave an outline of the permitting process. Frank noted the Brattleboro Development Review Board reviewed the project and had no objections.

III. FISCAL YEAR-TO-DATE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Frank reviewed the statement. Highlights included:
• This statement includes the First Quarter figures.
• Frank sent the members of the Finance Committee a document showing the financial statement
as of September 30, 2021.

• The voters approved a budget of $52,103,000, but this document shows an additional $3 million (approximately) in the budget. The difference is the inclusion of various ESSER [Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief] grants.
• The statement’s structure and format conforms with statutory educational accounting requirements.

SM said the financial report looks good.

IV. PRELIMINARY FY23 BUDGET PLANNING TIMELINE

Frank reviewed the timeline. Highlights included:
• Frank wants the Finance Committee to spend time reviewing this document, and to make adjustments before the full Board and the public are engaged in the process.
• The first big step is to schedule the Annual Meeting; all other meetings derive from that date.
• The pandemic disrupted the last two years’ schedules; the default is for the Annual Meeting to occur on the third Tuesday of March.
• The Finance Committee should begin scheduling the budget planning timeline using the default date, with the knowledge that the Secretary of State or the Governor could direct the Board to override the schedule.

A discussion ensued on the relationship between the Annual Meeting and the Annual Town Meeting, and how that affects employment contracts.

A discussion ensued on including budget planning on the full Board’s agenda.

A discussion ensued on the requirements for preparing for the Annual Meeting, including the timeline, components, and warning the meeting.

A discussion ensued on how ESSER affects the budgeting process. Namely, it adds more work, but is worth it.

Frank reviewed the anticipated ESSER funds for the next few fiscal years, and that the administration will work on shifting back to a budget without ESSER.

V. CAPITAL PROJECT UPDATES

Frank gave an update. Highlights included:
• Robert Clark is overseeing all 10 buildings as the WSESU Facility Director, which was implemented last month.
• Frank and Robert will soon begin working on the FY23 and FY24 Capital Plans.
• The Dummerston School heating project is going well.
• The Oak Grove School heating project is up next, and it will, like Dummerston, be renewable fuel.
• A brief review of projects at BUHS, BAMS, Green Street School, Oak Grove School, Guilford Central School, and Putney Central School.

SM spoke about energy efficiency in school buildings, and praised Frank and Robert’s work on this.