Click 
to view the entire meeting or click any video icon below to jump to that section of the meeting.
Click 
to listen to the AUDIO of this meeting.
REGULAR SESSION
APRIL 13, 2017
PRESENT: Margaret M. Healy, President
Abel G. Collins, Vice President
Bryant DaCruz
Liz Gledhill
Joe Viele
The following members of the School Committee are present: Alycia Collins, Chairwoman, Roland Benjamin, Myrna Bizer, Michelle Brousseau-Cavallaro, Raissa Mosher, and Stephen Scott Mueller.
Also present: Stephen A. Alfred, Town Manager, Patricia Sunderland, Finance Director, Dr. Kristen Stringfellow, Superintendent, Maryanne Crawford, Business Manager, School Department, Colleen Camp, Executive Assistant, and Aimee Reiner, Director of Administrative Services.
The Pledge of Allegiance is given.
Roll Call is taken and all members are present.
Notice having been duly given, a Public Hearing, with School Committee participation is held relative to the Town Council’s Preliminary Budget for FY 2017-2018 as adopted on March 13, 2017. This Public Hearing will address all funds contained within the Town Council’s Preliminary Budget.
Stephen A. Alfred, Town Manager discusses the budget process up to this evening and the process as we go forward from this point. When the Town Council adopts its budget it adopts a budget with ten different funds. Two of the funds of most importance are the General Fund and the School Fund. The other eight funds are associated with the Utilities including Water, Wastewater and Solid Waste, others are associated with the Debt Services Fund, the Recreation Programs and the Senior Program. All of the funds have been reviewed by the Town Council over the course of the last three months.
On March 13, 2017 when the Town Council adopted a Preliminary Budget for FY 2017- 2018 a small adjustment was made in the General Fund and a substantive adjustment was made to the School Fund. The School Budget that was submitted to the Town Council required a 2% increase in the tax transfer to the School Fund. The 2% request that was submitted to the Town Council would have required a $1,027,774 increase over the base year. At its meeting on March 13, 2017 the Town Council amended the proposed preliminary budget by reducing it by .65% from the 2% or an overall increase of $693,739 resulting in a deficit in expenditures over revenues of $334,018. The School Committee met on March 29, 2017, and at that meeting a number of possible revisions were discussed, and after deliberation and review of $334,018 in potential adjustments, the School Committee determined that they were not prepared to adjust their budget but wished to have additional discussion with the Town Council.
The following members of the public are present and comment:
Chris Hubbard is in favor of the Town Council funding the budget to an acceptable level.
Nicole Mulanaphy speaks in favor of a 2% increase to the property tax transfer and requests the Town Council to consider an even higher increase of 4%.
Mike Farley, teacher at Peace Dale Elementary School and President of NEASK, the South Kingstown Teacher’s Association speaks in favor of a 2% increase to the property tax transfer.
Jessica Bradley speaks in favor of a 2% increase to the property tax transfer to the School Fund.
Mary Kay Whitten speaks in favor of a 2% increase to the property tax transfer to the School Fund.
School Committeeman Mueller comments that the meeting last night was a remarkable experience. There was an outpouring of support for public education in South Kingstown and an outpouring of support for members of the Town Council and the School Committee urging that we focus on the priority of children. The result of the meeting was that the Town Council has identified that it will support a 2% increase in the property tax transfer to the School Fund and the School Committee has indicated that they can operate the schools next year with that amount of an increase. It is not generous, it is not going to allow us to keep all of the programs that we have today in place but it ensures continuation of the quality of schools in South Kingstown. I want to speak to Mike’s comment, I have had an opportunity to serve on the School Committee for a very long time and I have had an opportunity to be involved with the state association of School Committees for the last 20 years. South Kingstown is a very unique community and one of the unique qualities of this community is that during good times and bad this community comes out to support children and comes out to support public education. Some years there is more money that can be transferred and some years there is less, but there has never been a call to deliver an average education in South Kingstown or an okay education in South Kingstown. The standards are clear and have been consistent. I think that is a hallmark both of what the community said last night and what was said by the members of the Town Council. All five members of the Town Council are supporting quality education. There are simply different ideas about how to get there.
On a personal level I would love to have a 4% increase or 6 or 8 percent would be great. We could do some really interesting things. I am also a taxpayer and would have to think about how I am going to fund that. While I understand the wish for a 4% increase I think there are unanswered questions in South Kingstown that need to be answered before there is any conversation beyond where we are today. The Town Council and the School Committee have agreed on a facilities review. We have agreed that this is not a conversation about which school to close. This is a conversation about how we use our money and our facilities to ensure quality education. We have hired a consulting firm to come in and lead that process. Members of both the Town Council and the School Committee met in an Executive Session after the interviews for the bidding conference. There was unanimous agreement that this is about how do you ensure quality education, how do you make the best use of the dollars, so the kids can get the most that they possibly can. I understand the inclination to talk about a 4% increase. Mr. Alfred who is considered the best Town Manager in the State of Rhode Island describes the budget development process, as a process. There are lots of steps in the process with occasional twists and turns. It is a compromise. The nature of a compromise is that everyone goes away a little bit disappointed. The 2% represents that compromise this year; it is what Mr. Alfred recommended to the Town Council. Frankly, it is what Dr. Stringfellow raised with us and I think it is a fair solution to the budget and until we answer the questions about facilities, until we involve the entire community in the conversation in regard to what public education will look like 20 to 30 years from now. The conversation about 2% is a today conversation. The conversation about a facilities review is in truth about the time when you all will be grandparents dealing with your grandchildren and the school and what will their experience be. This is a critical conversation and where we will end up at the end of the facilities review in terms of what option we will be presented, final decision both about facilities and the resources needed to support quality public education. My hope is that you all will participate in that process: I suspect you will and that you will be there both at the beginning and the end. This is about the future of South Kingstown and the future of the next generation or two generations. I think we are where we need to be this year and let’s see where the facilities review takes us. The facilities review is not a Town Council thing, it is not a School Committee thing. It is a community thing. This is about the community speaking, what do we value educationally, what needs to be in place, what can we fund? As we move through that process over the next year, my hope is you all will be just as active as you have been this evening and last evening. If it is not a community conversation then you leave it to a few elected officials, this is too important for that. Thank you.
School Committee Chairwoman Collins thanks everyone for coming out the past few nights. The School Committee can’t make informed decisions without hearing from key stakeholders, people with their boots on the ground in the school, parents that have kids in school, so thank you for coming out and please stay engaged and continue to come to meetings.
Council Vice President Collins comments that he would like to echo some of what Scott said. It is important to stay engaged; the facilities review is going to provide an opportunity for the whole community to come out to public meetings much like this and they are going to want to know what your vision of the school system is going to look like, as much as they are interested in what our vision is. We have great schools, we have had great schools for a long time. When I was a kid going through SK my mom was Chairwoman of the School Committee. She was getting transfers much greater than we are willing to give and maybe we can get back to that point and maybe not. Maybe we are a different community now but we need to decide that together. I think certainly the world has changed since when we were all going through SK or wherever we were growing up and we should try to think outside the box. As we were going through the budget process I tried to challenge us to think of innovative ways to secure new funds or revenue for the schools because just relying on the property tax transfer year after year is not going to work forever, other school systems have set up endowment funds, alumni funds, so people who are really motivated in the community can continue to support the schools more than what they can do through their taxes. I think that is something we should look at doing here. I am certainly sure there are ways we can combine resources, perhaps with other school districts and definitely look at the facilities to make them more efficient is something we are going to have to do. I am glad you are all here again and thank you for your support.
Council President Healy comments that she is not speaking as your Council President, but as a Matunuck mom. Felicie had both of my children at Matunuck. They had the most wonderful experience there and thanks to the influence of Felicie in engaging my daughter, my daughter is a very successful school teacher, an English teacher and I could never negate the system. I will fully support the community, the teachers and the schools, I always will.
Councilman Viele thanks everyone for coming out and appreciates the input. We are listening.
Councilwoman Gledhill remarks that it is great to see everyone coming and hopes that this keeps people engaged and you are our checks and balances.
Councilman DaCruz thanks everyone for coming out.
Adjourn at 7:39 PM.
ADJOURNED,
Dale S. Holberton, CMC
Town Clerk