Wednesday, May 7, 2008
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Council questions failure to pink-slip teachers
Barbara Tetreault
BERLIN— City councilors Monday night questioned school administrators over their decision not to ‘pink-slip’ teachers last month.
Under state law, the school district had to notify teachers by April 15 if their teaching contract was not going to be renewed for the 2008-09 school year.
Councilor Thomas McCue asked Superintendent John Moulis about the district’s decision not to issue non-renewal notices to all teachers.
Moulis said the district pink-slipped all of its teaching staff last year because the legislature was locked in a debate over school funding and Berlin was unsure until June what it would receive in state educational funds.
He said that was not the case this year because the state funding issue had been settled for the biennial. Moulis said he did not anticipate a need to issue such notices this year.
“I couldn’t imagine you would flat-line our budget,” Moulis said, accepting responsibly for the decision.
Moulis said he expected the council would provide funding for the annual raises required under the district’s contract with teachers and other staff. The council approves all contracts.
McCue said he has a problem with administrators coming before the council and using the failure to pink-slip teachers as an excuse.
“You went ahead and made a choice,” he noted. “From our perspective there were other options,” he said.
Moulis said administrators made a budget presentation to the council in March. He said there was no discussion at that time about holding positions open.
Councilor Lucie Remillard pointed out there were nine retirements. She suggested the district should have held back on filling those positions.
“We’re looking to cut - it’s obvious,” she said.
Assistant Superintendent Marion Huntley said only two of the nine positions have been filled. She said the zero-based budget the administration put together calls for not filling two positions at the Junior High and using existing teachers at the high school to teach those classes. That will result, however, in a reduction in electives offered at the high school and may require the board to reduce the number of credits required for graduation.
Councilor Dick Lafleur asked how many credits the state requires for graduation. Moulis said he believes it is 20 credits but Berlin requires 26.
Councilor Tim Donovan asked about raises for nonunion employees. Moulis said the school board last month approved the same three percent raise for its nonunion employees that was received by its union employees.
“You didn’t have to give them three percent,” said Donovan.
Questioning turned sharp when Councilor Ronald Goudreau complained that sports and classes were being cut.
“To me that’s politics,” Goudreau said. “Where’s the cut in administration,” he added.
Moulis responded forcefully that the school budget was the leanest budget the district has presented in his six years here. He said staffing is so tight one elementary principal divides her time between three buildings.
Goudreau said the school district came in with a budget up ten percent.
“Something is wrong - dead wrong - with this picture,” he concluded.
School board member Nathan Morin reminded the council that the school board has not discussed the new school budget proposal. It was put together by the administration after the council asked department heads to come back with zero-growth budgets. Morin said the school board will review it at its board meeting this Wednesday. He assured the council that the board is not in favor of cutting all sports.
Asked to cut $1.4 million from the school board’s proposed budget of $16.9 million, school administrators came back with a budget that eliminates two teaching positions, five educational assistants, nine requested new positions, and all sports and extra curricular activities. In addition, it asked that the capital improvement funds be moved into the operational budget.
The evening did not get any easier for the council. School officials were followed by Police Chief Peter Morency and Fire Chief Randall Trull.
Mayor David Bertrand asked Morency whether his budget was up 6.3 percent or .22 percent. Morency explained that the .22 figure took into consideration revenue generated by the department. He reminded the council that departments were encouraged to find outside sources of revenue. He said the budget itself is up 6.3 percent.
Councilor Goudreau asked why the department would consider cutting an officer when it could result in a loss of $130,000 in grant money. He said that would only increase the deficit.
City Manager Patrick MacQueen said the grant money does not impact the city’s tax rate since it goes to pay for outside details. What it does, he said, is allow the department to provide additional services such as DWI and ATV patrols.
Goudreau noted there is concern about eliminating the crossing guards and asked if there was somewhere else the chief could cut. Morency said his other option was to cut another officer.
Remillard said there has to be some fat in the department budget Morency could cut. The chief said most of his budget is salaries and benefits. He said there are limited areas for him to cut.
Goudreau asked if the department could cut back on training for a year. Morency said training is important because there are few neighboring resources his department can call on. He reminded the council that the department has never been successfully sued.
Fire Chief Randall Trull told the council he picked nickel and dime items like dues and memberships to cut from his budget because there was nothing else to cut.
“I’ll do anything I have to do to keep staffing at safe levels,” he said.
Trull had requested four additional firefighters and the city manager had included two new positions in his budget. Those positions were eliminated.
Donovan noted the need for police and fire protection will increase with the proposed new manufactured home park on Route 16, the housing development planned for Route 110, and the wood pellet plant at the industrial park.
Trull said he has issues with response times to some of those areas on the outskirts of the city.
The council decided to meet again Tuesday night to continue working on the budget although it will postpone action on the school budget until after the board meets Wednesday.
Mayor David Bertrand noted there is a lot of work to do to arrive at a budget for the May 29 public hearing.
MRI studies of city and schools largely ignored
Barbara Tetreault
BERLIN— City Councilor Tim Donovan asked school administrators Monday if they would agree to a study of the school system by Municipal Resource Inc.
Donovan said he was impressed with the study the consulting firm undertook of the municipal operation back in 2003.
But MRI has already performed a study of the educational systems of the valley. The study was commissioned back in the summer of 2002 at the request of the Androscoggin Valley Economic Recovery Commission.
Furthermore, few of the recommendations of the 2003 municipal study have been implemented.
The educational study said the region needed to look at fresh ways of meeting the educational needs of area communities. In releasing the results of the study, MRI President Don Jutton said it was time for a regional conversation about how the communities could work together to meet future challenges and allocate resources.
The study noted the region’s overall population was declining and getting older. It also pointed out median family incomes for most local communities were below the state average.
The study said the elementary schools in both Gorham and Berlin were close to capacity and the Berlin Middle School was also close to capacity. But it said Berlin High had extra capacity, was well maintained, and had playing fields while the Gorham Junior/Senior High had not been as well maintained and lacked adjacent playing fields.
But before there could be any reorganization or collaboration between the high schools, the study said a major change in local opinion was needed.
The study said there was more support for reorganizing the SAU structure. Berlin is a separate SAU while Gorham is part of SAU 20 with Errol, Milan, Randolph, Dummer, and Shelburne. At that time, the two SAUs served about 2,200 students.
While a combined SAU would be difficult because Berlin operates as a city form of government with the council setting the school budget as opposed to a town meeting, the study suggested there were other options the communities could explore. One idea was to create a structure that would provide administrative services for the local schools.
The municipal study was released in the fall of 2003. MRI also performed similar studies on Gorham and the other communities in the Androscoggin Valley. The studies were contracted by AVER in August 2002 when the local pulp and paper complex went bankrupt. The idea was to look at ways to maintain basic services through cooperative efforts that would lead to cost savings.
One recommendation it suggested as a starting point was to look at a regional emergency dispatching service. Berlin police proposed setting up a regional dispatching center but the proposal did not work out with local communities.
The study said the most obvious cost saving step the city could take would be to combine public works, water works, and the sewer departments into one department. The report said that would double the management capacity of the public works operation and improve use of resources. The council has expressed an interest in looking at that issue in the future.
The study noted both police and fire staffing levels were inadequate and made several suggestions that have not gone forward.
It suggested the city explore a formal partnership with area towns to provide better fire suppression, prevention, and emergency medial services to the region.
Noting the need for a new police station, the study called for setting up a committee to explore a joint facility with Gorham. It said the long term goal should be an Androscoggin Valley Regional Police District.
Other recommendations of the study that have not been undertaken:
* Hiring an assistant for the Public Works Director to oversee operations and projects.
* Upgrading and replacing the Recreation Department’s infrastructure.
* Approaching Gorham and other communities to discuss sharing assessing services.
* Initiating discussions with Gorham and other communities to begin evaluating the merits of a regional approach to library facilities, materials, and technology.
* Initiating conversations with the school department, Gorham SAU 20, and other area communities to explore setting up a shared financial and business management 'service bureau'.
* Exploring the possibility of Berlin and Gorham creating a regional Geographic Information System (GIS).
Town pulls van out of service
Craig Lyons
GORHAM— Officials have pulled a town-owned van from its fleet after finding it was given an improper inspection sticker.
The van, used by the Parks and Recreation Department, had been given an inspection sticker by the town’s garage, although upon investigation by The N.H. Highway Patrol, it was found the van was not road worthy. Town Manager Bill Jackson brought this to the attention of the Board of Selectmen at Monday night’s meeting.
The 1993 GMC has been taken off the road and will be sold for parts, according to Jackson.
The town’s vehicle inspector should not have put a sticker on the vehicle, Jackson said.
In a letter to Trooper James Berube, who investigated the vehicle, Jackson said the lead inspector, who issued the sticker, has received a written warning because of the incident. He added that both town employees responsible for inspecting vehicles will be attending the mechanic certification update course, held by the Department of Safety.
The letter said the lead inspector has been removed from any inspection duties until the final determination of his statues is received from Berube.
As a result of this discovery, the town has randomly selected two other vehicles from its fleet to be inspected from an independent station. A truck used by the Recreation Department passed inspection and an ambulance is still waiting for an appointment in Littleton.
Jackson brought this issue before the selectmen after a letter to the editor, published in the “Berlin Daily Sun,” from resident Bob Balon said the town knew the van was in bad shape and did nothing about it until Berube conducted an investigation.
In the letter, Balon said the town discussed the matter in a meeting and it was to be taken off the road when the inmate-laborers were done using it for transportation.
Jackson said the comments made about the van were made at the public budget hearing. He added the comments made said this would probably be the last year the van would be used.
Jackson said he never thought the vehicle wasn’t roadworthy because he saw it had an inspection sticker.
The selectmen agreed they never would have thought the van wasn’t fit to be driven because it had a proper inspection sticker.
While the van has been taken out of service, the prison-laborers have been using a van on loan from the Sheriff’s Department.
The town is also looking at purchasing a new vehicle, similar to the van used by the senior program and moose tours. Although, the new van would only carry 15 passengers.
The board took the purchase of the van under advisement after seeing and driving the vehicle, before Monday night’s meeting.
In other business, selectmen approved a new drug and alcohol policy for town employees.
Jackson supplied the selectmen with a copy of the proposed policy last week, for them to review and make any changes, if necessary.
“It’s pretty comprehensive,” said Selectman Paul Robitaille.
There are some changes from the policy the town previously had in place, said Jackson. He added this new policy is still strict.
“I think it’s very fair, too,” Robitaille added.
The policy was approve unanimously by the board and took effect immediately.
Another item the selectmen are looking at is adding sign-age to the multi-modal trail.
Jackson said he’s been talking with the Department of Transportation to see what possibilities are available to post the rules for using the trail.
Ideally, the town would put signs at either end of the trail rather than having a lot of small signs dotting the whole trail, said Jackson. He added with two big signs, it’s easier to make changes than having a large number of signs on the trail.
