Diane Blevins Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Proceedings of the Ad Hoc Committee For The 2007 Legislative Session District No. 2, Yellowstone County High School District No. 2, Yellowstone County Billings, Montana December 13, 2006 Call to Order The continuing meeting of the Legislative Forum of the Board of Trustees of School District No. 2, Yellowstone County, Montana, and High School District, Yellowstone County, Montana, was duly held at The Lincoln Center, 415 North 30th Street, Billings, Montana, December 13, 2006, at 12:00 p.m. Those present included: Trustees Katharin Kelker, Sandra Mossman, Joel Guthals, Rachel Stagg, Malcolm Goodrich, Superintendent Jack Copps, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Karen Moses, Nancy Hines, and the following legislators: Wanda Grinde, Gary Branae, and Kendall VanDyke. A caucus of the ‘AA’ schools will be held by VisionNet on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 12:00 p.m. Participating in this VisionNet series included Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Bozeman, Butte, Billings and the Montana School Board Association (MTSBA). Pete Carparelli, MQEC Chairman, reported the remedy study has been delayed to the extent of getting additional members of the panel. The report will be ready in January. The VisionNet caucus ended at 1:00 p.m. Sandra Mossman stated she would try to get a copy of the materials used in the other districts and distribute them to the members of the committee. Kendall VanDyk reported he has been considering sponsoring a bill that would address start-up funds for all-day kindergarten. Trustee Guthals stated that more than $10,000,000 start-up funds are needed according to a report by Bill Glaser and $100,000,000 could be used to provided facilities for full-day kindergarten around the state. Wanda Grinde stated Linda McCulloch, Office of Public Instruction, is gathering the data from each district as to the amount of start-up funds needed. It was also reported that $5,000,000 had been given to the school districts for at risk students but an additional $35,000,000 is needed for those students. Trustee Guthals made the following motion with a second by Trustee Goodrich: Motion to approve the minutes of November 29th. Those voting in favor were Sandra Mossman, Joel Guthals, Malcolm Goodrich and Rachel Stagg. The motion passed unanimously. As there was no further business, the meeting recessed and will reconvene on January 10th. Legislative Forum for January 10, 2007 Those presented included Superintendent Jack Copps, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Karen Moses, and Trustees Rachel Stagg and Joel Guthals. The VisionNet series scheduled for today has been postponed until January 17th. Trustee Stagg reported she met with Roy Brown, Ernie Dutton and Tom McGillvray who felt it was fiscally irresponsible to give start-up funds for all-day kindergarten, regardless if it were good for the students. Superintendent Copps reported the State Superintendent is supporting a bill for start-up funds which would give Billings Public Schools $1,000,000. The Governor has stated he wants all-day kindergarten implemented in the next year. All educational organizations in the state are supporting the concept of all-day kindergarten. Mr. Copps felt it would aide MQEC’s chances in court if the schools did not ask for any additional funds. Trustee Stagg suggested Billings business leaders be asked to testify in support of the educational bills in Helena. The Billings Chamber of Commerce is a big supporter of the school district. Trustee Stagg urged the Board members to constantly be in contact with the legislators urging them to support the educational bills. Superintendent Copps felt that emails were very effective. The meeting recessed until January 17th. Legislative Forum for January 17, 2007 Those present included Trustees Rachel Stagg, Sandra Mossman, Katharin Kelker, Superintendent Jack Copps, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Karen Moses, and Jim Hartung. A VisionNet conference was held with Helena, Great Falls, Missoula, Bozeman, Billings and Kalispell. Bob Vogel, Montana School Board Association, reported there are at least 7 amendments coming in on SB152. He did not feel that the Governor’s bill was in as good of shape as Carol Williams’ SB123. The ‘AA’ districts were polled to determine their positions on SB123: Helena schools need all start-up funds; Great Falls supports SB123; Trustee Kelker reported for Billings stating she would support it but wanted to wait on the governor’s bill to see where it goes but favored portions of SB123; Missoula supports SB123 but also needs start-up funds; Kalispell supports SB123 and also supports portions of SB152; and, Bozeman reported they were a long way from thinking about full-day kindergarten. Butte will be contacted to determine its position on SB123 and SB152. Pete Carparelli, MQEC Chairman, reported inflation needs should be addressed in SB152 also. Darrell Rud, School Administrators of Montana (SAM), reported additional information on bills could be accessed through SAM’s website at www.sammt.org The next meeting through VisionNet will be held on January 24th at which time the Meyer’s report should be available and would be discussed. The VisionNet conference ended at 1:00 p.m. Jim Hartung reported a caucus of freshman legislators and a caucus of women legislators have been formed. He felt it might be possible to obtain votes from those groups. The meeting recessed at 1:20 p.m. and will reconvene on January 24th. Legislative Forum for January 24, 2007 Those present included Trustees Rachel Stagg, Sandra Mossman, Katharin Kelker, Superintendent Jack Copps, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Karen Moses, and Jim Hartung. Via VisionNet, Bob Vogel reported action in the House is from the Appropriations Committee that is making major cuts in the budget for all of the other items contained in the Governor’s budget. He was unsure as what would happen to the education bill. Darrell Rud in Helena felt grass roots advocacy is more important than ever before because of the composition of both the House, Senate and who is sitting in the governor’s chair. He urged everyone to contact the legislators in order to get things through. He stated we needed to turn up the heat in hopes of turning just one vote. Contacting the House Appropriations Committee is another way to get to them. Kalispell was concerned that they will only look at the price tag. Missoula asked if any of MTSBA’s amendments had been received at all on SB152. Bob Vogele reported only one amendment had been received. SB152 is closer aligned to SB123 than ever before. It improved it from the aspect of full-day kindergarten. Mr. Vogel stated Lance Melton had suggested an increase of $1500 in the first and second year on the per educator entitlement that would be closer to going in the right direction than in SB152. Karen Moses asked if there was any interest for basic entitlement for high schools. Pete Carparelli stated the per school entitlement had not been addressed and he sees the people who do not want to change the entitlements are in favor of the small schools. Bruce Messenger urged people to put their weight behind the per educator as it would bring more dollars. Bob Vogel reported Don Ryan has a bill, LC0319 that revises basic entitlements and for ANB payments. It has modifications for basic entitlement, which would be at the high school level on a per school basis, not per district basis. Bruce Messenger reported future VisionNet meetings would be held on the 2nd Wednesday and 4th Tuesdays. Jim Hartung stated that it is still early in the game and we should concentrate on developing certain strategies, as it will come down to the end. He urged those present to drum up support for all bills and to also thank people for their votes. The meeting recessed at 1:15 p.m. Legislative Forum for January 31, 2007 Those present included Trustees Rachel, Katharin Kelker, Superintendent Jack Copps, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Karen Moses, and Jim Hartung. Sandra Mossman was absent. Leo Hudetz reported SB307 would limit use of taxpayer money to sue for more state funds. Lynda Moss will entertain an amendment for SB225 that would move the election to the Tuesday before the Memorial weekend, which could make it more receptive bill. April 27th is the last day of the legislature, if they go all 90 days. Lynda Moss needs information from Billings regarding the trustees election and mill levy election. Those present felt it would be better to have both elections in November, as there is a better turnout. Katharin Kelker stated the issue is to give the school boards the flexibility depending upon the length of the legislative session. SB362 addresses paying trustees approximately $4,000 per year, which is comparative to what city council members receive. Katharin Kelker stated this District did not have an extra $36,000 to pay trustees but Trustee Fox favored. Jim Hartung felt support would be better coming from the Chamber and not the trustees. The kindergarten bill is waiting for transmittal. Jack Copps felt this is the most predictable session that he has ever seen and everything will come down to the last day. He felt the governor would not give away the farm in order to get kindergarten. Jim Hartung stated the trustees might want to take a position on SB307, which limits the use of taxpayer money to sue. Katharin Kelker reported Montana would be the only state in the union that would have this type of a clause. The meeting recessed at 1:00 p.m. Legislative Forum for February 14, 2007 Those present included Trustees Malcolm Goodrich, Sandra Mossman, Katharin Kelker, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Karen Moses, Conrad Stroebe, Dan Martin and Jim Hartung. Participating in the VisionNet were the following districts: Kalispell, Great Falls, Helena, Billings, Bozeman and Butte. Representative’s Glaser’s bill, HB701, is a funding proposal by the Republican Party and would provide $120,000,000 of tax relief. It has reduced Special Education from 124% to 100%. The Governor’s proposal contains $25,000,000 for full-day kindergarten, contains money for the student loan program, and has a quality educator payment of $790 or $137,000 total for the program. Carol Williams’ bill is similar to the Governor’s bill as it also has funding for full-day kindergarten at $15,000,000. The meeting recessed at 1:25 p.m. and would reconvene on February 27th. Legislative Forum for February 27, 2007 Those present included District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Trustees Katharin Kelker and Joel Guthals, and Jim Hartung. Participating in the VisionNet were Helena, Great Falls, Bozeman, Missoula and Billings districts. Trustee Kelker asked how the legislators were doing. Pete Carparelli, MQEC, reported some legislators are skeptical, some offended due to Democratic items being added, and others were hoping for $217,000,000. Bruce Messenger felt it was early in the process but there are a number of legislators who want to take some money and send it back to the taxpayers for tax relief. Missoula asked what the difference was between HB809 and HB701. Glaser is carrying 809 and OPI will oppose it as it does not contain the amount of money that they want. Billings will be meeting with Representatives Glaser and Lange. Trustee Kelker reported that Billings’ trustees needed to know if there were certain questions that should be asked of them. The discussion will cover HB701 and how it affects Billings. Leo Hudetz asked if they should tell Glaser it would be more equitable for AA and A districts. Bruce Messenger reported in HB701 the classroom proponent is created and is a disadvantage to large schools as it recognizes fewer classrooms for ANB in the larger districts. It wouldn’t be difficult counting classrooms but it would exclude principals and auxiliary staff. They could also go back to basic entitlement and get it on per building basis instead of per district basis. Pete Carparelli reported some districts would hire more teachers. HB701 is loaded in the first year but special education has not been increased. Trustee Kelker asked why special education is being short changed. Pete Carparelli felt the legislators didn’t realized they had done that and have said they need to fix it but nothing has been done. Pete Carparelli stated Representative Glaser has said they would put more money into education and take it from other areas such as corrections. Mr. Glaser feels there is plenty of money being put into his bill for education. HB701 does not consider either funding for kindergarten programs or start up costs for all-day kindergarten. Darrell Rud, MSBA, report there was lots of action in the legislature today. HB702 was heard on the floor today. SB508 is a fairly good bill that allows public school consideration and help in growing areas. SB307 would limit the use of taxpayer money to sue for more funding but may not see the light of day. The next scheduled VisionNet meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 14th. Those participating were reminded of the Day of Advocacy, which is Monday, March 19th, which is the day the districts are trying to testify together. The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m. to reconvene on March 2nd. Legislative Forum for March 2, 2007 Those present included Trustees Malcolm Goodrich, Sandra Mossman, Katharin Kelker, Joel Guthals, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Dan Martin, Scott McColloch, Janet Baum, Allan Audet, Thomas Harper, Bill Glaser and Mike Lange. Chair Goodrich asked Bill Glaser for a general overview. Representative Glaser stated the legislators needed to be careful, as he was concerned they were heading to chaos due to the personalities involved. There is not enough money coming from the state in the amount of the total schedule to provide what children need on a day-to-day basis so the local taxpayers are not supporting school districts. The legislators have to figure out how to make up for the mistake in 1989 where local taxpayers had to fund education. Representative Glaser reported he listens to Lance Melton and school districts to aid him in determining what is needed for education. The Interim Committee got away from what was right for kids and got political. He did not like what was done so he took the information and the input from listening to what people were saying. First, whatever is done must be constitutional, the State Board of Education is a major player, and school boards are the most important player in the group. He came up with a bill to provide funding for schools and to sustain funding for the schools. Mr. Glaser felt the biggest shortcoming in the Billings Public Schools is the 15% dropout rate. The proposal to fund at the 80% level would give the Board the ability to pass mill levies. Dan Martin asked if the Republican side would maintain the level of the amount of what the governor has proposed. Mike Lange stated if he does not get any permanent tax reduction for property owners, he would not make any guarantee. There is $1,300,000,000 in all proposals. He would not let the governor walk out with a $400 check for taxpayers. He said, if we can get relief for taxpayers, I will go over what the governor is proposing for funding schools. Trustee Mossman asked if, on HB701 appropriations, was the original appropriation removed from the bill. Mr. Lange reported 701 is intact right now and the appropriation is $82,000,000 a year for schools and $127,000,000 for taxpayers. HB701 is a policy bill. The appropriation bills will be voted on the House floor before HB701. If the House Democrats lock up 49 votes against it, HB701 is in trouble. Representative Lange stated the Governor’s funding bill, SB152, is in his House education committee and he will control it. He stated he would make sure they receive adequate funding for schools. The Governor wants to spend $90,000,000 on corrections, which he does not believe in. Trustee Mossman asked how do constituents lobby the legislators unless we know the amount that is in the appropriations. Representative Lange stated people must tell the legislators what they want. He felt there will be either a standoff between the Governor and him or there will be a compromise between the legislators of both parties to come through with money that will work. Trustee Guthals asked if $55,000,000 of extra money is per year or biennium. Mr. Glaser reported there is $82,000,000 new money in addition to the CPI or $9,000,000 a year into the Billings school system in 701. There is $203,000,000 of state money to make changes. Representative Glaser reviewed the handouts given to those present. Trustee Kelker asked for an explanation on what constitutes a classroom. Mr. Glaser responded that a classroom unit is based on the accreditation standards with adjustments to make it practical. Some people believe the majority of money is going to the smaller schools, which isn’t true. Trustee Kelker stated the District would be better if funding were based on per educator entitlement. Mr. Glaser stated per educator entitlement is not constitutional. Trustee Kelker reported services for special education are mandated and some districts have gone into the general budget to fund some of those services. Representative Glaser stated there is $8,000,000 in 809 to cover special education and they are working on a formula to make it work. Chair Goodrich asked if it would help for school boards to work on the democratic side. Representative Lange stated boards should work on all sides. School board members should email the legislators or go to Helena to discuss the issues with them. March 19th is the Day of Advocacy and members should voice their interests. Representative Lange reported he will amend SB152 and would not table it in committee. There are three bills for education – HB701, SB152 and HB809. The meeting recessed at 3:55 p.m. Legislative Forum for March 14, 2007 Those present included District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Trustee Sandra Mossman and Jim Hartung. Participating in the VisionNet were Helena, Great Falls, Bozeman, Butte and Billings districts. Bob Vogel reported the amendment to 809 would strip out any additional funding from OPI. Everything passed on a straight party line vote of 51 to 49. Pete Carparelli reported the fifth section of HB809 is Glaser’s amendment that takes Indian Education money and redistributes it back to the schools. It is $99,000,000 less for K-12 schools than HB2. It goes into the general fund in every school and they will be responsible for how it is used. Bob Vogel felt their strategy was to vote no based on principle. Pete Carparelli stated as soon as the Senate adjourns, SB678 will be up and there is no money for schools included. Later in the week we will be looking at Indian Education for all. He further stated HB701 will be next week and the sponsor says a lot of money is going into it and is also the sponsor of 809. Sandra Mossman reported she sent out an email relating what occurred in the meeting with Representatives Glaser and Lange on March 2nd. Their comments on March 2nd are contradictory to what they are saying now. HB809 has an increase of $42,000,000 from current levels of CPI. Nothing of HB701 was included in there. Bozeman reported they scheduled a meeting with 5 or 6 legislators, both Republican and Democratic, but no one showed. Butte reported they spoke to their Democratic legislators who are getting frustrated with what is going on in the House in breaking down the bills. Pete Carparelli stated he didn’t like sitting back and watching what goes down and suggested organizing certain guidelines and get the picture out that Helena is requesting mill levies and also making cuts. Districts should be careful of not making threats when advertising for the mill levies. HB701 comes up on the House floor on Monday but it was uncertain what it looks like now. HB225, Lynda Moss’s bill has passed the House. Jim Hartung reported that the Billings legislators are dismayed that Billings’ trustees are not participating in Helena. Trustee Mossman reported it is hard for the Superintendent to attend as he has a large district to manage and there are no trustees with enough time on their hands. She and Trustee Guthals will be in Helena on Monday, March 19th to testify. The meeting recessed at 1:15 p.m. and will reconvene on March 27th. Legislative Forum for March 27, 2007 Those present included District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Trustee Joel Guthals, Allan Audet, Karen Moses, Dan Martin, and Thomas Harper. Trustee Sandra Mossman was excused. Participantd in the VisionNet were Helena, Bozeman Billings, and Great Falls. Bob Vogele reported the basic entitlement in the elementary and high schools would be based on a school and not a district, which is a favorable change for ‘AA’ districts. The per ANB funding on different levels was omitted. The increases in the package were amazing compared to the Governor’s original package. Basically, high school districts would subtract $.50 per ANB and once you get to 800-1,000, then it stays flat there on out. Every student in every high school would be funded on the same ANB per high school. Mr. Vogel stated the basic entitlement in the elementary district it would $45,000 in fiscal year 2008, $46,350 in 2009; middle schools is $85,000 in 2008, $87,550 in 2009; and, high schools is $270,000 in 2008 and $278,100 in 2009. The per educator is $2,000 today and would go up to $2,100 and the classroom entitlement is also $2,100. Great Falls felt it would be an add on of $45,000 for each of their 15 elementary schools. Trustee Guthals stated the Billings Board has met with Representatives Glaser and Lange. They stressed the inequities and how much money that Billings is short. On the Day of Advocacy, he spoke to the legislators to tell them that SB152 would be trouble for School District #2 unless there would be substantial funds added. Billings has 21 elementary schools and are of large size, 4 middle schools and 3 high schools. Mr. Guthals stated he would be contacting legislators in support of this bill. Pete Carparelli stated there is movement in the right direction but there is some conflict. The bill falls short from the dollars in the consensus proposal. SB152 is at $175,000,000. The consensus was for $230,000,000. The property tax relief bill is HB678 and was connected with another bill last night. Per classroom is not based on number of classrooms but on a formula. Mr. Carparelli reported that he has gotten feedback that districts appreciated the facilities money and felt that capital improvement factor had been dropped out. Darrell Rud reported the name was changed last night from kindergarten to early childhood development. Early childhood development would be based on the desire of the various boards. Mr. Carparelli stated the report from the Senate was to keep focus on SB152 and urged those present not to take their eyes off of the Senate Financial Committee. Now 809 will only be for K-12 education but OPI has money for K-12 education. He will receive notification about the hearing date. The package is in the subcommittee level of funding so there is a new bill there that will require new testimony. Mr. Carparelli believed there would be some movement on the Senate side from the subcommittee levels. The future dates for meetings would be the second Wednesdays and fourth Tuesdays for now. Meetings may start to occur weekly as the session progresses. The next meeting was scheduled for April 4th. The meeting recessed at 1:25 p.m. Legislative Forum for April 4, 2007 Those present included District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Trustee Kathleen Aragon, Steve Henry, Allan Audet, Karen Moses, and Thomas Harper. Districts participating in VisionNet were Butte, Billings, Helena, Missoula, Great Falls, and Bozeman. Don Jones reported SB152 is gone and HB417 is the big bill coming up. Bob Vogel reported it should be up in just a few minutes. HB417, as it stands now, goes back to full day kindergarten and $10,000,000 is for start up that each elementary district would receive. The quality educator payment would go to $3,036 the first year and $3,042 the second year. There would be $1,000,000 for gifted and talented plus the current $250,000 in the OPI budget for gifted and talented. Indian Education for All is $20.40 per ANB, which is the same as in the Governor’s budget plus an additional $14.16 and is one time only money. A small piece for suicide prevention is $220,000 over the biennium and is for mental health screening. One amendment by Don Ryan is looking at the full day kindergarten to the second year implementation which would be $10,000,000 up front start-up funds but districts would not get the ANB until the second year. Those funds would go into miscellaneous funds. Mr. Vogel reported that SB225 is on the second reading in the House and has been amended. SB363 is on the Governor’s desk for signing and gives districts the opportunity to address last year’s budget. Bozeman requested an email detailing where HB417 sits. Bozeman is short $115,000 in the elementary district and $400,000 short in the high school district. Pete Carparelli reported SB417 is on the Senate floor and will try to send out information after 1:30 today. Bob Vogel reported the dollars in SB152 are greater but he is not encouraged right now. Leo Hudetz asked if there was an inflation factor in 417. There is in part on the basic ANB and on the per educator entitlement. Karen Moses stated she emailed as many legislators as possible over the weekend. Republicans said they tried to get it through but the Democrats said no. Bob Vogele stated they are still players and should be at the table to work through the process. He urged all present to keep after the legislators to make their case. The House will reject any changes made by the Senate. Bozeman asked if SB152 would raise property taxes. Bob Vogel replied there are some increases involved. Great Falls reported SB152, in the first year, would go to budget authority without a mill levy and would result in $2,900,000 decrease in property taxes. In the second year, to maintain budget authority there would have to be a mill levy. There would be the same problem in the second year for 417. Butte stated 417 is inadequate and it appeared the districts will be back in court. The next VisionNet was scheduled for April 11th. The meeting recessed at 1:00 p.m. Legislative Forum for April 11, 2007 Those present included District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Trustee Joel Guthals, Superintendent Jack Copps, Allan Audet, and Karen Moses. Districts participating in VisionNet were Butte, Helena, Missoula, Great Falls, Billings, and Bozeman. Bozeman asked what it was that the ‘AA’ districts needed out of 417 and what would they like to see happen. If there is a 4% increase, $115,000 would go to the elementary and $444,000 would go into the high school. Bruce Messenger stated that nothing will change in 417 and if there is to be more money it needs to come in 809. There was a discussion on 809 yesterday on more money for Special Education and possibly one time money that could be used for general fund relief. Bob Vogele reports if the House rejects the Senate amendment, then it goes into the joint committee. Superintendent Copps reported that Billings would have to make cuts if there were only a 4% increase in 417 as it is now. A number of teachers would be cut in the elementary district. Butte reported they had asked the legislators for amendments in 417. Great Falls reported their levies would be based on cost of living only and the second year their district would be hit hard. Missoula is running levies at $500,000 for both districts and it would still be looking at cuts in the first year and the second year does not look good at all. Bob Vogel said the House members see full day kindergarten at risk and it would give leverage to Mike Lange and property taxes. It would give more funding to education while cutting from other areas. If 417 is accepted, then discussion shifts to 809. The Democrats recognize what they have been told and would put more money into the bill, which would be for the second year. Mr. Copps stated a Leadership Conference meeting was held two weeks ago in which the Governor was asked if he would pass school funding if more money was added. The Governor reported he would definitely veto it. Pete Carparelli stated if we accepted the one time only dollars, we probably would not prevail in court so it would be best to stay away from the one time only money. Don Jones asked if there was an opportunity to change it to on-going dollars in 809. Bob Vogel stated that the legislators said there is not anything to put into it unless they take it from other areas. Butte reported their legislators say the Governor will not give any more and asked if they were giving up on the per educator part. Bruce Messenger said to tell them to take it to committee then. Districts need to keep hammering at 417 if we believe that is the best way. We also need to look at 809 if 417 does not make it. If it goes into conference and they take out all day kindergarten, it really complicates things. Jack Copps stated 417 is inadequate and the only way to go is to drive it into conference and add something to it. Bruce Messenger stated 225 is on the Governor’s desk and it should be signed today but the elections would still be held on May 8th. 225 only affects the operational levy. Helena is considering postponing the election until later in May to see where the legislators end up. Great Falls set amounts at 12.92 mills for the elementary. Butte reported their levies are the largest that they have requested in the past seven or eight years. Jack Copps urged the districts to support any per educator dollars. The next VisionNet meeting will be held on April 18th at noon. The meeting recessed at 1:05 p.m. Legislative Forum for April 18, 2007 Those present included Trustee Joel Guthals, Allan Audet, Karen Moses, and Superintendent Jack Copps. Districts participating in VisionNet were Butte, Billings, Helena, Missoula, Great Falls, and Bozeman. Pete Carparelli was expecting to see HB417 debated today as it was scheduled without prior notice. The House passed 809 yesterday with no changes except for the flex fund. Legislators took out $10,000,000 and put it into the flex fund for the second year. 809 passed 100-0 and Lange’s HB 678 passed 99-1. Bozeman asked if the House had rejected the Senate’s amendments. The House is debating it today for the second reading on the floor. Bob Vogele reported the latest rumor was that they are looking at a way to take 417 as it is and accept the Senate amendments. That means it would preserve full day kindergarten. 678 is based on enrollments of 250 for elementary, 450 for middle school, and 800 for high schools which is a little bit better than on a school basis. They are also looking at expanding language on full day kindergarten for districts that cannot do it right away. Bozeman legislators have stated they would not vote for 417 the way it was at the present time. Pete Carparelli felt the second year has to be addressed and the one time money has to stop. The legislators are creating dollars that are going away. We have to get things that are more on going. We would be open to looking at the per unit entitlement. Butte reported the message that came back to them was that kindergarten would be cut. 417 does not work as it is presently. Bob Vogel stated that there were too many Democrats that were getting nervous due to the messages they were receiving from home. Jack Copps reported that Billings was communicating with legislators all week that 417 is unacceptable. Trustee Guthals said he had been communicating with legislators and let them know districts would be in big trouble in 2008 and it would be a disaster in 2009. As soon as he receives the new numbers, he will contact them again to let them know what the impact would be on School District #2 students. Missoula reported they had been sending similar messages to their legislators and he asked what it would mean if language was added to 417 for kindergarten. Bob Vogele reported the additional language would be to allow districts more flexibility so they could get grant money if they were not able to implement kindergarten right away. Great Falls asked for direction in communicating with their legislators. Pete Carparelli stated not to bother with Don Ryan as he has sabotaged many things. He urged them to email the legislators on a consistent basis. Bob Vogel reported there was an initiative in the Senate on education funding but thought that they would call for another interim funding study. Pete Carparelli believed that would only be a stall tactic. He reported that the Montana Education Association has made the statement that 417 is good and to move it forward without any improvements. The amendment to 678 would boost basic entitlement for districts and would give additional dollars to schools and tax relief at the same time. That would be on a per unit basis based on $50,000 per elementary school of 250 students, $62,000 on a 450 student middle school, and $260,000 for an 800 student high school. Trustee Guthals asked if HB809 had $44,000,000 for the trust fund for facilities. Pete Carparelli reported $10,000,000 had been taken out and put into the flex fund in the second year for one time only money. He felt the legislators should be looking at the bigger picture and not support that. The next VisionNet meeting would be held on April 25th at noon. The meeting recessed at 1:00 p.m. Legislative Forum for April 25, 2007 Those in attendance were Superintendent Jack Copps, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Trustees Sandra Mossman and Joel Guthals, Karen Moses and Thomas Harper. Those participating in the VisionNet were Helena, Billings, Great Falls, Butte, Bozeman, Kalispell and Missoula. Darrell Rud stated HB678 was scheduled to be heard last night but was postponed until today. HB809 needs action with 678 to know what is available. HB617 will not move at this time. The Senate was getting fairly close to tax relief for property owners. Bob Vogel reported Michael Lange verbally attacked the Governor and the Democrats this morning. He was not sure what would take place now. The attack did not occur in the presence of the Governor but in the Republican caucus. There are certain aspects in 803 that the caucus finds objectionable and Mr. Vogel was still hoping that it would resolve itself in the next few days. 833 is on the floor now and there are 10 or 12 tax bills put together in that bill. There are issues in there that would raise additional revenue. Pete Carparelli stated that if the session were to end by Friday, 833 and 678 have to be brought together. We have to find the moderates who will step up and support school funding. He asked the school districts to let them know if there is someone who is in support of school funding and they would approach them. Trustee Guthals suggested a member of the Republican caucus, Roy Brown, might be worth talking to. At first Roy Brown was critical of the school districts and how they spend their money. Mr. Guthals had a long conversation this morning with Dan McGee from Laurel who was concerned about the lack of school funding. Mr. Guthals’ impression with Bill Glaser is that he is more than willing to provide school funding. Butte voiced their concerns that the end result will be that everyone is going to hold their line. Bozeman did not feel there were any moderate Republicans to talk to but if the game switches over to the Senate, Gary Perry may be a person of interest. Kalispell did not see anyone from the area that was wavering. Superintendent Copps felt there was no reason to meet with Elsie Arntzen. Great Falls stated Mike Millburn is more rural oriented and wouldn’t have anything to offer. Darrell Rud suggested Lew Jones from Conrad might be a possibility. Kalispell reported Dr. Clark spoke to Bill Nooney who appeared to be a moderate and would ask Dr. Clark to contact Bill Nooney again. Trustee Guthals stated he would send Ernie Dutton and Ken Peterson emails to ask for help in moving on. Trustee Mossman reported that Gary Branae felt Ernie Dutton was the best bet. Bob Vogel felt that if it goes into special session, there is less likelihood of tax reduction. Helena felt that they should work on OPI more. Bob Vogel suggested OPI be told that there are concerns about what is being seen occurring and more money is needed for the second year. All of the districts would contact OPI to urge them to go for more school funding. Superintendent Copps suggested that the districts let OPI know that the school personnel are not happy with Linda McCollough’s take on the issues. Linda McCollough should lobby the Governor to let more dollars loose for schools. Trustee Mossman felt that if Kim Gillen did not hear from the District, her allegiance could go elsewhere. Keep contacting Kim Gillen. The next scheduled meeting was set for May 2. The meeting recessed at 1:00 p.m. Legislative Forum for May 2, 2007 Those in attendance were Trustees Sandra Mossman, Kathy Aragon, Superintendent Jack Copps, District Clerk Leo Hudetz, Thomas Harper, and Karen Moses. Districts participating in the VisionNet were Bozeman, Billings, Helena and Great Falls. The group discussed the failure of the regular session to agree on school funding and discussed strategy for the upcoming special session. Bob Vogel reported Senator Elliott was pretty adamant about some of the tax reform items and wanted to go after out of state taxes. The Senate adjourned at 11:30 that morning. Great Falls reported they spoke to Representative Franklin last week who was angry with the Republicans and would have a hard time working with her counterparts across the aisle. Bob Vogel stated House Appropriations went into session at 11:00 on Friday. HB2 met a bare bones budget that had been put together. Senate Democrats got the idea to put it together and put it back on the Senate floor and the game began to see who could get it done. Mr. Vogel felt they needed to find the dollars and put it into a bill and make it happen. Trustee Mossman reported the District’s plan is to send a letter to 27 legislators in Yellowstone County. There will be a special Board meeting on Monday to get all members of the trustees included. She will send a copy to Bob Vogel or Lance Melton and they will get it out to everybody. Bob Vogel stated the leaders would meet in Billings next Monday so timing is good. They want to lay out what needs to happen to get the job done. Democrat Cooney is the House leader and Carol Williams will be there but nothing was known if the Republicans would attend. Superintendent Copps stated they need to have some kind of strategy after the special session is over as whatever the schools receive will not identify the court case. He suggested more pressure be put on those officials to aid the schools to receive the necessary funding. He felt that, historically, this session would be remembered as one of the worst. Bob Vogel stated he believed we will end up back in court and that the schools need to tell the legislators what they need. Great Falls has sent emails to their legislators telling them what was needed when they go back into session. Bob Vogele stated the vehicles have to be there and there has to be at least a tax rebate relief. There must be an increase in educator entitlement and the same with the basic entitlement. Mr. Vogel urged those in attendance to continue to work on Glaser. He felt Lange’s tirade weakened the Republican standing. Representatives Branae and Grinde should also be contacted. The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m. Sandra Mossman, Chair Diane Blevins, Recorder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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