A joint meeting of the Board
of County Commissioners (Board) and the Board of Education (BOE) was held at
Winchester Hall, 12 East Church Street, Frederick, Maryland on Tuesday, July 8,
2003.
Commissioner John L.
Thompson, Jr., President, called the meeting to order at 1:18 p.m.
In attendance from the Board
were Commissioners Mike Cady, Vice President, John Lovell, Jr., Jan
Gardner and Bruce Reeder.
In attendance from the Board
of Education were Ronald Peppe, II, President, Jean Smith, Vice
President, and Bonnie Borsa. BOE member, Donna Crook, entered the meeting
at 1:37 p.m. Absent were BOE members Daryl Boffman, Linda Naylor, and Michael
Schaden.
Also in attendance were Dr.
Jack Dale, Superintendent, Ray Barnes, Executive Director of Facilities
Services, and Hal Keller, Executive Director, Fiscal Services, Frederick County
Public Schools (FCPS), and Judith Ricketts, Administrative Director, Board of
Education. Also in attendance from the
County were Doug Browning, County Manager, and Deborah Smith, Recording
Secretary.
The meeting began with the
recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mr. Peppe indicated that
there was not a quorum for the BOE. He indicated that the BOE would vote on
acceptance of the minutes for Tuesday, June 17, 2003 at another time.
The minutes for Tuesday,
June 17, 2003 were approved as amended, inserting the words, “Commissioner Cady
exited the meeting at 3:00 p.m.” by consensus of the Board.
Potential Items for
BOCC/BOE Retreat
The Board and BOE considered
the following items to be on the agenda for the joint Retreat scheduled for
Monday, July 21, 2003.
The participants discussed
the anticipated outcome of the Retreat. It was decided to start the day at 9:00
a.m.
Mr. Peppe indicated that the
BOE would like to discuss the roles and responsibilities each group believed it
held.
Commissioner Cady moved to
employ a facilitator until at least noon the day of the Retreat. Commissioner
Gardner seconded the motion. After Board discussion of the motion, it failed,
by vote of 2 – 3, with Commissioners Thompson, Lovell and Reeder opposed.
Both bodies agreed to
include Doug Browning, County Manager, and Dr. Jack Dale, Superintendent,
Frederick County Public Schools, at the Retreat.
Status of East County
High School
Mr. Barnes presented
information regarding actions taken regarding the East County High School since
the May 20, 2003 meeting.
Members of the Board and BOE
asked questions and made comments to which Mr. Barnes responded.
It was stated that the site
must be acquired by August 15, 2003 or an alternate site would be pursued.
Public comments were
received from:
¨
Janet Ingram, Mt. Airy
¨
Mr. Wilcox, Manager,
Land Stewards, LLC
¨
Lauren Fox, Frederick
County resident
The Board responded to those
persons making public comments.
Comparison of the FY
2003 BOE Budget to the FY 2004 BOE Budget
Mr. Keller presented
information regarding the FY 2004 BOE budget amounts by category. During his
presentation, the Board asked questions to which Mr. Keller and Carl Parks, Budget
Analyst, Frederick County Public Schools, responded.
At the end of the
presentation, the Board asked additional questions of Mr. Keller, regarding the
matter of BOE accounting for surplus funds from year to year, to which Mr.
Keller, Dr. Dale and Mr. Peppe responded.
The gavel was passed to
Commissioner Cady.
Commissioner Thompson
attempted to clarify the information presented to the Board by the BOE. The
participants discussed the matter at length.
The gavel was returned to
Commissioner Thompson.
It was agreed between the
Board and the BOE that, in future years, the BOE would set the amount of the
excess by March 1.
Commissioners Lovell and
Reeder exited the meeting at 3:17 p.m.
Discussion of BOE
Current Expense Fund Amendment Requests
Commissioner Thompson
indicated that he would be making a presentation on Thursday, July 17, 2003,
during the regularly scheduled meeting, regarding the amendment requests made
to the Board from the BOE.
Commissioners Lovell and
Reeder returned at 3:29 p.m.
Commissioner Gardner brought
forth the subject of the Howard County Public School System Performance Audit
and suggested that the subject be put on the agenda for August’s joint meeting.
Copies of the Executive Summary of the Howard County Audit would be forwarded
to the Board from the BOE.
Dr. Borsa and Commissioner
Reeder made comments.
Being no further business,
the meeting adjourned at 3:48 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Deborah
A. Smith
Recording
Secretary