The Financial Planning and Supervision Commission, Mansfield City School District, met Tuesday with seven resolutions on the agenda; but Resolution 15-006, which approves service contracts over $5,000, was discussed at great length.
Paul Marshall asked for clarification regarding the contract with the newly created City Mills Technology.
“Looking at item 23, which talks about this $225,000, it says new. Now I know this isn’t new, I realize things have changed, but was the amount spent with NCOCC for this portion, was that part of the $568,000, or was it in addition to that?” Marshall continued, “The reason I ask that, I thought that by changing vendors we were saving money, and if that quarter of a million dollars is part of that 568 [$568,000], then we are not saving money.”
District Treasurer Rosetta Stephens responded to his concern. “In previous board meetings I gave you all the information, I could give it to you again,” she said.
Marshall replied, “My question is very straightforward. The $225,000, is that really a new expense?”
“Well, it is in the contract. It has to do with services. They provide different services than the previous contract. All the services are different,” said Stephens.
Commission member Jill Haring added to the discourse, “But is it part of the whole, or is it new? That’s what we need to know,” questioned Haring.
“Well, some of the pieces are new, and some of them are the same, and I would have to show you the detail that’s been presented to you before,” Stephens continued, “The service level is different, it’s detailed out in the contract, all the service levels. I could pull all of that out and send it to you again.”
Commission member Mark Brunn said, “I think on the net it looks like we’re spending $70,000 more this year than last year for City Mills and NCOCC versus NCOCC by itself.”
After some more discussion Stephens took leave of the commission to retrieve documents to enable her to better answer their questions. Ultimately the commission passed the resolution, but requested that Stephens provide a report clarifying the issues and comparing specific line items from year to year for comparison.
The commission also questioned the way in which the district’s Public Relations employee, Larry Gibbs is paid. Mansfield City Schools contracts Gibbs through the educational service center (ESC), but he works exclusively for the district.
The district clarified that Gibbs, along with other contractual employees that offer speech, occupational therapy, and some other services are also contracted through the ESC at a savings. This is largely achieved by paying the employees an hourly rate with no additional benefits, thus a substantial savings to the district.
In other business the commission approved the remaining six resolutions which authorized ongoing engagement with the auditor of state, posting of a positions, temporary appropriations, personnel changes, service contracts, and transfers to the general fund.
The next meeting of the commission is slated for August 25 at 3:30 p.m.
