FINCOM 03-09-2015

Source page 1

Town of Canton Finance Committee Minutes Voted on: 3/16/15 
Meeting Minutes Vote: 6 -0 -5 
Monday, March 9, 2015 
Members Present: 
Rob Barker, Sepp Bergschneider, Jim Casamento, Jerry Dorfman, Nichola Gallagher, Dianne Gustafson, 
Mark Porter and Jim Sims. 
Members Absent: 
Stephanie Leach, Tim McKenna, Barbara Saint Andre, and Diane Wolff. 
Guests Present: 
Ken Berkowitz, Police Chief 
Tony Braconi, Article 34 sponsor 
Dr. Adrienne Macki Braconi 
Charlie Doody, Fire Chief 
Jim Murgia, Finance Director 
Ellen Jones, Finance Committee Secretary 
Opening: 
A meeting of the Canton Finance Committee was called to order at 7:05 p.m, on Monday, March 9, 2015 
in the Salah Meeting Room of Town Hall. 
A. Approval of Agenda 
Sepp Bergschneider reviewed the items on the agenda. 
B. Announcements 
There were no announcements made at the meeting. 
C. New Business 
Article 34 — Full -Time Kindergarten — Mr. Braconi and his spouse, Dr. Macki Braconi, gave a 
PowerPoint presentation advocating for a full -day kindergarten (FDK) program. Mr. Braconi is the 
sponsor of Article 34. Some of the highlights of Mr. Braconi's presentation included but were not limited 
to the following: 
• A desire to end the "lottery" system currently in place. 
• Identify funds to alleviate the present tuition of up to $3,500. 
• Mr. Braconi would provide an updated PowerPoint document once he receives enrollment 
numbers from the School Department. 
• The FDK program received mixed reviews from the School Committee (SC), as the SC was 
focusing on other requests at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting such as an eight classroom 
addition to the Hansen Elementary School. 
• Relieve stress for parents. Mr. Braconi told the Committee about his recent experience of going 
through the lottery system for his daughter, for which she was not chosen for the FDK program. 
• Registration took place two weeks ago. Mr. Braconi expressed an interest in returning with 
updated numbers based on these registration numbers. 
• Mr. Braconi reported that 91 % of communities offer FDK and that 71 % of those offer free FDK. 
Ms. Gustafson expressed concern as to how the fixed costs budget may be affected by the expansion of 
the kindergarten program. Mr. Braconi stated that his current model included the hiring of 1 to 1' /Z FTEs 
(approximately $80,000). Mr. Braconi said that he would be open to suggestions and ideas on how to 
identify funding for this program. 
FINCOM 03092015 MINUTES,doc Page I of 5 03/11/2015