Damariscotta voters will reconvene Thursday, May 28 to consider the same 2015-2016 secondary education budget proposal voted down at a special town meeting May 6.
The special town meeting will take place at 6 p.m. at Great Salt Bay Community School if the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen approves the meeting warrant during the board’s regular meeting Wednesday, March 20.
A small group of Damariscotta voters rejected the budget during the May 6 meeting at the town office. The secondary education budget contains all expenses for Damariscotta students in grades nine through 12. Most attend Lincoln Academy in Newcastle.
The opposition to the $1,713,896 budget focuses on an overall increase of $444,092 or 34.97 percent over the 2014-2015 budget and a $200,000 expense for one special-education student to attend school out of state.
The remainder of the increase stems from back-to-back hikes in the state-established tuition rate the town pays for students to attend Lincoln Academy, as well as an increase in enrollment.
The Damariscotta School Committee voted 3-0 Tuesday, May 12 to send the same budget back to voters.
Central Lincoln County School System officials and school committee members have indicated that Damariscotta has little choice except to approve the budget and pay the bills.
Damariscotta officials and residents have encouraged taxpayers with concerns about the steep budget hike to join them in contacting their representatives in Congress and in the Maine Legislature.
Congress agreed to fund 40 percent of public special-education expenses when it passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975, yet it never has.
In Maine, a 2004 referendum requires the state to pay 100 percent of public special-education expenses, yet it never has.
The state currently reimburses Damariscotta for 30 percent of special-education expenses two years after the initial expense. The school system hopes to secure a higher rate of reimbursement for the $200,000 bill.
