Edgecomb residents will consider a $4,539,384 education budget at a special town meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 2.
The recommended budget is a $380,731 or 9.2% increase from last year. Taxpayers will be responsible for a total of $3,503,673, a $520,250 or 17.4% increase.
The Edgecomb School Committee initially recommended the budget in early March after two three-hour meetings. Committee Chair Heather Sinclair voiced her frustration at the March meetings, saying the process of funding education can be difficult and uncontrollable.
The sharp increase to the taxpayers’ responsibility, according to Heather Sinclair, is due in part to the school committee not knowing how much of the unassigned fund balance could be used to offset taxes. She anticipates an amendment will come be considered at the May 2 meeting regarding the utilization of those funds to lower the tax assessment.
“Education is expensive, but education in Edgecomb is not abnormally expensive,” Sinclair said. “The cost per student as calculated by the state is slightly above state average but below several surrounding districts.”
The budget includes an anticipated increase in special education needs, a proposed lease agreement with First Student for a bus, and funding to hire a full-time kitchen faculty member.
The $927,221 special education budget is up $79,830 or 9.4%. Sinclair said the rise is to ensure Edgecomb has adequate services for special education students.
The facilities and maintenance budget totals $371,480, an increase of $29,704 or 8.7%. Within this budget is the elementary school repair and maintenance budget, which totals $47,000, an increase of $26,000 or 123.8%. A portion of the funds is for a project to replace the exterior doors of Edgecomb Eddy School.
The school committee will use a separate warrant article outside of the budget to look at raising funds to address the pothole in the Edgecomb Eddy School driveway.
The transportation and buses budget totals $187,317, a decrease of $3,350 or 1.8%.
Edgecomb’s two school buses are five years into what usually is a 10-year lifecycle for New England school buses, Sinclair said. To avoid having to purchase a brand new bus two years in a row, the school committee agreed to ask the administration to look into leasing one bus from First Student. The potential lease cost of $35,000 is included in the budget.
Elsewhere, $68,808 has been put aside for other expenditures, which is an increase of $33,808 or 96.6%. The rise is in anticipation of the hiring of a full-time kitchen staff Selectionmember at Edgecomb Eddy.
“The proposed change covers the cost of switching from a contracted service to in house kitchen staff,” Sinclair said. “The costs of food and food preparation are covered by state and federal grants that Edgecomb currently sends to the community school district.”
The regular instruction budget totals $2,456,311, an increase of $221,664 or 9.9%. Sinclair said the increase covers contractual salary increases, uncontrollable health insurance increases, and changes in secondary education tuition costs.
The other instruction budget totals $4,000, an increase of $549 or 15.9%. Within this budget is the outdoor experience of Edgecomb Eddy’s sixth grade students, Sinclair said.
“We have moved away from Chewonki, a longstanding tradition, and towards Hearty Roots in an effort to cut costs and continue to develop a relationship with this amazing organization,” Sinclair said.
System administration totals $183,402, an increase of $27,585 or 17.7%. Sinclair said the system administration budget covers Edgecomb’s portion of AOS 98 costs. This year is the second year of bringing a director of technology to the school district’s budget, which accounts for the increase.
“We anticipate this flattening out next year,” Sinclair said.
In other areas of the education budget, the student and staff support budget totals $118,959, a decrease of $3,218 or 2.6%, and the school administration budget totals $221,886, a decrease of $5,841 or 2.6%.
Not everyone in town is happy with this year’s recommended budget, Sinclair said. Throughout the budget process, she and the select board have faced pressure from many residents who are upset about the rising taxes. Unfortunately, Sinclair said, a lot of the rising costs are out of the school committee’s hands.
Like many other towns across the county, Sinclair said Edgecomb doesn’t receive as much state subsidy because of property valuations. Because of the state subsidy formula, the assessment passed on to the taxpayer is high, she said.
“Very little of the budget is directly controllable during the annual budget process,” Sinclair said. “The larger work around developing long-term plans and advocating for changes in revenue is a top priority for the board all year. We are proud of the work we have done to support tuition in students to add to our classrooms and bring in revenue, and over our advocacy work.”
There will be an open town meeting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 2 at Edgecomb Eddy School for the consideration of the education budget.
Voters will then consider validating the budget at the polls on Saturday, May 16, which coincides with the annual town meeting by referendum and election of municipal officers. Polls will be open from 1-7 p.m.
For more information, call 882-7018 or go to edgecomb.org.
