Sheepscot Valley RSU 12 has set Sat., Sept. 19 for the next district meeting to adopt a budget; the referendum vote is scheduled for Tues., Sept. 29.
In late July, a majority of 1022 voters from the eight towns rejected the proposed $26.6 million spending plan.
Heading toward round three in the process, Supt. Greg Potter said last week he was “disappointed” by the 591-431 vote. Five hundred fewer voters showed up at the polls than at the previous June 9 validation, when an altered $25 million plan was turned down. The regional school unit board originally took a $27.7 million plan to voters, but the majority cut it by nearly $2 million.
Potter said there was a “lot of energy and support” for the second budget adopted at the mid-July district meeting. That support left officials feeling cautiously optimistic.
Seeking reasons for the recent rejection, RSU board member Joan Morin, of Whitefield, commented that some people “voted down the budget because they would do so anyway. The validation vote was not the sentiment of people at the adoption meeting.”
Potter said, “There’s no provision in the (school consolidation) law to change the process” requiring that the district open-town-meeting style vote be validated later at the polling place.
There will be a morning meeting of the RSU finance committee at Whitefield School Thurs., Aug. 13 beginning at 9 a.m. to “listen to suggestions you might have to share,” said chairman F. Gerard Nault.
All RSU meetings are open to the public.
Nault said his committee’s goal is to have a preliminary budget by Aug. 20 and a final version on Sept. 3 that will be suitable for adoption. “We will be looking at a reasonable number of decreases,” he said.
By then, said board director Richard DeVries of Westport Island, “We’ll have more knowledge of funds” that can be applied.
DeVries also said that the board “should make every effort (in revising the budget) to stay away from the impact on the classroom,” turning its attention instead to transportation, stimulus money, supplies, and tuition reimbursements as areas to make cuts. Requiring parents to pay transportation and sports participation costs for their kids would “hurt some people, those who can afford it least,” DeVries said.
He urged greater transparency concerning why the last budget the board presented to voters was $1 million greater than the adjusted $25 million budget the majority insisted on at the early June adoption meeting. “Put it on the table,” he said. “Maybe it’s in contracts we can’t get away from.”
Nault said that state Dept. of Education officials “are sharing more information as we go along. The more informed we are, the better decisions we can make.” He added, “The Legislature next January will be cutting the state budget because there isn’t enough money. One area they’ll cut is education, by millions of dollars. That means (reductions) will be transferred down to the RSU.” The challenge for the school unit will be “leaving enough money in the budget so as not to shortchange the education of your students,” he said.
Morin stressed that “these communities have to realize the importance of a good education.”
Towns belonging to RSU 12 are Wiscasset, Westport Island, Alna, Whitefield, Chelsea, Windsor, Somerville and Palermo.
In other business, Potter accepted with regret the resignation of administrative assistant Heidi Leinonen, who previously worked with Wiscasset Supt. Jay McIntire. Potter said, “She has been invaluable to me coming into this RSU,” a sentiment echoed by board chairman Thomas Birmingham, who thanked Leinonen “for all your good work.”
The directors also accepted the resignation of Somerville member Eric Peaslee and welcomed the new Chelsea member, Betty Larrabee, who replaces Rick Cote.
Wiscasset fourth grade teacher Caroline Harris resigned to accept a teaching position at Great Salt Bay School.
