A “no” vote at the polls Tuesday on the revised Sheepscot Valley RSU 12 budget is the preference of the board of directors.
Joan Morin, of Whitefield, said the severely reduced budget approved by voters last week “is not one anyone could reasonably live with and provide a quality, equitable education.”
The board met June 4, two days after voters packed a district town meeting in Whitefield (LCN 6-4-09) and approved chopping 10 percent from the regular instruction line.
Cuts elsewhere reduced the proposed $27.7 million budget to $25.8 million.
Board member Hilary Holm said that $1.3 million of the overall $1.8 million reduction would have to be taken from the budget line that includes teachers, books, and high school choice tuitions.
During public comment time at the board meeting, Whitefield resident Steve Gorrill asked, “If the budget had been simply cut 10 percent, would it have been easier for you to find places to cut?”
Chairman Lester Sheaffer answered, “There would have been more flexibility.”
The problem with a “yes” vote is that the RSU board cannot move more than five percent between budget categories and therefore “cannot move enough money to make up for the inequitable reduction in the regular instruction line,” according to an information flyer the board has disseminated leading up to the June 9 validation vote.
The flyer states: “Due to school choice and fixed tuitions, the entire $1.3 million reduction to regular instruction will (come) from the schools the RSU operates (all primary schools, all middle schools, and Wiscasset High School).”
A “no” vote, on the other hand, would allow the RSU to present a new budget. Another regional meeting would be scheduled, preferably on a Saturday morning.
At the June 2 meeting, debate and voting continued past midnight, long after many voters had left. Attending the meeting were townspeople from Wiscasset, Westport Island, Palermo, Alna, Somerville, Windsor, Whitefield and Chelsea.
Should a “no” vote prevail, there would be the same opportunity, as on June 2, to discuss and adjust figures in the budget before a final validation vote at the polls.
