On April 28, the RSU/MSAD 40 School Board narrowly approved a $21,489,112 budget to send to voters.
The proposed 2011/12 budget is a 2.98 percent ($621,155) increase over the current year’s budget. The board also approved sending the budget to voters as a closed article, which means that voters will have the opportunity to decrease the budget but not increase it.
The total local contribution to the proposed budget is $12,126,864.65, a 4.58 percent ($531,108) increase over current year’s budget.
The budget the board approved removes about $300,000 in cuts discussed by the RSU/MSAD 40 Budget Committee during their nearly three month deliberation process on the budget.
The school board passed the proposed budget by a vote of 506 to 444. School board members have weighted votes based on their town’s voting population.
Prior to the vote, board members in favor of the budget said the proposed cuts would detract from the quality of education in district schools.
The proposed cuts would have eliminated several staff positions: a full-time teaching position; a full-time librarian (in addition to a librarian eliminated in the board-approved budget) leaving only one librarian for the district; half of an assistant principal position; a half of a physical education position; and a half of a music position.
The cuts would also have included an $8000 reduction to summer curriculum development hours for teachers, a $12,000 cut to the technology budget, a $10,000 cut to special education and nearly $50,000 in cuts from miscellaneous books, supplies and materials throughout the district.
Board members in support of the budget pointed out that the budget they approved reduces many operating costs as compared to last year. The $621,155 increase to the overall budget is less than the increase from changes in areas of the budget they don’t control, such as increases to transportation and heating fuel costs and reductions to state aid.
Board Chairman Bonnie Davis-Micue, who voted in favor of the budget, described the proposed cuts as a means of giving the board “an idea of where we would need to go” to get the budget down from the three percent increase.
“After looking these cuts over, you have to start asking if we’re affecting the quality of education in SAD 40,” said board member Dana Dow before the vote.
Board members opposed to the budget questioned whether increasing class size would have a significant negative impact on education. Board member Ron Dolloff said the district already has some of the smallest classes in the state.
“I listen to the taxpayers, and I know this is a difficult time. I personally would vote to support this budget without blinking an eye, but as a representative of the district, I can’t support it,” Dolloff, who voted against the budget, said. “I will vote for this budget in the booth, but not here.”
Opponents to the budget questioned whether voters would approve the budget when it goes before district residents at a town-meeting-style vote on June 7 at 7 p.m. at Medomak Valley High School.
If voters reject the proposed budget, the budget approved by the board on April 28 will take effect until a new one can be drafted and sent to voters.
Once approved at the town meeting vote, the budget must go to a ratification vote in each town. The ratification vote will be held by secret ballot on June 14 in each town, and will be a simple yes or no vote on the total budget.
Along with the general budget articles, voters will also be asked to approve two additional articles to add a fuel contingency fund and buy two new buses.
The fuel contingency fund article requests $75,000 to establish a fuel stabilization fund. The money in that fund can only be spent on heating and transportation fuel if all the fuel money in the budget is spent in a given year. Any money in that fund not spent will roll over into the next year and remain in the fuel stabilization fund.
The bus purchase article requests $54,000 to make the first year’s payments on two new school buses. The two buses requested in this article are in addition to two new buses included in the general budget.
“There were years we tried to squeeze the budget and not buy buses, and this is the catch up,” Davis-Micue, Chairman of the RSU/MSAD School Board.
Each town’s share of the local contribution is determined using a combination of student population and property values.
As proposed, Waldoboro’s share is 35.6 percent, or $4,316,691. This is a 3.38 percent ($141,048) increase over the current year.
Warren’s share is 25.88 percent, or $3,138,942; a 5.53 percent ($164,349) increase over the current year.
Union’s share is 15.51 percent, or $1,881,350; a 4.4 percent ($79,340) increase over the current year.
Friendship’s share is 12.95 percent, or $1,570,769; a 4.73 percent ($70,944) increase over the current year.
Washington’s share is 10.05 percent, or $1,219,114; a 6.60 percent ($75,428) increase over the current year.
