By Natalie De La Garza
Staff writer
NEW SWEDEN, Maine — After watching their state funding shrink for years, board members of School Union 122 have decided to make some noise about it. During their next meeting, loosely scheduled for February, the board has agreed to further discuss petitioning the legislature for fiscal support.
The three school boards of Union 122 – Woodland, Westmanland and New Sweden, met on Dec. 12 at the New Sweden School. They approved the 2014 budget and accepted the teachers’ contract, but not without airing their grievances as well. Frustrations first arose as the board discussed approving the 2014 budget, which included slight wage increases for the union’s staff at the superintendent’s office. As the teachers’ contract had a 0 percent increase for teacher salaries, the board agreed that no increase should be implemented for all employees.
Chairperson of the Union 122 join board Wanda Anderson, of Woodland, explained that the board is concerned about community support for this year’s budget, as last year was a tough year.
“We feel it would be a lot easier to stand up in front (of the public meetings) this year and get our budget passed when we can share that we have maintained and held the salaries,” she said. The teachers’ contract stipulates that step increases will continue, but all the other salaries will be kept at the same level this year.
“You guys deserve a raise,” Anderson told the employees. “What actually happens is you earn less every year because when the cost of living goes up and we don’t give you anything, you’re paid less,” Anderson added.
Multiple board members were outspoken about the superior quality of work performed by the office staff — the room even applauded their continued good work at one point — but the board maintained their no-increase decision in hopes that flat salaries across the board helps directos pass their budget during respective town meetings this spring.
New Sweden’s school was under scrutiny this fall by community members when a referendum question made its way onto the Nov. 5 ballot, asking voters whether or not they were in favor of closing the school; the referendum failed, narrowly.
The small school has seen a drastic decrease in state funds over the past three years that amounts to nearly $100,000. For the 2010-11 budget, the school received $459,362; in 2011-12, that was reduced to $416,631 and in 2012-13, the school was allocated $366,600.
While the state provided $366,600 for 2012-13, the budget amounted to 771,052 — $518,954 to educate elementary and middle-level students at the New Sweden school, and $252,097 for tuitioning ninth- through twelfth-grade students to RSU 39 in Caribou.
After three years of budget cuts, New Sweden’s cost per pupil in 2012-13 was $9,403. Neighboring Woodland had an $8,335 per pupil cost, while RSU 39’s figure comes in at $9,548. Comparatively, Washburn has a per-pupil cost of $8,916 and Presque Isle’s cost per student is $9,636.
Interim superintendent of Union 122 Roland Caron suggested that in the future, the New Sweden and Woodland school boards work together when negotiating tuition for their students to attend RSU 39; as the board had agreed that they would work together more closely, they agreed to Caron’s suggestion.
Setting their next Union 122 meeting for February, the board members agreed to work closer, communicate better in order to strengthen their service to the schools and communities that elected them.
“If something happens in one of these communities, it’s going to have a very negative impact on the other communities,” Caron explained.
Having made the difficult budgetary decisions for the upcoming year and resolved to work more effectively together, the board turned their attention toward future funding of their schools — and to the legislature.
Caron explained that the superintendents are already fighting for their schools; on the (Essential Programs and Services Funding) forms, “when they give us the allocation for salaries to pay our teachers, they only give us 97 percent as opposed to, in southern Maine, they’re getting 103 percent,” Caron explained. “And they want us to uniform the contract and the severance here — you can’t when you’re already starting it off (at a deficit) so it’s unfair to the people in northern Maine and Washington County.”
As discussed during the meeting, the board is considering a funding petition that dates back to 1973, when the legislature drafted “An Act Providing for a State Lottery.”
The original draft, from the Maine State House of Representatives, stated that “The Purpose of this bill is to provide for a state-wide lottery for the State of Maine with net proceeds to be used to further assist the municipalities, on a per pupil basis, with the cost of secondary and elementary education.”
That education-oriented verbiage was removed from the enacted bill, LD 1938, and in its place were the specifications for lottery proceeds to be distributed to municipalities through the state revenue sharing program.
After years of decreased funding and increased pressure from the communities, the Union 122 school board may petition the legislature directly to use the lottery proceeds exclusively for per pupil educational assistance – regardless, they’re looking to make a little noise.
“Let’s even get the community members of New Sweden, who are frustrated with their taxes, let’s get them to help with the petition, and not push to close the school, but to get enough money to run the school — that’s where we should be putting our energy,” Anderson said. “We’re pitting the people in our towns against each other because they’re struggling to survive.”
During the Dec. 12 meeting, new leadership for the Union 122 joint board was named; chair will be Pat Anderson of Westmanland, vice chair will be Anderson of Woodland and secretary will be Dr. Deb Eustis-Grandy of New Sweden.
