HOULTON, Maine — A small group of about 25 residents, including school board members, gave their approval to a revised spending plan for RSU 29 during a special district meeting Thursday evening at Houlton High School.
The revised budget of $12,751,396, is an increase of about 0.57 percent over last year, but features no “additional local” dollars for the fourth straight year. RSU 29 will receive $9,240,465 from the state next year, which is an increase of $423,224 over the previous year. The required local share, which is the amount the district must raise to receive those state funds is $3,192,008 (an increase of $84,164). Last year’s budget was $12,679,258.
All of the warrant articles Thursday passed by an overwhelming margin. One resident from Monticello posed questions to the board on the subject of Wellington School.
Earlier in June, voters rejected the original $12.9 million spending plan at the polls, 318-450. The board then came up with a plan to trim $150,927 from the overall budget, by eliminating an assistant principal position (which was a new position slated for Houlton Elementary School next year), at a savings of $72,000; eliminating a plan to lease modular classrooms ($48,312 per year); cutting $15,615 from the Houlton Southside School After-School Program; and cutting $15,000 from the heating oil account.
The elimination of the modular classrooms prompted the need to shuffle grades in the district. The other option was to move pre-K to Houlton Southside School for one year, with the idea of moving the sixth- and third-grade classes in the 2015-16 school year.
A public referendum on the budget will be held Tuesday, July 14.
