The RSU 50 school budget of $9,264,722 was rejected at the polls on Aug. 7 and the school board will now be considering ways to strike a balance between services and costs. The school board has directed its superintendent to come back with a variety of alternatives to its school budget dilemmas.
“We had a really good citizen turnout, just shy of 1,000 voters,” said Superintendent Larry Malone. “It was probably one of the largest votes we have had.”
The budget was defeated by a 2-1 margin (315-661). Voting by towns was as follows: Crystal, 8 yes, 35 no; Dyer Brook, 7-61; Hersey, 2-4; Island Falls, 29-126; Merrill, 11-1; Moro Plantation, 4-25; Mount Chase, 21-146; Oakfield, 20-86; Patten, 48-68; Sherman, 83-34; Smyrna, 11-27; and Stacyville, 71-27.
There are people who want the budget below last year, and Malone said, “that impact means personnel.” And then there was a strong contingency saying maintain services.
“I think there has to be a balance between services, a little bit more tax relief to the communities and what is that balance?” Malone asked.
“I think if we do a combination of the two, we do some of those things that might have to come back another year and you entertain some reductions, even though we still have not hired some people yet so I am not sure of the savings, you might want to get it down to one percent over last year’s budget.”
“The one percent is scary for me,” said board member Steve Walker. “I would not be OK with the one percent if we are hitting the students. I do not want to affect the students.”
The school board directed Malone to bring options on items that would have less of an impact on students.
During the meeting, the board accepted the resignation of Erin Schmidt as Katahdin’s High School principal. Schmidt is transferring to the sixth-grade position at Southern Aroostook.
“We have heard over and over from the community that we have too many principals,” said Malone. “So, come Aug. 19, you will need to give consideration on whether or not you are going to put an administrator back into that position. Or, are we going to restructure our current administration to serve our schools.
“I don’t think it is in the best interest of either district that we have one administrator do a K-12 system, whether it be at Southern Aroostook or Katahdin,” he added. “The school systems are still big enough, there are still the needs and it is the grade span that is hard to cover.”
The question to consider is “Does the district share an elementary principal or a high school principal? “Both would mean restructuring,” said Malone. “Each have unique challenges and each will have to have support service around them. It is a cost center that was put out there in regards to giving support for wanting some reduction.”
Other considerations for budget impact include the following:
Malone and Lynn Rush have worked in Special Education and have assessed the needs in each school and have reassigned personnel.
“There was no reduction in force,” said Malone.
There were five ed techs in Katahdin and three in Southern Aroostook. One of the ed techs from Southern Aroostook will be reassigned to Katahdin because of the school’s need. There were nine Ed Tech II positions and three were reduced to Ed Tech I based on seniority.
“There was a small amount of savings,” Malone added.
The changes were made between the end of July and first of August.
The district is also anticipating a reduction in force in a couple of years because of dropping class sizes at Katahdin Elementary School. The grades 7-8 classes are shrinking from 60 students to 30. There are four teachers now. The board will need to consider whether to keep all staff on board.
Another consideration is in library services. Malone noted that the state EPS Formula funds the library 720 to 1.
“We have less than 800 students and two full-time librarians,” he said. “You are not getting the maximum benefit of funding.”
If the district goes to one full-time librarian and a library ed tech, it hits an impact area of teacher contracts. A librarian is a certified teacher and there are “bumping” rights inside teaching positions.
Malone cautioned the board to be aware of contractual agreements when looking at reduction in force and to keep the impact distributed evenly on both sides of the district.
The next district budget workshop is Tuesday, Aug. 19 at the Island Falls Municipal Building to come up with a finalized budget.
The board agreed to use a central location for the budget workshops and meetings, hoping to draw more people from the towns they represent.
Regular school board meetings will alternate between Southern Aroostook and Katahdin schools.
On Aug. 25, a special meeting will be held at Katahdin Elementary School to sign the warrants. If the board needed to take any actions as far as reductions in staff, they would be acted on that night, as well. RSU 50 will distribute the warrants and absentee ballots by Aug. 28. The district budget meeting is scheduled for Sept. 16 at the Island Falls Municipal Building and a referendum validation vote on Oct. 2.
“If the budget is defeated again, we may have to call a special meeting to get moving quickly before our regular board meeting in October,” said Malone.
The district still has open positions at Katahdin for high school math, middle school science and world language, which is a shared position between the schools; and Southern Aroostook has not filled a high school science position.
“We are working through the applicants,” said Malone.
In other business:
Greg Ryan and Phil Knowles were both reelected as chairman and vice chairman, respectively. Christine Brewer of Oakfield resigned due to other commitments and time constraints.
Rick Larrabee has been hired as the history teacher at Katahdin Middle School. Sandra McNally requested to be reduced to half time and bus driver Leanne Slauenwhite was granted a one-year leave of absence.
Hiliary Lane was named SACS junior class advisor and Harriet Cyr advisor of the National Honor Society at SACS.
Deb Coolong and Jackie Davenport both retired from the district, while Lisa Oliver and Angela Raymond both have resigned.
Phil Faulkner was appointed as the athletic director/site supervisor for Katahdin and Jonathan Poisson was named the Katahdin varsity boys soccer coach. Holly Vining was hired as junior high soccer coach at SACS.
The phone system at Southern Aroostook is being installed.
The board accepted a bid for $82,160 to lease/purchase on a 77-passenger bus.
