Tough budget decisions await SAD 29 board

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Tough budget decisions may be in store for the SAD 29 school board after Superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick painted a gloomy financial picture for the next fiscal school year at the board’s Dec. 7 meeting.
    Fitzpatrick updated the board on possible budget curtailments by the state for the 2010-11 fiscal year, which could result in reductions across the board.
    “The budget curtailment for MSAD 29 is going to be $105,000,” he said. “There was a $38 million curtailment to educational funds statewide. There is a projected $400 million deficit statewide, so they are still trying to find savings, which could impact us.”
    Fitzpatrick said he would not know until later in the school year how this reduced appropriation of state funding would affect next year’s budget.
    “This is real,” he said. “One of the issues is that we have always been fiscally conservative here at MSAD 29. But the budget curtailments have the potential to significantly impact programming, which is a grave concern. Services for our children are paramount and we want to ensure they continue to get a free, quality education. Given the fact that we have been in this state of decline for so long, we are really going to come up against it in terms of programs.”
    Fitzpatrick said SAD 29s collective bargaining agreement puts the base pay somewhat below $30,000 a year for teachers. The state currently provides funding to bring new teachers up to the $30,000 level, but with the state shortfall that money may be eliminated, he said.  
    “So in addition to the $105,000 curtailment, we could be looking at an additional $35,000 loss [$140,000 total], which would make it [creating a budget] somewhat more difficult,” he said. “The big question is how hard are we going to be hit in the next budget cycle?”
    The answer to that question will not be known for some time, Fitzpatrick said. In preparation, Fitzpatrick said he was encouraging staff members to explore ways to cut spending across the board to help reduce the impact. Field trips that would cost the district money have been frozen, Fitzpatrick said.
    “Anything we can do to help the financial picture will be done,” he said. “I think you will see in our budget discussions for next year, different ideas about every expenditure we have. We have always supported and believed that the way out of this economic downturn is not to send people home. The board, through your deliberations, have determined that which you believe to be essential programs for our students. There are no guarantees, but as a last resort we cut programs.”
    The process of building the 2010-11 budget will begin in the coming months, Fitzpatrick said.
    The board also took an initial step toward switching to an alternative heating source when it authorized the superintendent to develop a grant proposal through McCormack & Associates for a wood chip boiler. Additional information will be presented to the board at its January meeting on this proposal.
    Newly elected board members Lori Holmes and Tammy Goetsch were welcomed by school board members. Voters in the November election named Holmes and Goetsch to the board. Board members also heard a 40-minute presentation from Dawn Dougan, curriculum coordinator, on the No Child Left Behind program.
    In other action items, the board:
    • Extended the contract of Superintendent Fitzpatrick for the 2010-11 school year.
    • Voted to allow assistant hockey coach Mitch Holmes to continue in his position, albeit as an unpaid volunteer. Holmes is the husband of newly elected board member Lori Holmes and according to Fitzpatrick no spouse of a school board member is allowed to have a paid position in the district.
    • Named Sandra Wilkins as its new chairman, and Elizabeth Anderson as vice chairman.
    • Approved Kim McGary and Michelle McClure as a junior high cheering co-coaches.
    • Approved Marc Faulkingham and John White as a fifth and sixth grade boys basketball coaches.
    The next school board meeting will be Monday, Jan. 4, 2010 at 6 p.m. in the superintendent’s conference room.