Thanks school board for support

To the editor:
    I’m very grateful to the residents of the SAD 29 towns and to the members of our school board for your support of the proposal to lower the required local share brought forward at the school budget public hearing on June 15. As a result of our action, there will be a $248,270 decrease in the amount our district municipalities must raise for the 2011-12 school year while still allowing us to receive the full amount of state subsidy.
    This will benefit us all.
    It meets the criteria I believe we’ve all kept in the forefront throughout the budget process. That is: to avoid a negative impact to student services and teaching staff, to use surplus funds wisely, and to ease the burden to the district taxpayer during challenging times. While this change does not eliminate the 16 percent increase for the town of Houlton, it does reduce it.
    I applaud all who came out to the public hearing for your interest in our school and our community. Your input is vital to the process! A special thanks to the SAD 29 Board of Directors and Interim Superintendent Freve for all the time, hard work and effort they’ve expended on this task and especially for their willingness to always remain open-minded to new ideas. They’ve crafted a budget I support and strongly encourage others to do likewise.
Sue Tortello
Houlton