FARMINGTON – More than 350 residents overwhelmingly approved a $35.5 million budget at the district-wide budget meeting Monday evening, setting up a confirmation referendum vote for next Tuesday.
Three hundred and sixty-three voters had registered with town clerks just before the meeting started, filling up chairs and bleachers at the Mt. Blue Campus gymnasium. Residents approved the $35,547,403 budget recommended by the school board, defeating an amendment that sought to remove $461,000 in funds slated for the creation of a program designed to help students control their behavior.
Most of the relatively limited discussion during the meeting focused on the Pathways for All Learners program, which would use specialized personnel to assist two cohorts of students: a grade K-2 group and a grade 3-5 group. The 16 students in the combined groups would qualify through their apparent inability to regulate their own behavior – examples previously provided by teachers and administrators include physical and verbal aggression towards staff and students, threats of self-harm, destroying class equipment and forcing their peers to leave the classroom. Administrators foresee rotating students in and out of the PALs program as necessary, utilizing a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, a social worker, two teachers and six Ed Techs to staff the program.
Residents in attendance questioned the cost of the program, given the relatively small number of directly impacted students, and whether other, more inexpensive options had been considered. Cape Cod Hill School Principal Darlene Paine said that teachers were required to try other, less restrictive methods first: strategies previously employed included altering lessons, taking quiet or movement breaks and using things like wiggle cushions and weighted blankets to try and calm students down. Administrators had researched other programs in other districts, Paine said, and the PALs program had emerged from those discussions.
Others pushed back at the 16-student limit, saying that when a student became dysregulated, it impacted their entire class.
“[The PALs program] actually affects that one student and the other 20 students in that student’s class,” Director Angela LeClair of Wilton said.
A motion to amend Article 1, Regular Instruction, where the majority of the PALs funding was located, by cutting $461,000 failed to pass. Following that motion, residents moved swiftly through the 17 article warrant, passing all articles without further amendments or discussion. The vote on Article 14, the above Essential Programs and Services funding article which requires a written ballot, was 338 in favor to 11 opposed.
As approved, the budget represents an increase of $1.9 million over the current fiscal year or 5.68 percent. It would be funded by roughly $13.3 million from local town assessments and $21 million from the state allocation, an increase of $750,000. Also included in the budget, in addition to miscellaneous revenue, is $288,000 in funds donated by Richard Bjorn to benefit the Foster Career & Technical Education Center. Those funds are included in the Career & Technical Education budget, where they will pay for program improvements such as expanding Composites to a full-time course, creating a pre-engineering course and an introductory program to Foster Tech for 8th graders and underclassmen.
The K-12 budget also includes an additional Cascade Brook School teacher for Grade 3, relating to class size, part-time positions to bring American Sign Language and science teaching positions at the MBHS to full-time, an accountant in the business office and a part-time nursing position.
The proposed budget would result in a 6.25 percent increase in local assessments. Specifically, Chesterville would see a $116,428 increase to $1.05 million, or 12.4 percent; Farmington would see a $248,819 increase to $4.77 million, or 5.5 percent; Industry would see a $104,147 increase to $924,000, or 12.7 percent; New Sharon would see a $48,311 increase to $1.05 million, or 4.8 percent; New Vineyard would see a $42,515 increase to $743,000, or 6.1 percent; Starks would see an $83,029 increase to $463,000, or 21.8 percent; Temple would see a $6,129 increase to $425,000, or 1.5 percent; Vienna would see a $36,470 increase to $722,000, or 5.3 percent; Weld would see a $60,815 increase to $524,000, or 13.1 percent; and Wilton would see a $46,227 increase to $2.82 million, or 1.7 percent.
The Franklin County Adult Basic Education budget passed at the recommended amount of $398,254. That represents a $22,000 increase over the current fiscal year. Of that budget, $174,000 is raised through the local allocation, an increase of $6,000 over the previous fiscal year.
Superintendent Tom Ward, who is retiring in June, received a standing ovation after his opening remarks. He said that he had respect and appreciation for public officials, such as the school board directors, and that he loved the district. He encouraged residents to support the incoming superintendent, Tina Meserve, who, like Ward, is a Mt. Blue graduate.
“We’re all in this together,” Ward said. He went on to say that: “Our future is in our children and in education.”
Ward also recognized Director Jennifer Zweig-Hebert of Starks, the school board chair, who will be leaving the board.
Following Monday’s approval, the budget now moves to a validation referendum next Tuesday, May 15, in all 10 district towns. Voters will be asked to either validate the budget with a ‘yes’ vote or reject it with a ‘no’ vote. Poll times vary from town to town, and are set by the town clerks.
Poll times for the May 15 vote are:
Chesterville – 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Industry – 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
New Vineyard – 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Temple – 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Weld – 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Farmington – 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
New Sharon – 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Starks – 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Vienna – 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Wilton – 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To Scott Erb…..Why didn’t you tell him about the No Child Left Behind data that is on the RSU 9 website?
here is the address:: http://www.mtbluersd.org/nclb-report-cards
Don’t think these test scores leave RSU 9 at 21st in the state.
You make my point Lindy. There are many ways of ranking, and one can always cherry pick things to prove ones’ position. But the WORST data is the standardized test data. Besides the fact the policies are misguided (though we have to do it) in our case it’s the poverty in the district that can explain lower scores. That’s why you look at other factors to judge how well a school is really doing. That’s why focusing on test scores is not only misguided, it’s horribly misleading.
Scott, sex abuse, domestic abuse, alcoholism, drug addiction and negligence is not just in homes classified in the poverty level.
These things can, and do, happen in homes of all socioeconomic levels.
When you say ” in our case it’s the poverty in the district that can explain lower scores. ” How do we know this?
Chance are that a lot of the parents raising children in abusive homes went to school locally ( I’m not blaming the school ) and are passing it on to their children, and probably learned it from their parents. ( it is an ugly cycle )
That also indicates that the home is more influential than school.
So realistically the children need to be removed from the home if real progress is going to be made to change the whole cycle.
Honestly many people are not in positions to have children and in my opinion it has very little to do with their economic level.
Please understand, I am not trying being critical of you, or the district, just pointing out that to me fixing it is larger than just a few percentage points in the budget or how much a family makes a year.
If the district is poor, has poor kids, and poor parents, the perfect way to create a better situation is to tax the parents MORE, right Scott?
I predict that the budget will be voted down next Tuesday but the powers that be will eventually get their way
To Scott Erb….and my point was that most people associate ranking of schools with test scores and the ’21st ranking in Maine’ you referred to is not based only on test scores. Among other things, it includes culture, diversity, and even parent and student reviews. Your referencing that site without clarifying that and with your only comment being ‘we’re number 21’ in response to the person’s particular question implies it IS based on test scores. You did not follow up with an explanation that you were providing that site to show the varieties of school rankings.
Check US NEWS and WORLD REPORT on high school rankings in Maine. MT BLUE HIGH SCHOOL shows only 48% of the students proficient in READING and only 25% proficient in MATH.
Billyjoebob, I posted a link above about the correlation between poverty and poor education results. There’s a lot of literature on the subject. Poverty also correlates high with domestic abuse and other problems we face. Yes, those can happen on all levels, but poverty is a factor. Simple Simon, the theory behind property taxes is that only those with assets will pay the taxes, not the very poor. $20 more in taxes for the average home owner isn’t going to expand poverty; what the schools can do with that could make a big difference in the lives of children.
Our district does very well with giving opportunities to students with initiative and drive – I am so glad my kids are in a district with so much to offer, and excellent teachers and principals (my sixth grade son has told me he has the best principal). But we need to focus on reaching all students, and creating conditions to help kids escape the poverty trap. I hope it’s clear to everyone now that we have been cutting discretionary funding and the “bottom line” increases in the budget is mostly reimbursed mandates from the state. We asked for less from property tax payers the last two years, there has been an intense effort to keep costs as low as possible. But the PALs program, another third grade teacher, an accountant for the system, and a new science teacher at the high school are necessary. I hope people realize the few dollars more they’d pay this year (remembering the school asked for less the last two years) are worth it to our district’s kids.
Hey it’s me, data data, why not put your name? Are you part of the data? If your asking for more money then one would expect better results than what we are getting for OUR MONEY. The PAL program used to be you went to the principles office and then sent home if you couldn’t behave. Admin needs to step up and stop throwing more money at a system that’s not producing positive results consistently.
Thanks for the reply Scott. Yes, I agree poverty can be a factor. One of many that can contribute to our many ills as humans.
Part of being in poverty is that it is very obvious in most cases. I have always believed just because I was financially challenged ( poor ) was no reason to live like a pig. Or abuse my children.
If someone is wealthy and has lots of fancy stuff it is easier to mask to bad things.
I am not saying this is always the case but there are a lot of ugly things coming out of the woodwork right now and it is more than the poor people. Think Hollywood, Pro Sports and politics, to name a few.
This community does a very good job with it’s schools. Read about some of the other areas in the country and the schools are an absolute mess and I see it creeping up here.
I am glad your children are happy at school, that is a very important factor in learning.
I really don’t see that spending more and more will fix this issue. Just not seeing the results.
Mr Billian: When comparing data, its important to know its use. A complete picture comparing school costs, and school results would be great to look at…comparing say 6 or 8 neighboring districts to see how they compare with both costs and results.
Looking at the SAT alone is always interesting, but tells very little unless you compare results from several schools in similar economic areas. Should the lowest cost district have the lowest testing results? the highest? or some low, and some high? Should you look only at the SAT, representing how juniors are doing, or at all MEA results, across the grade levels?
Great questions….
Isn’t the SAT designed for college readiness? Are all kids, in their minds, getting ready for college?
Great test for a purpose, not sure its a great test for the purpose you are looking at.