FARMINGTON – The Mt. Blue Regional School District Board of Directors made an initial round of reductions to the 2015-16 district budget Thursday evening, cutting more than $170,000 in supply lines, contingency accounts and teaching positions.
Voters rejected the $32,250,346 budget approved at public meeting at the validation referendum on June 9. Those expenditures, which were rejected in seven of 10 towns, would have represented an increase of 3.9 percent or $1.2 million more than the current fiscal year’s total.
On Tuesday, the board met and considered a list of administration-suggested reductions, as well as other ideas proposed by board directors. Additional items were added to the list Thursday, and directors spent more than 2 hours debating approximately 15 potential cuts totaling more than $300,000.
Directors voted to cut a French/Spanish teaching position at Mt. Blue Middle School, saving $45,000. There was little discussion prior to the unanimous vote, although MBMS Principal Gary Oswald had previously pointed out that while every student is required to take 2 years of either Spanish or French language, many were not interested in taking 2 years of a single language. Previously, an earlier model was used in which most students got a sampling of each language, with those desiring more intensive study choosing a language to take at the middle school through high school.
Half of the Volunteer Coordinator Program budget was cut, saving $28,000. The current coordinator is leaving this year, so the cut would not impact an occupied position. However, board directors debated the issue for several minutes, referring to a list of events supported by the program, such as the Farmington Fair Agriculture Day, the Helping Hands Food Drive event, and the MBMS Career Fair. Additionally, the coordinator organized background checks for volunteers coming into the schools. Directors eventually supported cutting half the position, with the intent of reviewing the impact on volunteer hours in the district over the course of the next year.
Cuts that had been proposed, but not made, included cutting half of the funds for the laptop insurance program, a Special Education teacher at MBMS and a Cascade Brook School classroom teacher.
Two CBS teachers were added as part of the budget process, one at the recommendation of the finance committee and one through a school board vote, due to the size of the classes. Thursday, directors received updates on projected average class sizes for CBS under the different possible scenarios, as compared to Academy Hill School.
Those numbers appeared comparable with a single, additional teacher at CBS, with average classroom sizes ranging from 20 to 24 students. Some directors suggested cutting one of two new positions out of the budget.
“We’ve been trying to do things in increments,” Director Keith Swett of Wilton said, “and we’ve added one teacher already.”
However, other teachers in the audience said that the incoming class would likely need additional support, with one teacher calling them the “neediest group of children,” he had seen in 18 years of teaching.
“With some of these kids,” Director Ross Clair of Chesterville said in support of leaving the position in the budget, “the numbers don’t tell the whole story.”
The vote of the position was seven directors in favor and seven opposed, with a weighted vote of 432 in favor and 517 opposed to making the cut.
Another position, a Special Education teacher at MBMS, was also left in the budget. The additional position was necessary in order to bring caseloads for existing staff to reasonable levels, Special Education Director Christine Gatto-Shea said. Directors agreed, voting down the cut by a weighted count of 387 in favor and 562 opposed.
The issue of laptop insurance drew significant discussion. In the defeated budget, the board had proposed having the district cover the $72 per pupil cost of insurance for laptop computers. Half of that $72,000 cost would be paid for through federal eRate funds, with the other half covered through the operating budget.
Tuesday, the administration had suggested covering the insurance costs only for students qualifying for free or reduced lunches. That would save $36,000. However, a number of directors called that distinction unfair, saying that the district had to cover the cost of all insurance or none at all.
“Isn’t this a form of socioeconomic discrimination?” Director Helen Wilkey of Vienna asked. She said that if the district intended to proceed with that plan, she wanted Superintendent Thomas Ward to seek an opinion from the district’s counsel that the concept was legal.
Directors supported leaving in all the necessary funds to run the program, by a vote of 14 directors to 1.
Supply lines that were cut would impact the music program and library technology funds, as well as $28,000 removed from the heating oil lines due to projected savings. Other, smaller lines, such as $1,000 for administration technology supplies and a stipend relating to the Mt. Blue Middle School Show Choir, were cut due to disuse over the past few years. Another $10,000 was cut out of the Guidance budget, which is running a surplus at the end of the year.
Funds throughout the budget earmarked for substitute teacher pay were cut by $7,500. Ward said that administrators would work to try and reduce the use of substitute pay. One possibility would be including the costs of the subs for some field trips in the fundraising for those trips.
The contingency account for Special Education, a new item at $50,000, was cut in half to $25,000.
Another $13,300 will be removed from the locally-assessed budget by adding two items, 2 hours of daily custodial service around lunchtime and a contract to monitor the temperature of the lunch program freezer, to the school lunch budget. That budget runs in the black each year, without any contribution from the local assessment.
A total of $173,000 was cut out of the 2015-16 budget Thursday evening.
Directors will return Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Mt. Blue Campus to continue discussing cuts. After the budget rejection by voters, the budget review and vote need to be completed within a 45-day time frame. The board is expected to set the budget on July 7, hold the district-wide budget meeting vote on July 21 and the up or down referendum vote on July 28.
Why are we cutting supply lines that will impact our music departments? I thought our district was known for their fantastic music department. Is there absolutely no surplus in the athletic budget? What is the budget for athletics and what is actually spent each year?
Interesting- It sounds as though they are cutting the Middle School Show Choir because of lack of participation.I am not seeing any other funding was cut from the music department. Also, a good portion of the money spent in athletics comes from the All-Sports Boosters.
Participation is down in many “extra-curricular activities”, which I believe is sad. The students I have worked with often have issues coping with stress, often lack basic leadership skills, and often do not wish to engage in structured activity. I am afraid what this generation of students will be like as adults if they can’t cope with what many consider to be basic adversity, can’t work with others outside their family and close friends, and don’t find anything they are passionate about. Art, music, athletics, and structured social activities are important for these students because they develop important work and social skills. I think these “extra-curricular activities” are important formative experiences for children and young adults. They are especially important to students who are stressed out over increasing academic pressure and sometimes rough lives at home.
Are the teachers going to have to find their own volunteers?
In addition to the Show Choir stipend (which has not been used in recent years), the directors are proposing a $5,000 cut to the General Supplies line of the Music program.
To Interesting and Response (and all interested in the budget process):
For the purpose of clarification and understanding:
A stipend position (in this case the Show Choir position) is an extra-curricular budget item used to pay the directors/coaches/etc. for time/services rendered.
General Supplies is a 610 line item for curricular content areas.
These would include content areas with school board approved curriculum (available on the district website for all to view).
Specifically, this proposal suggests cutting $5000 from supplies for curricular general music K-12, all bands, all choruses, and all orchestras.
Director Claire Andrews made a wonderful point about the volunteer coordinator loss. She called on the people in the community to step up and volunteer in the schools. Without a full time volunteer coordinator a lot of previously planned events will not be able to happen or will not happen as easily. She asked people in the community who maybe don’t have money to give to give of their time. In exchange for making this deep cut to a profitable position (with over $300,000 worth of volunteer hours) this is an opportunity for the community members step up and support students. I don’t think it’s clear yet, “me” as to how the new half time position will work. A lot of coordination of volunteers will fall on school administration and teachers but parents and others are crucial to keeping this liege of volunteers involved.
I hope everyone is ready to vote NO again.
or…. We could agree and freeze the budget for 10 years and make them stick to a budget, like we all have to!
Who do we contact and when if our MBMS child wants to continue in his/her french class instead of switching to Spanish. It was said that if they have a desire to continue the language through HS that students could elect to stay in the same language. My child wants to remain in french.
Also, is show choir different from the 6-8 chorus?
To MBMS Parent –
Yes. Show Choir was apparently a choral group that would travel to other schools to compete in events. It’s been defunct for some time now.
The cuts to music, library and guidance were all related to supply type items. We made sure to ask the affected staff for their input on the cuts. No one wants to see their funds reduced but everyone is understanding that cuts have to be found somewhere. The middle school show choir is different from chorus. It was an extra curricular activity that had not been operating for a few years. For middle school students who want to focus on one language over the other, my understanding is that this is a possibility. I would assume you would just contact the school with your wishes or questions.
I have been pleased to see some new faces at meetings this week. Please know that we are meeting again next Tuesday and the public is welcome and encouraged to attend. Also please know that all of the directors are working hard to balance the needs of the students and the taxpayers. If you were in attendance last night you would know that we spend a lot of time discussing options and trying to make the best decisions we can. No one has gone into this process spending willy nilly. Every item is in the budget for a reason. There are many items that we cannot reduce due to federal law, state law, contracts and the like. If you have an item that you feel strongly should or should not be reduced please contact the representative(s) from your town and ATTEND THE MEETINGS, I cannot say that enough. Please know that our intentions are good and we have the best interests of the students at the forefront of our minds.
I would like to thank the Bulldog for very accurate and comprehensive reports of the meetings. Also a big thank you to the administration and staff and all of my fellow directors who are working long and hard to complete this budget process. Hope to see you ALL Tuesday.
I hope you all know that the 174,000 isn’t enough to get the budget passed and it would be a waste of money to bring it to the voters . The budget needs to be cut by at least 1 million to even think of getting it passed at all .I think the earlier comment of freezing the budget at last years level is what most people would like to see .so if the budget you have now goes before voters i urge voters to say “NO” again .
When can we start making cuts at the top and work our way down instead of all way taking away from the students teachers and custodians ?
If you want to save some real money…. Cut salaries by 3%…if they don’t like it, then they can work in another district… Simple math
Tragic.
Re:wood
I voted no of principal. The budget has historically increased at a rate far in excess of inflation in the face of significant enrollment declines over time. The sad fact is that our education establishment has been unable to leverage technology to reduce cost. That is sad. How the board can put to vote more and more positions every year with declining enrollment shows the sad state of our educational system.
That being said, I would support a small increase of 1-2% even though I don’t believe it’s necessary. If $174 is all they give, I will vote no, as you. I would likely accept $550-$600 in cuts, bringing the budget growth at least down to a long term inflation creep of around 2%. If they can’t figure out how to get the job done with 2% more/yr in the face of declining enrollment then we need a new board and new administrators.
Wake up school board and administrators and hear the voters.
They are just going through the motions until the next vote. I feel they are ignoring the will of the people.
I am saddened to see the volunteer coordinator position cut back. Innovation in education comes from being creative with the resources we have. In times when we must be mindful of budget decisions, we should be looking at expanding positions where we get the most bang for our buck rather than cutting. My understanding is that in the last 10 years alone this position has yielded over 14,000 volunteers and over 200,000 hours for a value of over four million dollars. I urge the board to revisit this decision now rather than waiting a year. There is no doubt in my mind that reducing this position will result in reduced volunteer participation, hours and programming. The worst part is that this decision will negatively impact students. I’m sorry to hear this.
I’m not here to get into debate. Just to let it be known a whole lot of people I know say it’s going to be a “no” vote until that budget comes down to no more than a 2% increase.
There better be more cuts than this little amount. This 174,000 should have never been in the budget to begin with. Inflation is no more than 2%. Get the budget down to a 2% increase if you want it to pass. I bet there are very few people working in the private world or on social security getting anywhere near 2%. The school system must live within its mean. We can do that and provide a very good education for our young people. Start at the top. Limit raises for anyone making more than 75,000 to 1%. What percentage do employees pay for medical insurance. I hope it is at least 20% as this is cadillac insurance. And a paid volunteer coordinator position. The list goes on.
A 1.2 million dollar increase would be equivalent to a +3200 dollar increase a day for one year! Eliminating 174000 doesn’t even move the needle that much to matter. Look I understand we need funding for education but residents need relief from monetary burdens. In farmington alone I pay 43% of my property tax to rsu9. More people need to start standing up and saying “no” to the schools and the town governments. We HAVE to live with in a budget and so should RSU9. Basic math, you have “X” amount for your budget now you HAVE to make it work. Not continually add to make it work. I for one will be voting no once again.
They lost me when Tom Ward said it was his responsibility to present a budget that was the best for the students. If he had added “which the residents can afford” I would have approved.
I can only spend what I can afford. Why is our SAD different?
Tom
I have heard that Farmington has 46% of the weighted vote on the school board. Also, Wilton has 27.6% of the weighted vote. The only fair way as I see it to pay for this budget is: 1. Farmington pay 46% of the budget,2. Wilton pay 27.6% of the budget, and the rest of the towns pay on their weighted vote percentage. Seems like a good plan to me.
I am a supporter of more and better education for students/all people. However, I intend to vote against this budget. I do not see any effort to reduce the varsity athletics budget, nor any effort on the part of the school administrators to explain what the actual costs of varsity athletics are.
I agree that the budget is still too high!! The directors act like 174 k is a huge reduction. Before I vote I need to see at least 500 k but 750 would easier to swallow. As a taxpayer and working class person employees of Rsu 9 will have to realize that health insurance keeps going up and they need to pay more instead of making tax payers pay more. Enough is enough!
Why don’t all these people with kids just move away and leave us alone!
We don’t want to pay for your children’s education. We don’t want to pay for anything we don’t need and we don’t need you and your kids here, so just pack up and take off.
IS- what I get from most of the comments here.
Let’s calm down everyone. There is nothing unusual about the budget, other than the administration has decided to be in compliance with the state of Maine’s laws pertaining to special education. That alone represents a very big part of the increase–over $600,000. All states have education laws that require communities to contribute certain amounts. There are also federal laws that must be followed. Count the teachers in each school, count the bus drivers, custodians, mechanics, cafeteria workers, clerical workers. They all have salaries. They all get small pay raises from time to time. I deserve a pay raise, so do you and so do they. I’m paying my water and sewage bill and I’m paying my property taxes. I support the fire dept., the police dept, road and bridge crews, and the public schools in the community. Glad to be living in a good, clean, safe community where kids can grow up without a lot of the negative culture that is plaguing most of our country. Voters wanted cuts and they cut. If you want prosperity in this community supporting the schools is a good place to begin.
Perhaps it is time for the entire school budget to be printed and distributed to the tax payers. Let us see where every dime is being spend and then maybe comments and questions can be collected and analyzed.
Without having this information, I fail to see what another meeting of the taxpayers will hope to accomplish. By now, it appears that nothing less than a significant reduction in the budget, will turn this around.
“If you want prosperity in this community, supporting the schools is a good place to begin.”
Maybe we could at least settle for “improvement”.
Health Insurance Question: How much is health insurance going up this year for RSU 9?: Answer: The rates went down for this year for RSU 9. When the rates go down, the amount RSU 9 pays goes down by the same percent the overall rate declines for the given policies.
The French/Spanish teacher was making 45,000 a year? So why are teachers always complaining about low pay? And what exactly is meant by ” neediest group of children”? Is he implying that they’re DUMB?
Joseph,
When one or many of my costs go up I have to reduce other costs to make up for it.
I can’t go to my boss and ask for a raise (I guess I could but I know the answer) to cover it.