SALEM – Voters will have the final say on a $9.4 million budget Monday, as they return to the polls to cast ballots at the validation referendum.
The proposed $9,378,370 budget includes two reductions made at the June 23 meeting totaling $28,000, as well as $180,000 to start a pre-kindergarten program at the Phillips, Strong and Kingfield elementary schools. If approved, the budget would represent a $291,550 or 3.21 percent increase over the current fiscal year.
The two budget meeting reductions were made at the request of school board directors and incoming-Superintendent Susan Pratt, respectively. Director Beth Luce of Kingfield successfully moved to amend Article 1: Regular Instruction by reducing the $3.33 million cost center by $16,000. The reason, Luce said, was that the district had learned that it would not be responsible for paying the tuition for two charter school students. Instead, the Maine Department of Education would be paying for those students.
Pratt of Strong, recently hired as district superintendent by the MSAD 58 board, successfully amended the pre-K article to $180,033, or $12,000 less than the proposed, $192,033 amount. Her review of the program had led Pratt to believe that relatively the small reduction was acceptable, she said.
Those funds would be used to create 16-student programs at Kingfield, Strong and Phillips, with the Phillips pre-K staff working with the preexisting Head Start program. The programs would offer 4-year-old students classes two days a week, with a third day occasionally utilized for parent/teacher interactions. Pre-K students would ride the district buses, which would be equipped with three-point safety harnesses.
The state provides funding for pre-K programs. After the first year, the MDOE would provide roughly $84,000 in increased subsidy. After the second, the district is anticipating receiving more money than it will take to run the program.
Monday’s vote will be the second time that Strong, Avon, Kingfield and Phillips residents have addressed the 2015-16 budget. The vast majority of MSAD 58 voters heeded the advice of the school board and district administrators and rejected the $256,000 protest budget passed on May 28. That rejection set up the second budget meeting on June 23, at which point the $9.4 million budget was passed.
The budget validation referendum will be held today, June 29 in all four towns. The same poll times will apply: 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. in Avon, 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. in Strong, Kingfield and Phillips. A ‘yes’ vote passes the budget, while a ‘no’ vote restarts the process.
