SALEM – Directors on the MSAD 58 school board expressed little support for a single, unified campus Thursday evening, after a review of a financial simulation of the concept showed only limited savings.
Directors have been meeting monthly to consider proposals aimed at dramatically reducing costs through the realignment of grades or facilities. In October, directors met and decided to take a proposal to tuition high school students outside of the district off the table. Thursday, directors gave consideration to another idea: building a new facility on the Mt. Abram High School campus to meet the needs of all of the district’s students.
Similar to the October meeting, directors went through a draft budget prepared by Business Manager Luci Milewski which utilized the current, 2013-14 fiscal year’s figures to create a simulation of the unified campus’ expenses. Some assumptions, such as the student-to-teacher ratio, were taken out of the building committee’s discussions.
Using a ratio of 25 students per teacher, the simulation estimated that three teaching positions could be cut if all three elementary schools were present on one campus. Other staff reductions included nurses, librarians, technical support and custodial staff, as well as going from four principals to two, plus an assistant administrator.
In all, the exercise yielded an estimated savings of $861,000, reducing the $9.07 million budget down to $8.21. More savings would be expected in the long-term, if enrollment numbers were to continue to drop and more positions could be cut.
However, the new facility would almost certainly require a local bond, with debt service payments applied against any savings. The cost of the facility is not fully known: Mallett School in Farmington has a capacity of approximately 400 students and was an $18.7 million project. MSAD 58 would require a capacity of approximately 500 students, and state funds, which were used to fund the Mallett School project, would likely be unavailable.
Milewski used an amortization table provided by the Maine Municipal Bond Bank to calculate that a $12 million bond, paid back over 30 years with an initial interest rate of 3 percent would cost more than $877,000 in the second year, including principal and interest. The district might well need to wait until the conclusion of the debt service to see any savings, directors noted.
“And,” Director Lois Barker of Strong said, “we have three, perfectly good elementary schools.”
“You’re not going to convince parents to move their kids out of their towns for savings 30 years down the road,” Director Rupert Pratt of Strong said.
Other proposals, to turn one elementary school into a middle school and move children around for example, further reduces the savings.
The board made no motion on the plan, with some directors asking for more time to further consider the numbers. Directors did agree to add an item to the agenda regarding seeking additional revenue sources for the district, as it prepares to move into the next budget cycle.
The school board has looked at several different options at the request of the towns to see if there are any savings. There is not.
Thank so much to the school board who put in the effort at looking at these options. Also the district administration who also did alot of the work.
Perhaps it’s time for teachers and admin staff to pay their share for insurances, etc…and…..do we REALLY need all the assistants and ed techs, etc.??? There was a time when1 teacher was able to handle an entire classroom and it’s duties without someone else to help out. Something HAS to be done to stop the ever increasing education costs for an ever decreasing enrollment…Doesn’t make sense to me that costs continue to climb while enrollments drop…. We just cannot continue paying more and more and more!!!!!
The school budget has been decreasing over the past 5 years. That is becoming a tiresome refrain. Yes, property taxes are going up, but you really need to look into why they are going up.
Yes, there was a time when 1 teacher did handle an entire classroom, a time when children were placed in ‘tracks’ based largely on socio-economic status. Students who were not challenged and not expected to succeed lived up to those expectations. There was a time when a job in the woods or a job in the mill was pretty much guaranteed and waiting for you upon graduation.
Those days have gone, along with the wooden desks with ink wells.
these days the cost to live is crazy. from food to our gas for our cars. and the cost of property taxes going up but less kids are in school. makes no sense, you think the less kids the more money the school will save on food, supplies and so on. the way things are going parents are going to start home schooling or move away. some may even drop out. then what drive the taxes up even more that’s just nuts. I think they need to look at their staff and do cuts. or even go with cheaper supplies. here’s an idea extend the school day. instead of 5 6.5 hour days to 4 8 hour days. It would help big time on fuel costs and other costs
I am appalled at the sarcastic response from a Strong School Board Member to Senior Citizen’s comments. I think Senior Citizen is not at all off base. Mr. Edwards should be ashamed of himself for being so rude to any member of the public.
Just to clarify for his sake! Until about 1990, very few to no Ed Techs were in our district schools. Our student’s needs were addressed on an individual basis and the district received much recognition for great student performance. Perhaps he wasn’t in district when that was occurring. In the early 1990’s, we had much larger classrooms and much, much older schools. Our special needs populations were served well by our special education staff and many of the special education teachers had no Ed Tech support.
In 1990, according to the Superintendent at the time in his board level discussion, the district enrollment was 1084. In 2000, the state reported that we had 1046 district students. In 2010 that number was 840 students. Finally, in 2013, (the last school year) the state reports 696 students. The website, Find the Best, reports our current student/teacher ratio as 7.8 /1. I would say we have not kept pace with staff levels compared to student levels. I would also say that Senior Citizen has some legitimate concerns.
The district budgets may have decreased over time but the rate of student decreases far exceeds the budget decreases even figuring in some inflation. If folks want to know more about real facts, perhaps they should just “Google” the data. It is amazing what you can find out in just a few minutes.
To the School Board, and in particular to the new school board, you have given a fairly comprehensive review of the options for facilities. I agree we need to keep our current 3 elementary schools operating. Not sure if they should serve more grade levels or not but keeping our little ones in our communities is important.
I would guess the real cost within the budget is in salary and benefits. Teachers have historically had much of their insurance covered for themselves and their families. I would think it might be time for the staff to weigh in on jobs verses 80% plus for family insurance. I would also think the district teachers could handle a student/ teacher ratio of more like 10 to 1 and maybe even 15/1 with Ed Tech Support. I remember a debate not that many years ago when we had a class of 30 students wondering if we could have some “teacher aide” support. Times have changed but we are blessed to have small community schools and just need to think as small community schools do…we are all in this together and our children are the future of our communities. These schools need to teach respect and perhaps Mr. Edwards should sign up for that lesson!
We do need the assistants and Ed Techs, without a question, you can thank the no child left behind band wagon. Some children need a modified learning plan to meet that standard, to teach them things they will NEVER need to know in their life time you can bet there is an ED Tech with flash cards, counting blocks and patience helping that child achieve that standardized goal. The assistants and the Ed Tech’s also help keep control of the class room, lunch room and recess, while the teaching staff meets with individual students that are struggling, during the teachers lunch,planning period and sometime bathroom breaks. The support staff, assistants and Ed Tech’s , help the students cope with new technology and new ideas to the modern learning world, the song and dance about giving the students paper and pencils is ignorant. Today’s students are the next working class, and no one, not even a janitor, truck driver, or waitress can be computer illiterate. So while you think about where to cut, maybe you should think about what your voting for and what that really could mean. It isn’t the current budget you need to be think about, what will the budget be like if these students can’t keep up when they leave school, because they didn’t learn some thing in school, because there was not enough support staff.
Would perhaps holding school session during the summer months and shutting down during the coldest months help offset some significant costs? With several schools operating during Dec, Jan and Feb, the heating and electrical bills must be high? Perhaps the board has already considered this. Just a thought..
I apologize if you found my comment sarcastic and so rude, it was not intended as such. Yes, I am a School Board Director, but what I post here, or anywhere as an individual, represents Marc Edwards private citizen.
If anyone feels the need to address me regarding my comments because they may find them offensive or disrespectful, please have the respect to use your real name when doing so. I will not get into a meaningless and endless war of words on this site.
This is all I have to say on this subject.
I realize that laptops and computers are the norm now, but if you ask me that was the single worst thing to hand to high school students. They are rarely used for school work. If the schools could audit the amount of time each laptop is connected to Facebook or You Tube and release that Data to the public it would open some eyes. They are expensive units that someone pays for.
It is sad to hear very little respect about what teachers do. Yes, the cost of educating children is expensive but it is the responsibility of every citizen to give that to the next generation. Saying teachers are not paying enough for insurance is wrong. The teachers of MSAD 58 have not had a contract for 2 years, so this means their salaries are frozen. This means they just like the rest of us are struggling to pay the bills. It is important to remember that not all teachers make the same and not all teachers have a huge salary. Many work two jobs to pay the bills. It is time we look at the state of Maine to do what they have been promising for years. It would also help if we found ways to encourage new businesses to come to the area. That truly is the major problem there are no businesses to alleviate the tax burden from the local tax payer.
None of these proposed “solutions” sound like they will save money at all. 18+ million for new building PLUS the costs of maintaining the existing (and empty) buildings doesn’t seem practical. Bussing kids all over the district doesn’t seem practical. Who can possibly imagine what needs our kids and our schools will have in 30 years- something tells me that a new building that will be paid off decades down the road probably won’t meet those needs…
Here’s a thought, SAD 58 adds a town like New Vineyard for example, those kids go to Strong, increase the population and possibly help with the overcrowding already happening at the new Mallett School. Who would not want their children in such a high ranking school?