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MSAD 58 voters approve $9.39 million budget at meeting

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Voters line up to cast their votes on the 2018/19 budget.

SALEM TOWNSHIP- Residents of school district MSAD 58 approved a budget of $9,393,497 Tuesday night, voting to increase the Regular Instruction cost center by $123,585.

Nearly 90 voters weighed in on the proposed amendment to the first cost center, which addresses regular instruction costs. Arguments in favor of the amendment centered on a previous decision to consolidate the district’s pre-K offerings from three programs down to two. The district would provide transportation for all area children to access the two part-time programs.

The decision was a split one across the board and was met with some disagreement from district residents. The total $147,000 proposed decrease to the Regular Instruction cost center also reflected a cut of .6 teaching position and a .6 ed tech position, totaling $43,626 in salaries and benefits.

The amendment made Tuesday evening intended to bring those positions back, as well as replace a teacher who is retiring this year. Currently the program has 21 students enrolled for the fall, with a capacity of 32.

“I don’t want my taxes to go up either. But it doesn’t make any sense to me to put a four-year-old on a school bus for over an hour,” one resident said.

The motion to amend passed 58 to 31 with a written ballot, with the final amended motion passing by a wide margin. Superintendent Susan Pratt pointed out, however, that just because those funds were voted back into the budget does not necessarily mean the program can be added back as well.

“Pre-K will still be available to all children in the district. Bringing back that amount of money will not bring back all of the programming mentioned,” Pratt said.

As approved Tuesday, the $9.39 million budget represents a .23 percent increase as compared to the current fiscal year. Of that amount, $3.25 million will come from state funding, with voters approving the required $2.79 million needed to match the state funds. An additional $1.22 million will be raised by local assessments. Another $1.38 million in revenue is generated through tuition for out-of-district students.

The loss of $235,000 in state funding for the budget was projected to result in a $356,000 increase in local assessments, prior to the $123,000 increase in expenditures approved at Tuesday’s meeting.

A referendum vote will be held on Tuesday, June 12, with all polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Residents will be asked if they approve of the action taken at the budget meeting, with a ‘yes’ vote approving the budget and a ‘no’ vote rejecting it.

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