FARMINGTON – Residents of Mt. Blue Regional School District’s ten towns voted against validating a $33.9 million budget at Tuesday evening’s referendum, but did support a $318,000 bond issue for district-wide facility improvements.
The result marks the third straight year that the budget was not validated in the first vote; the 2015 and 2016 budgets were later ratified after reductions in a second round of voting. The preliminary, unofficial tally indicates that 1,457 votes were cast in favor of the budget, with 1,641 votes cast in opposition.
Preliminary town-by-town results for the validation vote:
Weld – 34 yes and 52 no
Temple – 65 yes and 75 no
Chesterville – 61 yes and 183 no
Starks – 84 yes and 19 no
Industry – 65 yes and 89 no
Farmington – 644 yes and 501 no
New Vineyard – 31 yes and 109 no
New Sharon – 139 yes and 207 no
Vienna – 61 yes and 57 no
Wilton – 273 yes and 349 no
The budget approved at the June 1 meeting represented an increase of $1,148,163 over the current fiscal year, or 3.51 percent. Additions include additional half-time teaching positions at Mt. Blue Campus in the American Sign Language and science programs, as well as part-time counseling positions to Foster Technology Center and Mt. Blue High School. In the Special Services program, the hours of ed techs in the Adaptive Life Skills program would have been increased and an additional 17 ed tech positions would have been added district-wide. Another proposed increase would have added three social worker positions to work with Regular Instruction students.
Current revenue projections available through the MDOE indicate that the budget would result in an increase of $722,690 increase to the local tax assessments. Those projections are based off Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed budget.
While the budget validation vote failed, residents did approve a $318,000 bond issue for improvements to district schools. A total of 1,540 residents supported the bond, while 1,455 opposed it.
Preliminary town-by-town results for the bond issue vote:
Weld – 36 yes and 50 no (additionally, 1 yes from Perkins Twp and 2 no)
Temple – 72 yes and 70 no
Chesterville – 74 yes and 161 no
Starks – 84 yes and 19 no
Industry – 71 yes and 83 no
Farmington – 663 yes and 458 no
New Vineyard – 46 yes and 94 no
New Sharon – 126 yes and 216 no
Vienna – 65 yes and 54 no
Wilton – 303 yes and 250 no
More details on the specific projects to be targeted by the bond can be found here. Estimating a 3.5 percent interest rate and a 10-year lifespan, the $317,834 bond would cost $38,217 a year for 10 years. The first payment would be part of the 2018-19 budget, not the incoming 2017-18 fiscal year. The timing of the bond would have the first payment due the year after the last payment on the Academy Hill School gymnasium and heating improvements, which costs the district $29,104 each year.
THANKS goes out to all who helped defeat this budget! PLEASE remember that its not over yet. We still have another budget meeting to suffer through and then another referendum-validation vote. Maybe, if need be we’ll vote it down again at the second vote. We only lost last year by 37 votes the second time. Faith. GOOD NIGHT AND THANKS ONE MORE TIME!
How many children in the district?
God bless you Buckshot for your hard work in the battle against learning! We have once again defeated that insidious gang of teachers, and the foul brood that they teach. Keep fighting the good fight against knowledge!FAITH
I would like to thank EVERYONE who took time to go out to vote.
Sad. And our kids and grandkids suffer. Most no voters I suspect have no idea what they voted against. Uninformed blanket “no” votes to me are irresponsible.
Now maybe they can get a bare bones budget !!!
Before congratulating yourself, consider that the students at Mt. Blue are the future of the local community. The addition of a half-time science teacher means smaller class size, which is an evidence-based method of improving educational outcomes. Adding social workers would allow children who are victims of domestic violence or sexual abuse to seek help. Children are not the problem, but they certainly have the potential to become one without the necessary resources.
If you worked with these children perhaps you would reconsider your position. The goal is for these children to become productive members of society. The alternative is that these children will grow up to become an incredible burden on the system, which costs a lot more than money, and perpetuates the vicious cycle of chronic poverty, domestic violence, crime, and generational reliance on government assistance. Housing a single inmate costs the state of Maine around $45,000 per year. This budget truly is an investment opportunity. Be a citizen with vision. Pay a little now, or pay more later.
I realize that it can be frightening to put your trust and your money in the hands of a school board, but the only other option is considerably more frightening.
Herbert you are a horrible person, you have defeated the teachers (who are molding the future of America and helping the children) and the foul brood that they teacher? Come in to the schools some day and see what goes on. Maybe you should gain some more knowledge before posting on this forum!
I think it is about time the residents of Franklin County start to really look at who they are voting on to the school board. It seems like this will go on year after year unless there is a more balanced representation on the board.
“Insidious gang of teachers and foul brood that they teach” It’s this kind of name calling and disrespect that is going to make it impossible for both sides of this argument to find common ground. Very sad indeed. If we as a community tried to work together and treated each other with kindness and respect we may actually come up with a REAL solution and not have to go through this year after year.
I am fairly confident that Herbert was being facetious.
Just out of curiosity, I wonder how many of the voters are payers of property taxes in RSD 9 or renters. Renters don’t have to worry about increasing property taxes. I know that rental rates may reflect increases but I doubt renters are thinking about that when they vote.
I’m tired of taxes too, and I’m tired of my property taxes increasing every year too. However, I’m also tired of the bedroom communities around Farmington sucking off of the school system, but yet voting against the budget to support the schools and the students who attend them. Maybe it’s time for them to build their own schools and finally realize how much it costs.
Maybe it’s also time to question some other budget items, such as infrastructural repairs. Nobody seems to question why it takes three to four members of a municipal highway crew to watch one other member paint lines on a sidewalk. Then, they all move on to a new crosswalk. Could they work more efficiently? Could half of them set up the next spot, while the other half paints? There are lots of other budget related issues to look at as well. Why are there no complaints about things like this? Why are the local streets in a condition of disrepair? But, we obviously have had enough money for parking lots, which don’t produce property tax revenue.
It’s just some food for thought. I think it’s time to attack something else other than our kids’ futures.
I agree with Herbert and Buckshot. Hopefully we can keep this whole NO vote going and SAD 9 will have to function with no budget at all next year! We won’t have to pay for lights for the classrooms, water, teachers, food for the kids…it’s all a waste anyway. These kids will only grow up to take jobs out of state or use up welfare benefits. Why bother teaching them at all? I say we keep blindly voting NO on every budget proposal like Buckshot suggests! Down with public education!
It is very apparent in this comment thread that being able to read when someone is being sardonic is a lost art. They must have missed that English class when they were going to school on the taxpayers’ money.
There is a reason why Maine is an “old” state. All of the young folks realize they aren’t welcome and leave.
“Peter”
In my opinion, you and many of the Yes voters are the uninformed group. I went to many school board
meetings last year and I also went to every town meeting held by Tom Ward. I asked a lot of hard questions
and seldom got an answer. I heard a lot of “we will get back to you on that” but the school admin folks did
not “get back to me” Lindy asked numerous times for the current salaries of all admin people and the
members of admin could NEVER give her a current salary. Watch the videos of last year and see for
yourself. It appears that no-one in the admin dept can answer simple questions about salaries or other
school expenses. The numbers listed in the school budget book used by the school board are often
incorrect and the board members are often confused too. I watched many school board members ask
questions to the admin staff and they were told “we will look into that and get back to you”. That is what
happens in many board meetings. I have spoken directly with at least 6 current and former school board
members and they allllllllll said it is a nightmare to understand the information. The admin team controls
the flow of the meeting and most of the board members just go along for the ride because they can not
get answers. It is very frustrating to watch and it must be extremely frustrating to be a board member.
You couldn’t pay me enough to do that job. I have been a business owner for 30 years and I have never
seen such a disorganized mess. Another point about board membership. Any board member who does
not “go with the flow” gets ALOT of pressure from the admin team in private and also during the meetings.
Ask any previous board member, or a current member, if this is true. I have!!! Of course, Scott Erb will
chime in with a long letter and tell me i’m wrong and say the he has never had any negative experiences
while on the board. I guess my lying ears have fooled me again.
I ask all members of this community to please stay vigilant and come out for the 2nd vote and vote NO
again. I say this now because I know what this school board and admin team will do. They will cut a
few hundred thousand and bring it back for the vote. The budget will still be over $1mill increase.
They already got the $300+k approved!!!
Whether you voted yes or no on the RSU9 school budget I believe some closer attention to the entire process is required by all. Seeing the yes/no signs around town was alarming. The ‘Yes’ crowd seems to be voting “for the kids” a somewhat emotional and naive stance. The ‘No’ vote signs(some) seemed more interested in casting insults. What we have is a back and forth kind of moral argument that may not stand on its own. I don’t believe either side is considering the ramifications. This of course does not include everyone. I realize it is impossible for every voter to attend the preliminary budget meeting(the May 31st meeting). Everybody can however, go to the mtbluersd.org website and watch it, the meeting starts at the 28 minute mark. The superintendent starts with a comment “we’re all in this together.” But are we?
I believe that if you voted yes but have not watched that meeting you should. The ‘budget’ presented to voters on Tuesday was actually a wishlist, not a budget. This is the first problem that has now repeated itself three years running. This keeps occurring and will continue to occur year after year if the same process is allowed to continue as is. The problem with the preliminary budget meeting is the school district packs the auditorium with RSU9 employees whose numbers grossly outnumber all others present whether they are Yes/No voters. A clear and undisputable Conflict of Interest. The other problem is that items on the budget should have been challenged and modified by the school board long before the May 31 meeting. Many will disagree with this statement, but given the condition of the economy, and all the budget cuts and freezes placed at other private/non-profit/public organizations, presenting a budget with such a large increase is fiscally irresponsible.
So how do we turn this wishlist the school district presented into a budget? By making tough choices, just like you and I do at our homes with our own budget decisions. My kids would love a pool in the back yard, so would I!! But is it realistic? No.
The bottom line, district employees should be able to speak about the budget items at the preliminary budget meeting, but their votes should only be cast at the general ballot box. Let’s put an end to the conflict of interest that drives the vote year after year.
A school board member at the May 31 meeting stated that “children aren’t machines, if they were they’d be easily fixed.” A true and heartfelt statement, but suggesting to blindly throw money at a problem isn’t a fix. One small example…at the 1 hour 44 minute mark+\- a gentleman asks for some details regarding the addition of three social workers, the request totals $204,000. The two answers provided by the superintendent and the assistant director of special services were, “I hate to guess at that, I just know it’s rising all the time, dramatically, and I don’t know” and “I have no way of knowing.” These two statements alone should have been enough to refuse that request altogether. The bottom line is they have no idea. They don’t know if they need 3 social workers or 1 or maybe they need 5!!! Asking for the tax payers to spend $204,000 and then not having an answer to validate the request isn’t acceptable. That item should have been voted down due to the inadequacy of the answers given.
At the 1 hour 19 minute mark a gentleman addressed an issue with behaviors in the schools. His direct question to the superintendent was ignored. If you have a child in the schools you should watch this segment. I know first hand that he is correct in challenging what the schools are doing to combat behaviors. They have lost control of the behaviors and the other students and staff are paying the price. The way they run RTI and PBIS both are having a negative impact on the majority of the student body. School administrators will claim that these programs are state mandated…but if you go to the Maine.gov page you’ll find that RTI is mandated for ‘students not meeting the standard’ and PBIS is mandated for students on behavioral IEPs. At most class levels the number of students meeting these criteria are less than 10-15%. For example, Mallett School reported that 88% of students finishing First grade in the 2014/15 school year were meeting the standard in reading. Part of the 12% of students who did not meet the standard were already receiving special services, so less then 10% of the class is covered under the ‘state mandate,’ however all the kids in the class, including the 88% of the class who ended the year meeting the standard spent 30 minutes a day/4 days a week in an RTI group. The 10%+\- of the kids not meeting the standards were placed in groups of around four and spent that half hour a day with one of the classroom teachers. The other 90%+\- of the class were put into much larger groups, approximately 25, and spent a half hour a day in the library or art room. What does the school have to show for progress and achievement for that 90%??? Nothing.
I watched the behavioral problems run the school every single day. I thought it was just an issue at the Mallett School until my daughter came home from Cascade Brook and announced that her school would get a reward just before February vacation if the number of ODRs was reduced. An ODR is an office discipline report. My daughter has never gotten an ODR, why should her reward be based on whether or not the students receiving ODRs act better? Last week she came home and announced that her class had lost the privilege of attending field day ‘because of the bad kids.’ At Mallett she came home excited one day because she had earned a sticker for ‘good behavior’ at lunch. It was half way through the school year. Curious, I went and looked at the chart in the cafe, kids with the most ODRs had the most stickers. Students like my daughter, who behave on a daily basis, had none or one.
The bad behaviors at Mallett are mostly ignored, I could give endless examples.
The problems with this school district are not limited to monetary issues. The entire way in which the district is managed needs a complete and total overhaul. There is no amount of money that can fix it.
These issues I address here are just the tip of the iceberg. If you are a parent or staff member with concerns you need to speak up and address them. Don’t be a bystander, take a stand.
One more thing i’d like to mention to the uninformed folks. I was a member of the Farmington Budget
Committee for many years and I sat thru many meetings with the admin folks from every town depart
and listened to the town manager’s detailed reports. I know what a well written and thoughtful budget
looks like!!! The town of Farmington is very well managed and every department delivers a reasonable
budget. There is minuscule waste and salaries are reasonable for this area. The RSU9 school system
budget is full of wasteful spending. I don’t need to say much about the admin salaries, most people already get it!!!!
Good idea to break up the school district. Keep Wilton, Farmington, Temple and Starks in RSU 9. The rest can join in the adjacent school districts that have a “bare bones” budget that they praise. or maybe the “no” towns can start their own school district.
Call it SAD 00 and Buckshot can be the superintendent since he clearly has the ideas and am sure he would be willing to work for a lot less money.
YES. EXACTLY. For those of you that can’t read well enough to understand Mike’s argument (shout out to Buckshot et. al. for past successes), I’ll summarize for you: I think any representative of any large school district should be able to answer any question asked in a large group forum immediately and with complete accuracy. I believe that I should be given complete access to all financial data and an unlimited amount of time to scrutinize it. When I find fault, I think the solutions I demand should be implemented. You couldn’t PAY me enough to be on the school board because I would prefer no one gets paid at all. They got a completely separate bond issue approved, so therefore, they no longer need a functional budget.
I would also personally like to add that I think the Daily Bulldog shouldn’t be allowed to cover this story anyway. They are all writers so they are inherently biased.
It takes a village!! We all have to pay for education on way or another. Here’s another YES vote next time around!
Mike Deschenes thanks for sharing.
“We will have to get back to you” is a politicians answer.
There is no place for politicians in a local school district.
Time to clean up our school administration and fill the positions with educators.
I am pleased with the School Budget vote and I am Pro-Education. Please be tolerant of my opinion.
Our district has such high caliber, dedicated, and giving teachers and in my opinion, this vote is not indicative of our opinions about the educators. It is a vote for responsible management.
We have to keep in mind that this is a school budget, not a Social Services budget. Our children and young adults are the future in a competitive world and need to receive a top-notch education and recruit the best teachers and reimburse them well. Local taxpayers only have so much to give, and want it spent on education.
As “nice” and “kind” as it may seem to be everything to everyone, our school systems (and society in general) has become part of a social experiment and as a result, education competes with social programs for limited taxpayer funding. As a society we demand more of what hasn’t worked in the past and are confused when it isn’t working. The family unit that supports and encourages children is all but dissolved, a societal issue that we are attempting to solve at the school level, versus the personal or neighborhood level. Yes, we need to “break the cycle” of bad thinking and actions that lead to poverty and abuse. We can start by holding DHHS and law enforcement accountable for investigating incidents and protecting the fragile young lives when referrals come from within the school system. Laws need to change to take these children out of the unsafe and abusive environments. We don’t need to re-create and duplicate the social services organizations of the Federal, State, and local level…within our schools.
Our workforce needs more skilled workers and technical/analytical disciplines and Foster Tech is a fantastic solution to this need, but still grossly under funded. Adding a part time American Sign Language position may seem nice, but will not help our society compete in a global economy. How about German, Japanese, or Chinese to better interact with a few of the worlds economic powerhouses? It is also disturbing when our superintendent has no justification or data for the addition of 3 social workers at $68,000 per, and then defers the question to an individual who has nothing to do with that program. Yikes.
Our Special Services budget currently exceeds the entire High School budget by roughly 2 million, and the administration now needs 17 new Ed Techs. Is the current Ed Tech program effective? Ed Techs only require 3 years of college and get very little training to handle the plethora of emotional and discipline problems. These individual do incredible work with the tools they have been given for very little pay. It’s time for the administration and state to get serious about “breaking the cycle” and increase the educational requirements as well as the pay for our Ed Techs. It would also be beneficial to allow the teachers to discipline and demand respect vice listening to a 3rd grader spout off regarding contacting their attorney! If we are truly serious about helping these kids, the program needs to be re-vamped and authority given back to the teacher vice throwing more money at program. As a start, it should be a requirement that the parents of emotional or discipline problems be required to attend parenting training as well, as the school system only has 6 hours to help improve the child, when the parent(s) have the other 18 hours. Just a few thoughts from a PRO – EDUCATION guy.
Mike, that’s well written and clearly thought out, however, we can’t base real world decisions on what we wish would happen. We can’t vote no to funding social work positions in SAD 9 because we wish DHHS/other social service organizations would step the game up. We can’t wish parents would take care of their kids, kids would behave in school, Ed Techs had better training, and allow that to dictate how we are going to approach what happens next year in this school district. Our actions have real consequences and our opinions about how things SHOULD run don’t negate these consequences. Cake SHOULD taste good and have no calories, so that’s all I eat?
Saying you won’t fund schools because you don’t feel like they should take on the role of a social service organization- Where do kids learn peer interactions? Where do they learn compromise, tolerance, self-esteem? Schools are inherently social service organizations, they serve a social service. Refusing to fund them because you think children have gotten too unruly and you think someone else should bear the cost of this is misguided and based in fantasy, not the current state of society.
Bottom line:
The elderly on fixed incomes and children who didn’t choose for their lives to be broken are not the problems. The problem is that education funding is broken from Washington D.C all the way to Augusta, Maine.
in addition to making things more tense in our downtowns and at Hannaford, we’re assuring that no one with professional training will want to have their kiddos come to RSU9 — and not because of our schools, but because of the now infamous budget debacles we have in our formerly education-friendly communities.
This means declines in ALL sorts of recruitment efforts to make our economy more vital.
I for one am taking my passion, research, and work to places where it will make a difference: by applying legislative pressure.
The answer to this is simple. If all YES voters (1,458 of you ) were to donate from your own pocket $787.50 each, towards the school budget (that appears to be a huge concern to you), then the increase of $1,148,163.00 would be taken care of. This is just a thought from an ignorant “NO” voter.
This is all very sad. Because the state won’t fund education to the level that the LAW requires them to, we end up fighting with our neighbors and friends. Too bad we can’t take all the anger and frustration and channel into the right place. In this day and age funding education through property taxes seems crazy to me. It allows for huge discrepancies among more rural and more well-to-do parts of the state and across the country. It make no sense at all for one school to have 20 old laptops for the entire building to share while another has laptops for every student K-12. We are fighting with the wrong people. It’s time we all made the state live up to its obligations or change how we fund schools so there is equity for everyone.
I would just like to thank Herbert for his use of sarcasm to expose the evil population of people that truly believe teachers are “insidious”, the children of Farmington are a “foul brood”, and that we should “fight against knowledge”. Good heavens, People. What on Earth are you thinking?
IT’S NOT, I REPEAT NOT ABOUT THE TEACHERS. THEY ARE VALUED, LOVED, AND INTO WHOSE CARE OUR CHILDREN ARE ENTRUSTED. IT’S about poor management. An administration that rules with …….. you have heard it, read it, and some seen it! AND I’m not talking all administrators, just a “couple.” A GREAT LOSS to this school district was BRUCE MOCHAMER, just recently resigned. A gentleman of character and integrity and honesty!!!
For all of those towns who had a majority vote of “no,” get out of the district. Then, your problem is solved. Go find your own funding, build your own schools, and see if you continue to enjoy a lower property tax rate than the Farmington residents whom you mooch off of.
And for those who think that D.C. and Augusta are the problem; there are no mystical budgets in those locations that pay for the schools. That money also comes from income taxes. It’s not out of some “other fund.”
wee is viktoryus! no noo texas, wee is texed enuf alreddy.
no more raising taxes good job on no vote farmington keep on going
Mike,
You complain about salaries, and then state, “You couldn’t pay me enough to do that job.” How do you think the administrators and teachers feel? Do you think they should be paid less, and still put up with what they have to, as well as the whining public scrutinizing everything that they do?
@ Angel: Are you saying that I’m Evil just because my opinion of the proposed budget is different than yours? There isn’t a word in the dictionary that describes the type of person you are (who ever you are). Talk about dividing a community, you take the cake on that point.
@Angel: So, are you suggesting that the people living on a fixed budget that are having a hard time making ends meet and going without to pay their taxes are EVIL?…really?! A little harsh don’t you think?
I would also like to say that our teachers, ed tech’s, bus drivers and custodians are greatly appreciated (even by the evil “no” voters…) If anyone deserves a raise, it’s the people that work directly with our children. Most are angry with administration and their sense of entitlement.
No amount of money or remedial services can make up for parents who do not instill in their children discipline and the importance of education.
There is no room for making this personal. The “Yes” voters say that the “No” vote is a vote against the teachers and the students. This is ridiculous. I am certain that not one person who voted “No” did so with malice toward the kids or their teachers. The “No” vote is about not rubber-stamping a budget which some feel is ill-conceived and is also about accountability. We must hold the people making the budget accountable. Of course we want to provide the best education we can to the students but failure of the administration to properly answer questions about such issues as what school-based services are being billed to MaineCare, how much revenue has been generated from billing these school-based services to MaineCare and where does that money go is unacceptable. If the tax-payers are promised that there will be $300,000 in revenue from MaineCare to offset the added salaries, how do we know that the promise is being kept? And these are only a few of the questions. We need to know that there is transparency. It’s not about penalizing the students or teachers, it’s about the efficient use of tax-payer dollars. If we don’t ask the tough questions, who will? Let’s keep this in mind… RSU 9 is not just a school district, it is a BUSINESS (RSU 9 DBA Mt. Blue School Dept.) that receives money to provide a service.
While this post might not indicate such, I am one of those “bleeding-heart liberals”. I strongly support education and social service programs but I can NOT abide it being done recklessly.
It was interesting to pull up to the community center and see someone with out of state plates voting. I guess their second home is now protected from our community.
To “time to attack a different budget” – income tax is different than property tax! And the problem is indeed in Augusta if they have never funded education to the level that the citizens voted for MANY years ago.
Im mooching off the school because I don’t live in Farmington ? Wow !!!! Im glad just because some of us voted no we are put in the same basket as freeloaders. You must think we’re also deplorables !!!
We keep throwing money at our public schools, yet our educational standards do not get better ! We do not have discipline, kids are going wild, we keep lowering the graduation standards, we pass students who should not be pass ( God forbid if we have standards !), kids can’t spell, they do not know how to write cursive, teachers express their political views on to our kids, teachers won’t do more than what is expected unless they get paid , and our schools are becoming places to brainwash our children. We do not teach civics anymore and we are way behind in most other subjects. If money was the issue and things would improve, then I would totally agree and support giving more money to our schools. Until we see improvements. I do not believe we should keep throwing money at our public schoolS. Hopefully our new secretary of education will turn things around!! Until then, let’s make the schools prove that they can and will improve our education. It is obvious money is not the issue !!!!
Sorry twilight putter I disagree. Schools with consistency in their discipline program that have compassionate teachers who care about the success of the child will help those children in a lot of cases. The problem is the school district is laying down against behavioral problems and not providing any consistency, and fake compassion. The students need teachers who are loving and compassionate. To act like their buddy, ignore their bad behaviors, and let them get away with whatever they want is what they are used to at home. So they will continue to act that way if the school allows it, and they are allowing it.
Schools cannot change parents, that is for certain. But they should be able to figure out when a program is failing and make the proper adjustments to it.
The numbers of behavioral issues only range in the 10 to 20% range. That leaves between 80 and 90% of the students who are following classroom and school rules. Does not seem possible or except a bowl that a building full of professionals many of whom have masters degrees because it is required by the school district, cannot figure out how to better manage these behavioral issues. It is pure and simple due to the schools willingness to completely ignore bad behaviors and only reward good behavior’s with stickers and other rewards.
Zooey,
I know the difference between the two taxes. My point is that there is only one overall funding source, which is the citizen population.
Jesse,
Why don’t you get rid of the stereotype by raising your mill rate, and your community’s share of the school funding?
I saw that Starks’ overall vote was in approval of the school budget. That would indicate to me that the majority of those voters remember some of the reasons they joined SAD9 only a few years ago. Maybe the other communities need to remember too. Like I had said, they can all leave the district and build their own schools if they think it’s cheaper.
We need to privatize all school systems and run them as a business period. Any successful local business owner can tell you there are layers of fat in the budget that can be trimmed and still have an extremely positive effect on our future generations. Better then what is provided currently provided. Same goes for the highway department and so on. Privatization is the key to the success of our small towns.
I’m on your page Wilton.
Vede B.
A district budget and societal issues are much more complicated than a piece of cake. Really weak analogy. And we don’t wish. We investigate, reason, and vote.
There’s plenty about our school system that should be overhauled. Some day maybe both sides will stop the name calling and seriously try to make things better for all. In the meantime start borrowing the money. Maine voters never say no to a bond. Apparently they were not taught in school that borrowed money is repaid with tax dollars.
Bickering on this rag will solve nothing.I can assure you that a new budget will be proposed with minor decreases and it will probably pass.Its as if “fat ” was built into this go round so that a small decrease looks good to those who vote on the next budget.Unless the next proposal is cut back to at least last years I believe another no vote is needed.We do need to support our school system but let’s support a High School and our elementary schools , not a Campus as the name implies.
Surrounding school systems can provide a budget that meets the needs of the school system, students, and taxpayers. Why is it Mt Blue must propose 3-4% increases year in and year out. Cut layers of administration and non classroom teachers and you can easily come in with no increase.
Thought I would look up a few metrics from the State of Maine data site for some of the budgetary cost items, just a few. After a brief investigation, I thought I would list a few of the cost centers. The site is located at:
http://maine.gov/education/data/indicators/16rcfpp.pdf for Maine school expenses by budget category. These budget categories should look familiar. I believe our district uses the same budget categories as the state data base. The data is from the school year 2015/2016 and is expressed in average dollars spent per student:
Student and Staff System and School Special Education Totals for
Supportt Administration Instruction These
State average: $ 1062 $1087 $ 2064 $ 4213
RSU 54 $ 2631 $ 830 $ 2632 $ 6093
RSU 10 $ 1430 $1201 $ 2802 $ 5433
RSU 73 $ 1191 $1509 $ 1686 $ 4386
RSU 9 $ 930 $ 967 $ 1773 $ 3667
After this brief investigation of a valid source of data, we can see RSU 9 spent about ten to twelve percent below the state average during that school year.
We can also see three neighboring districts all spent significantly more than the state average for the school year 2015/2016 in the categories of Student and Staff Support, System and School Administration, and Special Education.
Since these three neighboring districts spend from about %18 to about % 60 percent more than RSU 9 in these budget categories combined, they may be able to hold down this years budget with greater ease. Knowing how complicated school budgets are, these few columns of numbers and words likely do not tell the full picture, but reason would suggest our consolidated district has made a good effort to contain costs, at least as compared to neighboring districts in these categories, while working to meet the needs of students and staff.
I believe our school administration and board of directors works every year to provide a budget which serves the students in our district, as balanced with our ability to pay. I am glad Maine supports local districts with reimbursements factored by local economic conditions, and hope our legislators can soon resolve the budget.
I whole heartedly support fact finding from valid sources, accumulation of the valid data, discussion of what it may mean, and supporting a well reasoned path forward.
Why don’t we try this? Why don’t we all tromp into the next school board meeting, sit down, listen, and take notes. Maybe, just maybe if there’s a large attendance, we’ll get to the bottom of the who’s, why’s and then we’ll see how OUR TOWN’S Reps are handling OUR money or supporting the town’s vote. I’ve been doing that for a lot of meetings. But I’m one person. I’m not particularly threatening. Nor do I intend to be. Perhaps a large crowd, as long as it’s polite and not unruly, will have some effect. You can then see how things work. You’ll leave with an impression, I’m sure. Good or bad, you’ll leave with an impression. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll learn something. I always do.
BTW: It’s public, and there are plenty of seats.
PS, sorry for the column formatting, always learning!
I am a YES voter and want to thank Tom Ward, Board Members and administrators for all their hard work. There are many of us that appreciate your long hours and efforts to make our educational system, a good one, for our young residents.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
I agree with the budget but our income just can’t stretch any further . We bought our home back in 2010 and it’s crazy how much our taxes have gone up ! I’ve been forced out of the work force because of a chronically ill child and another increase wouldn’t be easy for us !
We will be voting no. We’re on a limited one income household budget. We’ve seen the district do wasteful things with the money and there are ways to cut corners and buckle their belts just like we had to save our homes the last several years with the tax increases!
Matt, your formatting doesn’t help your argument. :)
It would be interesting to know how many of the yes and no voters earn more than $70000 with benefits included. My guess is that the majority of yes voters do and the minority of no voters do.
We the voters/investors, have once again sent a very clear message to the board. Spending is out of control. We are very weary of the same old message that spending cuts will be detrimental to the kids. Where are the metrics for showing us voter/investors how the kids have improved over the past five years after getting what the board has deemed, critical funds?
Significant spending cuts are the only acceptable answer or it will fail to pass on the next go around.
For those Strongly against the budget: what does your idea of a reasonable and effective budget look like? What do cut to meet that?
Matt Allen, are you sure? AND how about other comparisons? Sports? Transportation? Why does RSU9 need 2 more administrators than the STATE ESP recommends? A BIG ONE for you MATT as you teach math, how come the students don’t do better on the math test? Most don’t even meet the standard!
Anyone is naive if they think that this isn’t what the school board and the administration expected to happen. They asked for way more than they knew would pass or what they needed and now will shave it down a little and say how much they had to cut, throw it out for a vote and it will pass and the final amount will be what they were really hoping for in the first place. They play us for fools every year and we take the bait. Vote it down this next time and then you will see them sweat a little to make cuts. Right now we are playing right into their hands. By the way I saw some of the meetings and noticed a number of empty board chairs. I will not vote for these people again.
Captain: So right you are…here is the summary:
RSU 9 spent about 12 % less than the sate average for System and School Administration, Staff and Student Support, and Special Education on a per student basis.
RSU 9 spent between 18% lower and 60% lower than RSU 10, RSU 54, and RSU 73.
Since these neighboring districts all spend much more money in these budget categories than RSU 9, it may be easier for them to get through with smaller budgetary increases, or maybe even a decrease.
Facts would be great to gather, from a valid source, and to then discuss and decide. Using the above facts, for these four budget category expenses support my belief that RSU 9 has worked hard to balance costs to services provided. One source is the the State of Maine: http://maine.gov/education/data/indicators/16rcfpp.pdf
I can not support statements about out of control costs, when actual costs are considerably lower than neighboring districts, and the state average. I do appreciate the State of Maine reimbursing all districts, with those most in need, like ours, having a higher percent of expenses being reimbursed.
I also appreciate how expensive education is at all levels. Our three children all went through RSU 9, graduated, and went on to four years of college, graduated from those three different colleges, and are working at good jobs.
An RSU 9 education can work very well for our students, especially if they want it to get ready for what is next in their life!
Here is a vote for an informed, amicable, and compassionate solution to this budget conflict. Our ability to compromise should be greater than our ability to belittle. That would be a great lesson to pass on to our children at this point.
I am just wondering at what point do we stop enabling the disfunctional parents in our district? They are driving up the costs of the budget every year. Don’t misunderstand me, I am always willing to help the less fortuniate, poor, abused, etc., but at what cost? We live in a society that so often forgets that helping/rescuing isn’t always a benefit for society. When we step in and take over the parental role, we are not helping the environment at home. We need to hold tbe parents accountable and deal correctly with the wrong behavior.
We have also forgotten the disfunctional parents that are creating so many ED Tech/social services positions were once in school themselves! Why didn’t the money and teachers help them when they were in school? I am sure there are some children that will see the error of their parents’ choices, but unfortuniately “More is caught, than is taught.” If we as a school think it is our responsibility to raise these children, I am afraid the current condition of society will keep reproducing itself in future generations.
@Just wondering..my children have been attending RSD9 for 4 years now. They have all had great opportunities, teachers, and classes. However, I have not seen their level of education improve to justify the amount of money the budget has increased. We all know if we started increasing our budgets at home at the same rate the school budget has increased each year, our household would see huge improvements. If not, we better start asking ourselves what is wrong? Our taxes have increased $900 dollars in the last few years. My children are very well behaved and always get great reviews from the school staff and on their report cards. Somehow the money isn’t making it into the classrooms to improve the educational opportunities for my children. If they are receiving the same level of great education they did four years ago, why isn’t that budget adequate today? Maybe its time for us to start holding each other accountable and taking our responsibilties as parents seriously. We need to ask ourselves, “Are we contributing to our community or are we draining its resources?”
Why don’t we wait to pass a budget after the state can give us a straight answer on how much they will send. It doesn’t do us any good to hope they will send enough to not increase property taxes. Wait until they get things together and know themselves. I would also like to challenge anyone to call WKTJ tomorrow and ask sen. Saviello the answer to that question. They’ve had the Gov. Proposed budget since January and havent done anything yet.
“It would be interesting to know how many of the yes and no voters earn more than $70000 with benefits included. My guess is that the majority of yes voters do and the minority of no voters do.”
It would be interesting to know how many people who earn more than $70,000 had a good education and how many people who earn less than $70,000 think that education is not worth the investment,
Bottom line, we the people decided in majority. Now the board needs to lower the requested amount and present again to the people. Get creative, figure out how to increase revenue as a BUSINESS. I spoke to a college alumni of UMF and their tuition for the year was $6000.00. Living at home. The (tax-payer funded) public school average is about 10k.
@MATT A. where did you say they were working? Sounds like three smart kids and some excellent parenting !Were they lucky enough to find good paying jobs in Maine?
Board member from Chesterville
First let me say that I am from a “NO” town and proud of it. Our town has been fiscally responsible. I do not MOOCH off of the Town of Farmington, I am educated and I am not EVIL as one commenter stated. What concerns me the most is all the made-up names? Who are you? Employees of the district? That would be my guess for the most of you. However, if you are an employee teaching our students, what are you teaching them other than it okay to express yourselves as long as you are sneaky and underhanded. By all means do not let people know who you are. This is not the type of education that should be taught to our students.
I want to know how many students attending RSU 9 on a Superintendents agreement are in need of special services that cost more than the basic education cost, like an ed tech or social services. If these students are adding an expense to our school system then the giving district should be paying, or the parents, or not agree to take them in.
“Maineiac”
Last year I asked the board now many special needs students had moved into our district from other
districts. I was told 4. Later in the year I heard we got a few more. The year before we were told that
3 moved in to our district. At the school auditorium vote on May 30 we were told that 14 special needs
students are moving in this year. Do you see the trend I see?? This admin team has put the “open for
business” sign out to allllllll parents with a special needs student. They are moving here because our
district is spending money like crazy to help these students. We can’t afford to educate every special
need student in a 100 mile radius!!!!! This has to stop. The asst director of special ed. also said that
their department alone has 85 ed techs and about 56 are one on one care. We must let the admin
team know that the “no vacancy” sign needs to go up.
Maineiac — I also asked about the superintendent’s agreement students on a previous post. Wondering if any board members might be able to determine if this is a consideration when agreeing to take these student’s from other districts? It should certainly be a factor.
Matt Billian,
One of the ways the district was pursuing revenue was through the Chinese and international program. Like any program it requires time to grow and develop and just like any business requires investment capital so that it may compete. The competition for international students is intense and requires marketing savvy and resources.
Instead of continuing to provide that capital for that program — still in its infancy — the board decided to cut that $20,000 because the program hadn’t paid dividends fast enough. Where else could they have cut? Not for me to decide. If what the critics of the school budget want are revenue generating streams in a non-profit school district, they should be speaking out loud about supporting specific endeavors to do so.
So, that said, buy some 3D printed Focus Fidgets from wickedfocus.com and you’ll be supporting a classroom based business at Mt. Blue, designed and run by high school students learning about how to meet the needs of others, build a brand, and sustain a business. The students reinvest their earnings back into the business and donate a portion to local non-profits.
And as always, even though I’m a classroom teacher and not a member of the school board or an administrator, I’m always open to conversations and discussions about how I might be able to leverage my position to help community members on a fixed income, seek increasingly meaningful learning experiences for students, and generally improve goodwill and outcomes. (As a matter of fact, I’m teaching a new course at Mt. Blue next fall that’s focused on community-based problem solving — it’s called Design Thinking and I have a full load of students signed up. Hoping we can do some legit good in Franklin County.)
Let me know when and where you’d like to meet. I’m partial to Tucks, as I’ve mentioned before. I’d invite you to my classroom but it won’t be available starting next week. Plus, so many conversations have happened at that campus, I’m sure there are other places where we can work together to find solutions.
Of course, to meet I’d need to know folks actual names but if you just want to have an awkward conversation where you refer to yourself in the third person by your screen name, I’m not going to judge. I can adjust.
So let me know. The last time I put this invite out with regards to the county budget, no one took me up on it. Before that, I had one school board member say they would be in contact with me, but never did.
I have to work several weeks at other jobs this summer, so I’m not 100% available at the drop of a hat, but if you get in touch with me at Dryder at mtbluersd.org I will certainly respond and work out a time with you to meet and talk. I really want to better understand points of view that aren’t my own. It’s the only way to come to a solution.