LIVERMORE – The Regional School Unit 73 board voted to advance a proposed $18.8 million budget to residents at the April 5 district-wide budget meeting Tuesday evening.
The budget, $18,804,544, would represent an increase of $749,907 over the current fiscal year, or 4.15 percent. Despite the increase, local tax assessments relating to RSU 73 are anticipated to decline by $1.44 million. This is due to changes in General Purpose Aid statewide, a $1.35 million cash balance and a significant reduction in Jay’s valuation.
Of the $18.8 million budget, $9.31 million will be paid for by the local towns. Another $7.97 million will be paid for by the state, with $1.5 million coming from other sources, mostly a $1.36 million cash balance.
The state revenue service previously approved a $61.55 million reduction in Jay’s valuation for 2016, 2017 and the 2018 proposed valuation under the “sudden and severe” provision, due to changes at the Verso Androscoggin Mill. The reduction in valuation results in more state support for RSU 73 and less local funding through the Jay assessment.
Under the proposed budget, Jay’s local tax assessment would decline by $1.39 million, as compared to the current fiscal year, down to $5.66 million. Livermore’s assessment would go to $1.91 million, a decrease of $36,000; Livermore Falls’ assessment would go to $1.73 million, a decrease of $2,900.
Those figures do not account for the Adult Education program. As that program is requesting $45,000 per town, down from last year’s $50,000, each community would see a further $5,000 decrease in their local tax assessment.
Included in the proposed $750,000 increase in expenditures, is $720,000 for increases in Special Education expenditures. Tina Collins, the director of RSU 73’s special services department, said at the March 1 meeting that the increase chiefly stemmed from three areas: reductions in federal money that had been deferring local and state funding, additional out-of-district placements and the creation of a day treatment program for elementary students.
Colllins said that the district had five new students that had come into RSU 73 with individual education plans that require out-of-district placements. Those placements are expected to cost a combined $135,000 in tuition – hiking that line to $275,000.
RSU 73 is also seeking to create a behavioral program for approximately 12 to 12 students in grades 2 to 5, hiring a Special Education teacher and two Ed Techs, as well as utilizing time from other specialists. That program, which is budgeted at $183,000, would run out of Spruce Mountain Elementary School. It was an attempt at earlier intervention for troubled students, Collins said, as well as ensuring that their peers in other programs could focus on their own work. In addition to being better for students, Collins and some board directors noted, earlier intervention provided greater potential to avoid costs later in each participating students’ education.
The budget also includes an initial payment associated with the proposed, $5.87 million energy efficiency renovation for RSU 73 buildings. Debt service expenditures would actually decrease, however, due to the retirement of the Spruce Mountain Middle School project debt. More details can be found here.
The district-wide budget meeting, where residents of the three towns vote to set the budget, will take place on April 5 at the Spruce Mountain Middle School in Jay at 6 p.m.. The validation referendum would follow on April 24 in all three towns, with residents either approving or rejecting the action taken at the April 5 meeting.
The allowance for special needs students is ABSOLUTELY necessary.
However, the needs for the regular student populace need to also be addressed. I loved the Elementary School and how they progressed my daughter. I hope they are the same as they were then. However. my Freshman was told she would have to take 2 English classes at the start of this year. The second would not count as a credit and she would still have to take English senior year. The reason given to us parents? So that they can be adequately prepared to take college courses Junior and Senior year. It isn’t. I met with the principal and we discussed with me proposing that the real issue is that they aren’t properly prepared by the time they get to 9th grade (not the high school’s fault). 8th grade ELA involved making Power Points, not reading, interpreting and writing (that was only if they made it to Gifted and Talented). When I was in LFHS in 99-00, I was more than adequately prepared to take college level/AP courses without a 2nd class because I was taught what I needed to know through middle school up to that point (in OOB). My Freshman was so overwhelmed because of not being properly taught certain subjects in middle school (despite getting excellent grades) that her grades tanked, and she became lax in her studies. We tried to adjust the levels of Math down to college prep and the schedule change took over a month and into the start of the next semester. At that point, she was still catching up when we were told at the year that moving down from Honors to CP would not take catching up AND she still didn’t have the right book a week into the 2nd semester. The guidance office is lacking in communication with the rest of the school and do not consider doing educational plans with students and parents and allow them to maximize potential. The best elective program, Robotics, in the high school for expanding young minds in Sciences and Maths as well as public speaking and other strengths, is not being funded enough and wasn’t even visited all season by the principal. And thank God for Dan Lemieux, because he was the ONLY one to help my daughter fight to regain her footing by being a real teacher. I am also quite certain that if she was a sports athlete, all of her issues would have been resolved faster, but she isn’t.
It isn’t fair. When we pay taxes like this and approve budgets, we should know that our kids are getting quality education by quality instructors, not a free-for-all where they are not adequately prepared. Right now, I am exploring home schooling and other options because this school sadly has not met any of my expectations, and we basically have to start freshman year over again next year.