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RSU 9 school board to review $35.3 million budget

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FARMINGTON – Regional School Unit 9 school board directors got their first look at a preliminarily proposed, $35.3 million budget Tuesday evening, as well as reorganizing the budget workshop schedule.

While the board had previously planned to meet on Tuesdays up through the annual budget meeting on May 1, directors are now planning to meet on Tuesday, March 27; Thursday, March 29; Tuesday, April 3; and tentatively plan to approve set the proposed budget on Thursday, April 5. Residents would vote on the proposed budget at the annual meeting on May 1 and the budget referendum would be May 15. Copies of the budget are available at each board meeting, and people can request copies through the RSU 9 central office.

The initial budget proposed by the administration currently includes $35,323,317 in proposed expenditures, an increase of $1.69 million over the current fiscal year. If approved as presented, that would represent a 5.01 percent increase in expenditures.

Of the $35.3 million, roughly $13 million would be paid through local tax assessments. The majority of the budget, $21 million, would be covered by the state allocation. Another $1.3 million would be covered by other sources, ranging from federal funds to a private donation.

The budget would result in a $562,654 increase in the local assessment, spread among all 10 towns in accordance with their valuations. Wilton and Temple would see minor decreases in their assessments, while the other eight towns would see increases.

The combined percentage change in local assessments would be a combined increase of 4.49 percent. Superintendent Tom Ward noted that the proposed increase followed two years of combined decreases of slightly more than 2 percent, with the $13 million in local assessments coming in slightly less than the 2015-16 fiscal year.

Major increases in revenue include $750,000 in additional funds through the state allocation, as part of the second year of the bi-annual state budget. The state is also raising the educational mill rate, the amount of money towns must raise to acquire full funding through the state’s Essential Programs and Services funding model, from 8.1 to 8.5. That will require the district towns to raise an additional $588,000 to cover the Local Required Contribution to EPS.

The Additional Local Allocation, money raised beyond EPS to support RSU 9 programs, would also increase by $56,000 to $1.68 million. Another local-only expenditure, Local Debt, would be decreasing by $82,000 down to $608,000 annually.

Ward noted that while the district was receiving additional funds from the state, it also was educating more students. RSU 9 had picked up 75 additional students in the past year; the state wouldn’t be recognizing those new students for funding until the 2019-2020 budget process.

The budget includes expenditures covered by $288,000 in funds donated by Richard Bjorn to benefit Foster Career & Technology Center programming, as well as another $181,000 in additional revenue from the state relating to vocational programming. The state intends to support Career & Technical programming through the EPS formula, which has resulted in RSU 9 receiving additional money.

Those expenditures, while not directly related to the local assessment, still needed to be included in the budget, Ward noted.

A major new expenditure relates to a new alternative program for non-regulated elementary students. Administrators, educators and board directors have been discussing the problem over the past few years, with teacher reporting student behavior that ranges from verbal to physical disruptions of classrooms, to outright attempts to push, bite or kick staff members. The students, who in addition to struggling academically themselves, often make it more difficult for their peers to learn as well, do not qualify for Special Education funding.

Roughly $300,000 is in the 2018-19 proposed budget to create the program, Ward said. Those funds would include the hiring of a program teacher, three Ed Techs as well as contracts with a social worker and an analyst. The program would also purchase a used vehicle and hire a driver, as the all of the qualifying elementary students would be transported to a single location. Ward said that the program, which was originally budgeted in excess of $600,000, would save money by utilizing outside agencies, MaineCare and other insurance providers to bring in the majority of the social worker assistance.

Ward broke down the budget percentage increase into categories, beginning with the 5.01 percent total increase. Without the Bjorn donation, the increase would be 4.61 percent. Without the alternative elementary program, the increase would be 3.21 percent, Ward said. Of that increase, roughly 2.5 percent represented contracted pay raises and other built-in increases.

Administrators cut roughly $236,000 in budget needs prior to sending it to the board. Also not included was funds for a third-grade teacher at Cascade Brook School. The four existing teachers at that grade level read a letter to the board Tuesday, noting they had 99 students in their 2017 grade level, or 25 to 26 students per class. The incoming class is currently 92 students, but that number often rises after school begins.

The board is paying two Ed Techs to assist the four teachers; one recommendation was to eliminate those positions and add another elementary teacher. A total of $52,000 would be budgeted for that addition, including estimated salary and benefits.

Ward noted that the budget included a 5 percent increase in health insurance; it will learn in April if that placeholder figure can come down. There may also be savings in fuel and heating oil lines, he said, depending on the market.

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54 Comments

  1. We need to find some serious people to take charge of our kids educations. In my opinion this is not a serious attempt at a budget, it is a farce to be used as a bargaining chip. Outcomes are not improving and nothing is changing. I ask who is accountable for the education not improving?

  2. Here we go again. A 5% increase. Who is getting a 5% raise? This has got to stop. A 2% increase should be the max. The playbook is always the same. It will be voted down a number of times. Each time the school board will cut $50,000 from the 35 million dollar budget. Eventually they will wear down the no voters and the budget will pass.

  3. Sigh. Please pay attention to the issues discussed. A good chunk of the increase is mandated by the state. Some is paid for by gifts, such as the Bjorn gift to the Votech center. Overall, taxpayers will be asked to pay less than they did in 2015. My own personal opinion is that the schools need even more money – this keeps the libraries under funded, and doesn’t add a needed third grade teacher at Cascade Brooke, among other things. But the board and the administration is trying to be as spartan as possible. For those who look at only the amount of increase and don’t educate yourself about the why and how – your opinions are uninformed and misguided. Please, come to the school board deliberations, read about the budget and what is funded and why, and respond with constructive, informed critique. Unfortunately some people have their minds made up, and they won’t actually pay attention to what is really happening. I do think that voters who realize the school is under funded and want the best for our youth are starting to wake up.

  4. Please note that Scott Erb, a local defender of increased spending, is a Farmington Board Member who always puts his hand up to support that increased spending. And he, along with the remaining 4 Board Members from Farmington rarely support anything BUT increased spending. Wilton Members follow the same pattern.
    So here’s what YOU can do about it. There are petitions circulating throughout all 10 towns asking tax payers to change the method of voting on the school board. One town, one board member – that evens the playing field so that every town has one full vote. Right now, with the crazy weighted vote, some towns don’t have a full vote. They have a percentage of a vote. Temple might have 3/4 of a vote, while New Sharon might have less than a half vote. Vienna has something like a 1/3 vote. But Farmington and Wilton’s representatives have a vote and a third. How fair is that? What that means is that if 4 Farmington & 3 Wilton members band together, they can never be over-turned. So Industry and Chesterville’s reps show up for nothing, along with the other 6 towns.
    When asked, Dr. Tom said to change the weighted vote it would take thousands of dollars and some legal mumbo-jumbo coming out of the school’s attorneys, Woodsum and Drummond. People on the NO side found out otherwise. That’s why the petition is circulating.
    For little towns like Weld who have 25+/- students, and valuable waterfront property, the State’s valuation puts their contribution fairly high. That means it costs the town of Weld $14,000 plus per student to come to Mt. Blue. Farmington, on the other hand, pays roughly $5500 per student. This whole thing is nuts.
    Check around. Each town has it’s own petition, and most are posted in places like the country stores. Go in and ask. Then sign the petition.
    Fair taxation starts with the little people. It’s time the little people of this district showed our School Board what can happen if we step up and change things. Otherwise, you can spew words at the Bulldog time and time again, but it makes absolutely NO DIFFERENCE. A change at the School Board level WILL!

  5. Scott Erb, If state mandated costs go up then you have to cut elsewhere just like any family has to do.

  6. Is this for real?? After last year, now another 1.69 million. This is just way out of hand. Why can’t we restructure and start fresh?

  7. Scott Erb, having you tell us why it needs to occur is like the fox telling the chickens it’s ok to come out now. Your reasoning is stale as usual. We need a fiscally sound budget the 1st time around. With the internet today why do we need a school library?

  8. We need to see if Paul lepage will be our new superintendent. He will wack the budget

  9. You need a school library because it has been statistically proven that students who read and have access to a school library do better in school and on standardized testing (which much of our outside funding is based on). New York asked the same question a few years back, got rid of all their school libraries and recently spending a ton of money to put them back in because their testing scores plummeted and they lost tons of funding. In addition, our school libraries provide computer access, digital citizenship classes and other instructional classes including how to do research and not break copyright laws, etc. School libraries are not just about books.

  10. Rick, I’m telling you and others to inform yourselves. Go to the meetings, find out what is being funded and why. It’s easy to yell and scream, but people need to inform themselves. If you think schools don’t need libraries, then that speaks for itself! Libraries are what introduce kids to reading – many don’t have that in their home. It makes learning possible. They have to read before they can use the internet!

    Nancy wants a system that will essentially take away the majority populations voice and give it mostly to small towns. That would be un-democratic and wrong. The current voting reflects the population, as it should. This scheme is dishonest, it is an effort to marginalize voters in Farmington and Wilton. It won’t happen.

    Please, look at the details. See how we’re being reimbursed for increased costs, making the bottom line increase less important – mandated costs are often reimbursed. Note that if this budget is passed it’s still asking less from property tax payers than in 2015. Please, don’t just be a knee jerk opponent, come to the meetings, ask questions, dig into the budget, and take it seriously. I think you’ll find – I know you’ll find – that claims about out of control spending are wrong.

  11. Scott your assuming that I don’t go to meetiings? When YOU pack the meetings with your teachers and their families it’s difficult to get a word in. I never stated that schools don’t need them I said with the internet is is necessary? This is an opinion section not a Scott is always right section. Questions are warranted after the last few years when RSU 9 cant seem to live without increase after increase it gets frustrating to say the least.

  12. Bravo Nancy, bravo. Thank you so much for helping us control our property taxes. It would be extremely helpful if someone could take the time to post at least ONE LOCATION in each town where citizens can sign the petitions that will allow ALL SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS VOTES to be equal.

  13. Scott, reading this article and the point you made about hiring a new 3rd grade teacher.
    I just looked at my 3rd grade class picture. That school was right next to Stanford University. Palo Alto had/has some of the best schools academically in the U.S.
    There were 24 kids in my 3rd grade class, 26 in my 5th grade class, that was the mid/late 60’s.
    The numbers in this article are right on line with that. We didn’t have Ed Techs either.
    I mentioned last year numerous times that passing the school budget was going to be even harder this year.

  14. MY HUMBLE OPINION!!!

    Nancy is onto something. Might be a good idea to sign that petition. Does anyone remember year after
    Year million dollar increases back in the days when the system had one town, one vote??? Just wondering??
    Also, these million + dollar increases may go on forever if the taxpayers don’t finally say enough!!!! Just my
    Humble opinion, but what do I know, really??

  15. I highly recommend watching these meetings if you cannot attend, there is a link right on the district’s website. I think a big part of the problem is a breakdown in communication, as it currently stands we just see an increasing number but never really get an idea as to why. It’s great to have access to the budget itself at the town offices and such, but that tome is daunting to read and quite frankly confusing if you don’t know where to begin. So it was really great to see a lot of talk during the meeting on how to provide a breakdown of the budget that can be easily digested by the public. Personally I would love to see a better breakdown than cost per pupil, give me a monthly or yearly cost to the taxpayer.

  16. There are a few things to keep in mind. This budget is preliminary and was submitted by the administrators to the school board. The school board members have not begun deliberations on this budget yet. We will begin having each of the cost centers presented to us at the next board meeting.

    Rick Billian, I believe what Scott is talking about is the budget meetings we have on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Mt. Blue Campus in the forum room at 7 pm (occasionally we start at 6:30). There are much less people in attendance than at the Annual Budget Meeting. In those meetings the school administrators present to us a break down of what their current budget is, any changes that are being made, and the reasons for those changes. We then spend multiple weeks debating line item changes and cost center increases/decreases. During those meetings their is an opportunity for public comment. And, has been the case, those in the audience are free to ask questions or make comments as we proceed with discussions through out the night.

    Many people in the district work hard during the week and don’t have the opportunity, or the time to attend the twice weekly meetings that go for 2-3 hours. This is very understandable. So, MBRSD 9 has a live streaming site for community members to watch our meetings 24 hours, 7 days a week. That can be found here: https://livestream.com/FTCDigitalMedia . Also, the school board members contact information can be found here: http://www.mtbluersd.org/district-information/school-board. I encourage you to reach out to your town representative, or all of the board members if you have any questions or concerns. So that individuals watching from home can more easily see the line items as we go over them, we will now have an overhead projection of the budget book as we proceed.

    Scott is correct that the local portion in the preliminary budget is less than what was asked of our towns in the 2015 budget. Again, this is not the final budget and there is a good chance some of this will be reduced even further. In the past two years of budgets we have met our growing needs and managed to reduce the requested amount from the local tax payers.

    One more item that should be kept in mind is that the increases to the overall budget presented so far are not all from the very generous gift of a local community member, or the new one year funding model of the Foster Tech. There have been a few new State mandates made on Maine schools that will impact operations. As many have heard, the State of Maine is looking for schools to begin making room in their buildings and teaching staff to include Special Education students aged 3-5 years old; https://www.pressherald.com/2017/09/21/state-doe-wants-to-shift-special-education-for-3-5-year-olds-to-schools/. The State of Maine is also requiring Regionalization of school districts. Those that comply will see less of a reduction of their State funding, though still will be seeing less funding from the State. This will in turn put more responsibility on the local tax payer. https://www.pressherald.com/2017/09/04/maine-department-of-education-makes-push-for-regionalization/

    We see constant changes, mandates, and regulations from the State that our district needs to accommodate. In recent years we have seen large changes to Special Education and Proficiency Based Education requirements. These are just the more widely known and publicized changes. As these changes come in, we adapt and cover what is expected of us as a district. All the while, we also are meeting a growing student population and a clear need nationwide to increase mental health services for our general education students.

    Our school board will continue to do the work required to make sure our schools have the funding they need to run efficiently while attempting to reduce the impact on the local property owners. I also highly encourage and invite our community members to come join us at the next budget meeting March 27 at 6:30PM at the Mt. Blue Campus in the Forum room.

  17. Cherieann, thank you. Do you mind answering a question? Do you work for RSU9? I just want to know a little bit more about who I’m talking to. Thanks

  18. Consider the “reduced representation petition” for what it is: An attempt to reduce the voting rights of most of the citizens of the ten towns.

    Currently each school board member’s vote is waited so the citizens of their town are represented equally, no matter what town they represent.

    Weighted voting in this manner provides equal power to all citizens. The current system of voting is fair to the citizens of the towns.

  19. Just wish some of you people would stop living in the past……The year is 2018…..times have changed!!

  20. Rick, I don’t work for the school district outside of serving as a School Board member. I am a Supervisor for the Medicaid Supplemental Drug Rebate team at Change Healthcare. But, I’d be happy to meet with you to discuss any questions or concerns you have. Or, you can contact me by email. My district provided email address is charrison@mtbluersd.org.

  21. @its me:

    I would suggest you look at the facts before spouting off. Each member represents every student in the district, not the town they live in. As I understand it by reducing the board to ten members everyone will have a fair and equal vote. This isn’t an attempt to reduce the voting rights of the ten towns. Talk to those who started the petition and get some facts, especially on how the present weighted vote works, then decide.

  22. Mr Billian, Sr. : Cherieann Harrison School Board Director for RSU 9 Representing the Town of Wilton, Maine

    As an elected representative to the School Board, Ms Harrison can not work for RSU 9.

    I have voted for Ms Harrison in the past as a school board director, and will likely vote for her again. She stays well informed, and makes decisions as she sees fit, balancing the needs of students with those of us tax paying citizens.

  23. If you or your town are opposed to having the votes weighted to best represent the students that each town are sending to the MBSD, then are you also opposed to the electoral college? This is a system that is very functional and will ensure that the towns who have students in school actually have the most say. Unlike the electoral college, if you don’t like the school budget, don’t start a petition to ruin it for those of us who do. Start a petition to get you and your ignorant, simpleminded town out of my district. We do not want you. MBSD does not need Chesterville, or any other town that opposes the budget increases. You need us. If you don’t want to pay for schools, leave MBSD. It will survive just fine on its own with those of us in Farmington and Wilton, who actually value education, and your students can flounder in whatever pathetic system you manage to pull together (if any).

    Want to know why MBSD asks for so much money? The increases are for things such as more ed techs, behavioralists, etc. As a Special Educator, I can promise you that we need these things. If you’re the kind of person who agrees that teachers should be paid well, that we need ed techs, and that arts programs are important, but have your panties in a twist because of the administrative increases, get over it. This is an unrealistic and ignorant mindset. MBSD is looking to hire a new superintendent, and it is crucial that the pay be competitive for our district to stay what it is. This is how the economy works: sometimes, positions require raise increases to keep qualified individuals interested. That may be a hard concept for you (as I know you oppose having a strong education system), but it’s true. Meanwhile, while you vote down budgets to your hearts content, the administration has to find out what other crucial services they need to cut to hire a qualified individual as superintendent. I personally am scared of what ends up having to get cut as the bandwagon of ‘always no’ voters continue to vote on matters they don’t understand.

  24. My, my…now HOW did we EVER learn, way back in the 80s, with budgets that didn’t literally force people from their homes?? Oh, TIMES HAVE CHANGED, blah blah blah. Right. Fewer students, more dollars…gotcha.

    Seems that the more schools ‘progress’ (and I mean, adopt Progressive methods) the less kids actually learn. They were doing better prior to 1970! But cost per pupil is up what, over 200% since then??? (in adjusted dollars).

    Better start over, folks, this model isn’t working. But I have a feeling it’s too late for Farmington.

  25. Craig Stickney Board Director from Chesterville

    People need to know some facts. After meeting with the Governor and later on, the State Board of Education, the Department of Education indicated that we might change the way the board votes, that 16 members may be too large, and reduce it to ten. I was the one who brought it before the RSU 9 Board of Directors and was conveniently pushed off until after July 1st. Two citizens in town took over and started the petition that is circulating. The attorneys that represent RSU 9 in an opinion directed to the Commissioner of Education stated that board members represent all of the students in the district, not necessarily the town in which they are from. It is too lengthy to put all of the information down in this forum, however with Farmington having five representatives and Wilton having three, if they all show up and one other representative from any of the other towns, they can have a legal meeting. In essence, three towns have total control, the other seven are just along for the ride. Simply put, Farmington and Wilton have 64 percent of the total vote, and the other 8 towns have 36 percent of the total vote. I would be happy to talk to anyone who is confused on this issue.

  26. @overregulated well, if you had a learning disability (or any disability at all) you didn’t learn effectively, and therein lies the issue. God forbid we cater to multiple learning styles.

    In response to your comment about people not affording their houses, I’m calling bullcrap. I am in my 20s and my household income is about 30,000 a year. I live in Wilton, where the taxes are higher than some of the town’s who complain about this, and I pay my taxes and the rest of my bills just fine. In fact, I would be willing to pay an additional 20/month or more if the money went to education and to offering that crazy, newfangled millennial approach to learning that allows all students to learn effectively.

  27. Also, statistically, it is working better. Apparently your 80s education didn’t teach you much about that though

  28. @Craig Stickney

    it took me about 5-10 minutes to do the math that you apparently could not do on your own.
    Population of…
    Chesterville- 1352
    Industry – 929
    New Sharon- 1407
    New Vineyard- 757
    Starks- 640
    Temple- 528
    Vienna- 570
    Weld- 419
    subtotal- 6602

    Population of…
    Farmington- 7760
    Wilton- 4116
    subtotal- 11876

    Grand total- 18478

    11876/18478 = about 64%
    6602/18478 = about 36%

    it’s pretty proportional. you can’t argue with math

  29. Hey ” Nope ” my mother used to tell me ” it will all work out “.
    Don’t be scared, embrace the unknown. That’s how we learn.
    Whether it works out your way, or not, ultimately it WILL work out. Humans can be pretty resourceful and resilient.
    It has been my experience that it is a skilled teacher that can do the most, with the least.

  30. The fact that a school board member is on here assuming everyone who disagrees with him is uniformed, says so much about where this country is right now. Mr Erb make no mistake we ARE very informed.

  31. ” Same as nope ” you are doing better than most just for the fact you pay your bills. Good job!
    What is hard is when you are not in your 20’s,say, like me, in my 60’s and have lost the ability to make that extra 20 dollars a month = 240.00 a year, this year. Along with everything else that climbs in price.
    Yes, my fault. I should have planned better, not abused my body so I could continue to work until I died.
    Since you are 20 something you just may find yourself someday not having that extra money.
    It creates a lot of stress. I just tell myself, it will all work out.

  32. @doing the math
    So you formulated the same percentages why? Glad you wanted to show @Craig Stickney was correct but please explain how having it listed out changes anything? And why the dig at him? Maybe if you spent more time formulating solutions to a budget and less time showing your butt this district could move forward….

  33. @billyjoebob, as a skilled teacher, I feel the need to tell you that it isn’t necessarily “doing the most with the least”, but rather, having so little that you spend your entire evening and weekend making curriculum because your budget doesn’t allot for a good one, and spending hundreds of your own salary on classroom supplies to teach your children effectively.

  34. Same as Nope, I hope you know I wasn’t trying to discredit your work. Only trying to encourage in my own way.

  35. Sigh: Might it to be to show the 64% of the votes, are given representing 64% of the population, while the 36% of the votes, are also allocated representing 36% of the population?

    It appears the one vote one town concept would flip it, and have 80 % of the vote coming from 36 % of the population. Does this sound fair?

    Not in my mind.

  36. Same as Nope, so as a skilled teacher your household income is only about 30k a year? Wow.

    Same as nope
    March 22, 2018 • 4:21 pm

    ” I am in my 20s and my household income is about 30,000 a year. “

  37. To “Nope” & the very original “Same as Nope”

    I applaud the Bulldog for posting your rants. It shows clearly the nature of your hearts. Though I often disagree with Scott Erb, one can often respect his approach. A reasonable discourse, or dare I say debate, is a hallmark of our society. Spewing phrases like “get out of my district”, “we don’t want you”, and the ever classic “ignorant and simple-minded” says much more about your character than that of those with whom you disagree. You are the problem! It scares me to think that you are in some part responsible for shaping the thinking of young and impressionable children with learning disabilities. How quickly people who tout a social justice agenda become elitist when someone objects to their idea of utopia. The same is true for the other side of the argument as well, unfortunately.

    Let’s have a debate and leave the spitting and demeaning remarks where they belong, in professional politics. Who knows? Maybe we can all realize that we need each other to have a vibrant and diverse society.

  38. @ Its me The piece that you don’t understand is that we All vote for ALL ten directors, therefore making it the most fair way to vote. ALL directors would then represent the entire district. How can it get more fair than that?

  39. @it’s me
    You obviously have never served on a board and have comprehension issues. So let me break it down Barney style: the percentages are what they are. You don’t like 1 town 1 vote, do not support it. So you want fair? You missed an important lesson. Life is not fair. Once a quorum ( big word sorry) is met a legally binding meeting can occur. This means some board members will not have a voice. I have no doubt you live in Farmington or Wilton (yay you) however all the towns want representation. Again do not like it, do not support it.
    If you have made it this far, I am proud of you. Thank you for reading what I wrote. If not, for those that are reading this, please remember education should never end, and making informed decisions based on fact not feelings is important. Regardless who “wins” this is supposed to benefit the kiddos, not inflate someone’s ego.

  40. @doing the math I would like to remind everyone that the respresentatives on the school school should be representing 2,300 STUDENTS not the towns.
    No increase in the budget is needed for the new state programs the state released our district enough money to cover these changes.
    But the state is a good excuse for not being fiscally responsible.
    Here we go again :(

  41. Same as Nope – enjoy the next few years. Then, enjoy your move away when you can no longer afford where you live. If you have not seen it in action…well, you will. You exhibit quite a bit of hubris, and certainty that you are ‘morally correct’…are you SURE of that?

    Your ’emotional blackmail’ approach, playing on emotion to set public policy – is becoming more popular (well, it’s always been popular, just that it now has a lot of help from the media and uninitiated). “For the children!”…what about for the people who are supporting all of this? Nothing, no consideration, and they shouldn’t even speak??

    Our 80s education was, I dare say, better than that of today. We were taught critical thinking, and how to have more of a long view on the things we’re doing today.

  42. Correct me if I’m wrong…Don’t people in Maine get a portion of their property taxes back when they file their state income tax? As in..You paid more then a certain percentage of your gross income?

  43. RSU 73 has a budget of $18.8 mil.We have a budget proposal of $35.3 mil.RSU 73 has 1550 enrollment and RSU 9 has 2300 enrollment. “Round numbers”. RSU 73 is at $12129 per student and RSU 9 is at $15347per student.A difference of $3218 per student.Is the education @RSU 9 that much better.Just asking,where’s the difference? What do we offer that is that much better?Will the DBG post this?

  44. Let’s look into the bidding processes with the subcontractor. we hire Our lack of there of rsu9 doesn’t post when they need things done a select few know the process. Other companies that are not right next door don’t know ware or how to even put a bid in .The Information isn’t placed public they just let the same company’s come in and give them a price with out even looking around every year I would like to see snowplowing ,lawn care .building maintenace projects ,hvac ,electrical and other’s posted in the daily bulldog adds like so many other places do to find the best price they can …….

  45. Taxed Enough: Take out the capital cost of the buildings in RSU 9: They are not controlled in a year to year budget. These capital cost are controlled by the large projects approved by the voters, and the State. Good thing 90% plus of the capital projects is reimbursed by the state.

    he state provides the means to compare school costs without the capital costs of new buildings tied in: $11094 for RSU 73 per student, and RSU 9 at $10,277 per student.

    RSU 73: $11094
    RSU 9 : $ 10277

    That is RSU 9 is about 8% lower when compared on the same basis, from this site

    http://www.maine.gov/education/data/ppcosts/2016/FY16_PPOC_bySAU.pdf

    Sigh: Thank you for patiently writing such a nice explanation. I too, believe a persons education should never end. I also believe in collaboration and in the group process in examining issues and answers. However we seem to disagree on how to treat members of the interested group: I believe in finding facts, deciding where problems lay, and based on resources, resolving those problems.

    I do not believe in intentionally insulting those who wish to participate in the process…..

    My background: Managed several successful organizations with production and sales ranging from 7 million dollars to about 35 million with appropriate costs, and good profit margins. Education: undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Years a s a faithful taxpayer: 42.

    All board members have a voice…just because each one does not sway the majority each time, does not mean they do not have a voice.

    I believe the current board members work pretty hard to balance student needs vs taxpayer needs.

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