FARMINGTON – The Regional School Unit 9 school board approved the lease-purchase of a bus to replace one lost in a crash and received a report on the Special Education program at Tuesday’s meeting.
Christine Gatto-Shea, the director of the Special Education program, provided the board with an update on the number of students receiving services and some of the associated costs. Special education services ranged from speech/language assistance to occupational and physical therapy to support from social workers, counselors, behavior analysts, she said. While students receiving services were reevaluated every three years, she said, staff met yearly to determine how students were progressing. She said that she always tried to put students in the least restrictive environment as possible, as that was better for the student.
The district was still lower than the state average in terms of student population receiving services, Gatto-Shea said. According to the 2015-16 numbers from the state, the most recent available, the statewide average was 17.5 percent of Maine students receiving special services. RSU 9’s average was 15.5 percent.
The district currently provides services to 389 students, she said, with 70 of those students falling into the category of “high needs.” High needs were met with adult support, from assistance feeding, moving and toileting to behavior management to small group instruction. In some cases, Gatto-Shea said, a student would be placed in a special purpose private school if their needs couldn’t be met within RSU 9.
“If we don’t have it,” she said, “we have to find it.”
In total, Gatto-Shea said, RSU 9 spent $558,474 in tuition and $167,831 in transportation in 2016-17 for students placed in special purpose private schools. Much of that cost is covered by the state; the district paid $151,816 in seed money, representing the local share of those costs. The district also paid for one day treatment program student not covered by MaineCare at the cost of $32,406.
In total, Gatto-Shea said, the district received a total of $1.2 million in revenue last year, including local entitlement, day treatment reimbursements as well as some smaller amounts of funding for state agency students and a tuition student transported into RSU 9 from another district.
The director argued that the RSU 9 special education program was efficient compared to other school districts, utilizing per pupil statistics from the Maine Department of Education Data Warehouse for the 2015-16 year, the latest available. RSU 9 spent an average of $1,391 per student in the Special Education program above the $9,616 it paid on average for regular instruction students. That figure, Gatto-Shea said, was lower than surrounding districts, which ranged from $1,658 to $2,401. These included RSU 73 in the Jay/Livermore Falls area, RSU 10 in Dixfield/Rumford, RSU 54 in Skowhegan, RSU 74 in North Anson. RSU 9’s average was slightly higher than the average in RSU 17 (Oxford Hills), which came in at $1,331 above the regular instruction average.
The state average for 2015-16 was $1,953. Multiplied by the number of students in the program, Gatto-Shea said, that equated to a savings of $218,618 for the district.
In other business, the board approved the lease-purchase of a 2019 Blue Bird bus with 77 passenger seats at the cost of $98,600. That bus will replace a 2003 model that was totaled in a crash last year. Insurance on the 2003 bus will pay for $15,558 of the cost, while the remaining $83,042 will be paid for with a 3.07 percent interest, 5-year lease agreement with Androscoggin Bank. At the conclusion of the lease, the district will own the bus.
The funds for the lease-purchase are already included in the budget going to referendum next Tuesday, Superintendent Tom Ward said.
Directors also welcomed new student representative Christopher Marshall to the board. A junior, Marshall will join senior student representative Griffin Mayhew on the school board.
It is good to hear and read where and how money is spent in the school district. HOPEFULLY, it will continue AND be accurate. More transparency is welcome and the public likes to know how every penny of its’ money is spent. Good reporting from Special Ed. director Ms Gatto- Shea.
M-m-m-m-m-m…how can the Superintendent sign a loan for a bus lease if we don’t have a budget yet? Is he THAT sure the budget is WILL pass? Typically presumptuous
Nancy…ahead of yourself a little bit as you spread your negativity and pessimistic attitude once again? I must have missed the article stating the superintendent signed the lease. The article states the BOARD APPROVED the lease-purchase of a 2019….” then continues with “those figures were included in the budget going to referendum.
I’m not sure about others but when my family is considering shopping for /purchasing vehicles or other type loans, I shop around to get pre-qualified then search for the best interest rates/loan details/budget before I make my purchase.
Great question Nancy and there are so many more like ; Do the teachers and staff receive the pay raises as negotiated even though the budget hasn’t been decided? Where does the money come from to pay a police officer to “protect some board members from the boogie man” at each board meeting, when supposedly it is a “bare-bones budget?” How can there be new hires, teachers ,ed techs, other staff without a budget? Why do we see the continued use of fuel guzzling buses running one or two kids home in late afternoon? What has been done to reduce the CMP bill? AAAND if parents had to fund raise and ask donations for a LIFESKILLS program, so important to the education of their children ,that had been cut, from special ed. why don’t other parents pay for their kids ed. programs that teach skills i.e. field hockey, tennis ,football, xcountry etc.?
I agree with you “Another Taxpayer.” Thank you.
Thank you Nancy for all of your efforts.
Hmmm Nancy isn’t the district running on the budget recently passed at the town meeting? I heard the votes at that meeting were nearly unanamous? Doesn’t the law say you must honor contracts from good faith bargaining Woodsman? Or should we just break them whenever we feel like it? Woodsman did you miss hearing of the $58,000 Sports boosters raised and donated? Forgetful?
As I understand it, the budget in place is the one last passed by a public meeting (that on October 11). That budget will be in place until either ratified by vote, or, if it fails in a vote, is replaced by another budget passed at a public meeting. So a budget exists. Moreover, I believe money for that bus was in every budget approved so far by public meeting, even the one with draconian cuts that was overwhelmingly rejected by the community.
As far as negotiated raises – the district is obligated to meet raises negotiated and in a contract. If the budget is cut, those raises still must be given. Cuts would have to be made elsewhere – either in programs or by cutting positions. Since the contracts usually give a month or two notice time, this means position cuts would only take effect probably early next year. Otherwise, non-essential programs like extra-curricular activities or some sports would get cut. I think the community spoke loudly in rejecting such as approach last month.
The myth of gas guzzling buses taking only two kids home has been debunked – that might be seen at the end of a run (just like when the bus makes its first pick up, only one or two kids are on…but then more join). The CMP bill was discussed last year and can be looked at again, but the idea that there can be lots of money saved there is an illusion. Sports participants and their families fund raise far more than any other group in the school system, I believe. I can’t remember the exact figure given at the meeting, but I believe it was in the tens of thousands. So that is already being done. Most sporting equipment and the like already are paid for via fund raising, not the school budget.
As far as negotiated raises and benefits, the district is obligated to meet these raises because the school board is the one who accepted these raises and benefits thru negotiations. At some point in time, it is OK to say no, or to keep the salary and benefits in line with what the rest of us are getting in private employement.
The same can be said about cutting positions. Where i work, an underperforming employee is let go whenever it is warranted. They don’t wait a whole year to cut the cord.
thanks
What about the police officer Scott? What account and how come the extra money in it?
Susie – our teachers are paid less on average than in the state or area, so we aren’t exactly giving them extra money. They are well trained professionals, and in my opinion, underpaid. They often nonetheless buy things for their students and contribute materials. Anyone who wants to cut salaries of teachers, or who claims that they are “under performing” (our teachers are really impressive!) is ill informed.
I think there are many ways to try to save money and continue what we’ve done the last two years – ask less from property tax payers ($545,000 less!) But cutting salaries is not one of them. I don’t think people realize how hard these professionals work for salaries that are pretty low. No one questions the money lawyers, doctors, college professors and other professionals make – but yet somehow teachers, who have an extremely important and challenging profession – get asked to take less. That is really misguided. Also, most teachers would, if in the private sector with that level of education, earn more than they do as teachers. I’m so happy when someone who could be a successful lawyer or accountant chooses instead to go into teaching because I know they will earn less than they could, but contribute so much more. The lack of appreciation teachers receive is shameful.
Scott, I agree K-12 teachers on the whole are underpaid in comparison, but please don’t say that ” no one questions the money ” other professionals make. Do you have data to back this up?
I hear a broken record
i don’t believe I ever said cut salaries of teachers.
I mentioned limiting raises and cutting numbers of underperforming individuals, practices that are common in the private sector but do not seem to take place in the educational environment.
thank you
Scott, I and many others work as hard and get questioned about many things pertaining to our employment just as much and in many cases more than teachers.
You cannot possibly back up your claims that teachers have it harder than the rest of us (as you claim). You can’t because you don’t know about the rest of us. But it’s clear you don’t care.
You clearly only care about one thing.
So be it but don’t tell me things about “me” you don’t know.
Mr know it all.
Ugh.
Billyjoebob – I just don’t see complaints about other professions. I do know that doctors get paid a lot more in the US than other developed states because they have massive loans to pay back (something that only happens in the US). That’s one reason for our high health care costs (we pay about 17% of GDP, while the average is about 12% – and we are only in the middle in performance). I’ve got friends in Germany who are teachers and they get paid about double what teachers get paid here. It is funded by the state, not local property taxes. The attitude there is that you want the best people teaching the youth, and you need to pay well in order to get that. Their economy is booming. They also have a distinction between Realschule (a votech high school that has apprenticeships and helps people find jobs) and college prep. I wish we could expand our votech to match that – they still have a lot of skilled professionals in industry, while we have turned into a consumer society that produces far less than we consume. That’s unsustainable.
Scott, Oh, ok, now I understand what you mean by ” no one talks about doctors, lawyers, professors or other professionals wages “.
Because the circle you run in doesn’t discuss doctor or lawyer wages and Germany has a better system.
Narrow – your comment is way off base. You are making personal accusations that have no basis in reality. And that is the problem with this type of communication. If people sit and talk, then they can see where each other is coming from. But you read one comment and jumped to a whole bunch of conclusions, especially a way off base one saying I don’t care. You also made a completely bogus statement about what I said – I did not say “teachers have it worse than the rest of us.” There I could accuse you of dishonesty, but I realize it’s probably not intentional. In forums like this, emotion sometimes takes over and you imagined me much different than I am. And that is why people get in such arguments in forums like this – people imagine the other as far more nasty (or uncaring or closed minded) than they are. People do this on all sides. I’ve found it’s best to give people the benefit of a doubt and not turn it into a personal attack. When people start seeing the other side as bad, evil, mean, uncaring, or dishonest by virtue of their position, then they’ve turned to the dark side. Let’s not do that!
You know what I find extremely interesting ? That negative people like Nancy Porter have so much to say behind a keyboard, but when it comes time for them to have an opportunity to ask questions or attend meetings they are nowhere to be seen. My husband and I have been at all the meetings and havent seen them at one. If you are all so concerned and think Tom Ward is so terrible for our schools, maybe you should show up when it counts and have a face to face conversation. Tom Ward puts in the work, attends the meetings and is there when it counts the most…..still want to judge him? Maybe you should look in the mirror and question who is working hardest for our schools, our kids and our community…because in the end its Tom Ward every time.