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School budget discussed at forum

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FARMINGTON – Participants of a public forum dedicated to the proposed $38.2 million budget for Regional School Unit 9 questioned the addition of an assistant superintendent position and advocated for more funding in other areas Tuesday evening.

Conducted via teleconferencing, the forum was scheduled to take place before a board vote on the budget, tentatively scheduled for Thursday. It remains unclear whether a budget meeting will take place or not, due to restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the district is tentatively planning on holding its meeting on June 23, if possible. The finalizing referendum vote would take place on July 14, the day of the statewide referendum.

The proposed $38,226,924 K-12 budget would represent an increase of $1.1 million or 2.97 percent over the current fiscal year. With Adult Education expenditures accounted for, the budget would utilize $13.5 million in local assessments, a decrease of $188,992, or 1.4 percent less local money raised and appropriated as compared to the current fiscal year.

If passed as proposed, the budget would lead to decreases in local assessments in five towns and increases in the other five. Specifically, Chesterville would see a decrease of $44,566 or 4.19 percent; Farmington would see a decrease of $157,882 or 3.28 percent; Industry would see an increase of $6,920 or 0.74 percent; New Sharon would see an increase of $2,364 or 0.23 percent; New Vineyard would see an increase of $12,234 or 1.6 percent; Starks would see an increase of $23,180 or 4.82 percent; Temple would see an decrease of $3,835 or .89 percent; Vienna would see an increase of $1,822 or .25 percent; Weld would see a decrease of $24,946 or 5.03 percent; and Wilton would see a decrease of $4,282 or .16 percent.

Increases in the budget include raises for salaries employees – the school board previously approved increases to support staff and administrator pay and is currently negotiating with teachers – as well as moving another teacher out of federal classroom reduction grant and into the budget and moving an English Language Learning teacher from part- to full-time and $24,000 for school supplies. The budget also includes $110,000 to move several ed tech positions currently working 5.5 hours to full-time, which would extend benefits to those positions in a bid to retain employees.

Other increases include the second step of the summer salary accrual plan, $80,000, additional funding for nurses, the Extended Year Program, student assessments, the local share of the cost of two buses through the Volkswagon emissions settlement, or $78,000, among other expenses.

The budget also includes $60,000 for a part-time assistant superintendent position, with a third of that cost mitigated through an associated reduction in Curriculum Coordinator funding, as $20,000 of that line would be covered by grants.

Concerns raised at Tuesday’s meeting with the positions addition mostly revolved around whether funds used to support the position could be better spent elsewhere in the school district. Vicky Cohen, a teacher at W.G. Mallett School specializing in mathematics, said that her school’s assessments showed that close to half of children entering the school system were at risk. Noting that even adding a math interventionist via grant money would create a ratio of 1 interventionist to 66 students, Cohen said that wasn’t a reasonable ratio and funds could instead go toward another interventionist that would work with students.

Superintendent Tina Meserve agreed that while administrative staff did not typically work directly with students, she argued that having adequate staffing was important for guaranteeing effective teaching practices and a cohesive curriculum across a district of RSU 9’s size. Those elements were important as the district worked to improve student assessment performance, Meserve said.

The pandemic has also impacted the discussion over the past couple of weeks. Supporters of the assistant superintendent position have pointed out that the district will be going through relatively uncharted territory over the summer break and beyond, as students return to school in the fall after several months away from the classroom. However, some of the directors opposed to the position have cited the financial unknowns associated with the pandemic as reason to wait.

Some speakers specifically cited the Student Innovation Center as an area for additional investment. The SIC provides a place for students to come to get help on projects, help accessing resources for specific problems or help coping with day-to-day life. The center is staffed by a teacher and an ed tech and has been funded by a GEAR Up grant for three years, ending this year. The proposed budget doesn’t include funding for SIC, although it has been suggested that it could be covered  by adding half a teaching position utilizing CARES Act money and leveraging a preexisting half-time alternative education instructor position to staff the center.

Pamela Chernesky, an art teacher at Mt. Blue High School, said she had planned to partner with the SIC for a 3D printing project for her ceramics students. While the pandemic had cut that specific collaboration short, Chernesky said it spoke to the usefulness of the center as a resource. If it wasn’t fully funded, Chernesky suggested it wouldn’t be as successful if the teacher had to split time between the SIC and teaching duties.

“It won’t happen as well,” Chernesky said of the center.

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18 Comments

  1. $5,478,000.00 increase in 5 years, also 9 more teachers then what the state of Maine says we need to operate effectively. That alone indicates if help is needed at the superintendents level that there are already enough on payroll, we dont need to hire another.

  2. this budget is completely out of touch with reality. Shouldn’t the the board finalize and release the plan for next year before squeezing the taxpayers for payment? Seems like there is no real plan, the money is going to be taken, the school will be closed or partially closed and then all the money will disappear plus go to people who are not performing their duties. how ridiculous to create new positions, tax the people for them, and then watch them spend the year not working yet collecting payment in full.

  3. Know what? How much of this information can we believe? It’s all hidden agenda, with funding going any place the Superintendent wants to go.
    I haven’t checked the enrollment numbers to see how they compare to 5 years ago. I wonder how they compare with the increases.
    What is most disturbing is that they are planning to move a teacher out of the Federal classroom deduction program and into the Budge. What is That? iS THAT THE PAL PROGRAM we threw about $500,000 into?
    Did the PAL program work? How come nothing is ever disclosed about that particular program? That’s a lot of money for projected students of 15. Did we lose the grant? What’s going on with that?
    This Administration is just hell-bent to extract as much money out of the tax payers, and into programs that don’t work, or if they work it’s only marginally.
    Unless the people of this district get the lead out and get to the polls, this irrational budget, with all it’s little (or big secrets) will pass.
    GET ON IT PEOPLE. COME VOTE AGAINST THE BUDGET.

  4. I want to know why the high school needs 2 Assistant Principals and a Principal? Nothing was wrong back when myself and other went there with 1 Assistant and some classes back then had pretty close if not more than what the class of 2020 have for numbers. Why isn’t the principal handling students like in the past. Now to add an Assistant Superintendent! That is crazy! Our district is NOT as big as Lewiston, Bangor, Portland. We do not need all of these positions. I also believe at some point the Athletic Direct was a part time Assistant Principal. Again, yes times have changed, but honestly our class numbers are not that different.

  5. May I present a flow chart of the process that occurs every year-
    1. Budget Proposed
    2. Outrage and calls for a revolt
    3. Vote happens, and budget passes
    Next year-wash, rinse and repeat the same process again.

  6. We, the public taxpaying supporters of RSU9
    are absolutely NOT dedicated to the proposed $38.2 million budget, the addition of an assistant superintendent or one single taxpayer dollar (state or federal) of additional spending. Period. No raises,no added positions, no added programs or increased services for helping projects, coping or problems.
    Fiscal responsibility is what we want from these directors of our public education tax dollars. This yearly plan of excessive spending increases for our Franklin Co. schools is living beyond our means and is not producing the properly educated young adults we require for our investment. We need to do more with less, and reduce, not just flatten this budget.
    We live in a new dynamic in the US where most state’s revenue is not growing at a rate to which we became accustomed. We must reset our expectations of what we can afford, how we save for our priorities, NOT further tax and spend. We must overhaul our budgets, prioritize spending for core services and reflect that NEW AMERICAN ECONOMIC REALITY!
    There is a fatal loss of freedom you risk from the comfort of a crowd, critical thinking can be a distressing and lonely path. Even intelligent people can be cowards and courage is a much rarer attribute than intelligence.
    This budget needs realistic and courageously critcal thinking to pass the voting public this year. Adapt, improvise, overcome. Take a deep breath. Repeat.

  7. Speaking of student numbers Nancy. Mr. Sillanpaa asked for the enrollment number the other night and the answer from the superintendent was 2,408. Now someone I know checked that number with the state and they were told enrollment for fall is 2,373. Before Ward left another number for enrollment was given at 2,377. Someone is lying around here and I think it’s high time answers start being asked. Supposedly the district has grown by 125 students in the las three years. Must be common core math !!!!!

  8. Asking for an assistant superintendent position makes no sense to me at all. I know the superintendent said that it would help her to do her job better, but couldn’t we all say that? Math interventionists have a ratio of 1 to 80 students. Probably a few more of those would help those teachers do a better job! Some classrooms had 25 students last year. I bet an ed. tech. or an additional teacher would have also helped those teachers do their jobs better too! Wilton schools share a principal, a guidance counselor, a school nurse, and art, music, and PE teachers with other schools. We all do the very best that we can with what we have. The superintendent is making a substantial salary. She should do the best she can with what she has as well. If anything, money should be used to address the very significant student needs we will have come fall.The impact of losing 3 months of learning at school will be felt for years, and it seems like the school board and administration should be focused on mitigating those effects with resources that can directly impact students in times such as these.

  9. Hello again folks,

    I’ve been quiet for a few years about the school system budget, but this new budget in this climate has me
    Very concerned. I would like to toss out some things from the past and present for the taxpayers to think
    About. You make your own decisions. Back in 2016 when Tom Ward was the super, he told us that the
    Student population that year was 2377 for all of Sad 9. That data is in multiple locations including many
    Bulldog postings. And every year since, the school system has asked for $1 million plus for increases and
    They always report that the student population has grown by 77 students one year and 70 the next and just
    A few weeks ago i saw (here on the Bulldog) that the school system has grown by another 145 students in
    The last 2 years. And every year when the taxpayers complain about budget increases, folks like Scott Erb
    Tell us that we must have extra money because the student population is up and it costs more to educate
    Those kids. Soooooo, we must have about 2670-2700 students by now???? Correct??? Well, not exactly.
    I asked one of the school board members to ask the superintendent for the exact student population for the
    New budget. This information was given at this meeting the other night. They reported the new student
    Population is 2408. That would be an increase of 31 students in the last 4+ years. But the budget is up $5.5
    Million in those years. I also asked a very smart friend to do some digging in the Maine Dept of Education
    Website and get the data for Sad 9 student population. I was told that the average student population for
    Sad 9 during the last 10 years is 2350. She found this data on the “Numbers for responsible Funding” link
    At the Dept of Education. She also discovered that Sad 9 has given the state a current student population as
    2373. That would represent a decline of 4 students since 2016. This information is available online from the
    Maine Dept of education. Look for yourselves!!! Now i ask you, why are we spending $5.5 million more than
    2016 to educate fewer kids??? Also, i ask my friend to please comment here with her own data. She is
    someone that we all can trust!!!

  10. Civics was a class that used to be required before you could graduate from high school. You were taught what was in the U.S. Constitution.

    And after all the student rebellions in the Sixties, civics was banished from the curriculum and was replaced by something called social studies. Here we live in a country that has a fabulous constitution and all these guarantees, a contract between the citizens and the government – nobody knows what’s in it …

    And so, if you don’t know what your rights are, how can you stand up for them? And furthermore,

  11. … and furthermore, if you don’t know what’s in the document, how can you care if someone is shredding it?” —– Frank Zappa

    sorry for the choppy post, operator error.
    I DO wish it was all in one posting.

  12. One more quick piece of info. I received a short message from a school board member who wrote that
    Our school budget is up $16,000,000 since the 2010 year budget. The listed student population that year
    (2010-2011) was 2317 students. This number is from the Dept of Education website for Sad 9. We now
    Have maybeeeeeeee??? 90 more students and we are spending $16,000,000 more to educate them. How
    Can the administration defend these increases??? Below are the student population numbers from 2011
    Thru 2020 from the Dept of Education website for Sad 9
    2011 = 2317
    2012 = 2317
    2013 = 2327
    2014 = 2334
    2015 = 2333
    2016 = 2329
    2017 = 2293
    2018 = 2366
    2019 = 2408
    2020 = 2407

  13. With everything going on, people getting little to no money, some have no food, severe DECREASE in jobs and the school department wants an increase?? Seriously, ???? It’s time to STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING, Ridiculous RSU 9!!!!

  14. Old saying, figures don’t lie but liars can figure. This, we need more is all a sham.

  15. We pay taxes for a couple of properties…so are interested in what happens with the County budget, our town budget, and the school budget. We tend to listen to the board meetings, and follow our own taxes.

    We appreciate that our taxes due to the schools has not gone up more than a percent total over the last FIVE YEARS.

    We also appreciate the need for being conservative.

    However…RSU 9 is near the bottom of the state for cost per student, so we believe RSU 9 has been a little too conservative in spending…..

    Have you listened to the meetings when open positions are discussed? To keep good people, you need to pay competitive wages. We may be too close to the bottom to keep enough good employees.

    Need an assistant Superintendent? Thats a want, not a must.

    RSU 9 has been conservative with the dollars, and has been respectful of the tax payers.

  16. Save yourself the heartburn, reduce your already outrageous taxes and stop the endless school money grab. JUST SAY NO at the ballot box and keep saying no until they get it.

    Thanks to our one term governor, who shut down those businesses deemed “not worthy“, Maine will suffer an estimated 40 % loss across the board. The folks and businesses taking the hit are those that can least afford it. The elites, and “do nothing politicians” in augusta don’t feel the pain. Literally, the legislature stayed home and still isn’t working. No Input whatsoever on what is arguably a situation demanding same. Don’t tell us you’re working on it in June when we needed you May.

    Bogus emergency declarations lose their face value after a short period, at which point legitimate legislative debate is required. Extending the emergency action “smoke screen” just further reduces public confidence in our already dysfunctional state government. The state coffers will also take a big loss. No business translates to no taxes rolling in. The next scam will be to raise all manner of our taxes to support the states many failing systems or a feeble attempt to shift responsibility. This Is prime evidence why liberal governments are a very bad idea.

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