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Voters to decide on $35.5 million budget in RSU 9

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The Regional School Unit 9 board votes Tuesday evening. The board later set the budget at $35.5 million.

FARMINGTON – Regional School Unit 9 school board directors approved a $35.5 million K-12 budget and a $398,000 Adult Basic Education budget Tuesday evening, scheduling the district-wide budget meeting for May 7 and the validation referendum for May 15.

Directors approved two increases to the K-12 budget, bringing it to $35,547,403. That would represent an increase of $1.9 million over the current fiscal year or 5.68 percent. The increases approved Tuesday evening include an additional $138,000 to expand a proposed alternative elementary education program from K-2 to K-5 and $33,000 to cover an increase in health insurance costs.

The budget would be funded by roughly $13.5 million from local town assessments and $21 million from the state allocation, an increase of $750,000. Also included in the budget, in addition to miscellaneous revenue, is $288,000 in funds donated by Richard Bjorn to benefit the Foster Career & Technical Education Center.

The local assessments would provide an additional $792,000. Most of that, $588,000, would fall under the category of Local Required Contribution: the minimum amount of funds the towns need to provide to receive full state subsidy. That is due to the educational mill rate increasing from 8.19 to 8.51. The other $200,000 would represent Additional Local Allocation: funds raised above and beyond the state’s Essential Programs and Services funding model.

The budget would result in a 6.25 percent increase in local assessments. Specifically, Chesterville would see a $116,428 increase to $1.05 million, or 12.4 percent; Farmington would see a $248,819 increase to $4.77 million, or 5.5 percent; Industry would see a $104,147 increase to $924,000, or 12.7 percent; New Sharon would see a $48,311 increase to $1.05 million, or 4.8 percent; New Vineyard would see a $42,515 increase to $743,000, or 6.1 percent; Starks would see an $83,029 increase to $463,000, or 21.8 percent; Temple would see a $6,129 increase to $425,000, or 1.5 percent; Vienna would see a $36,470 increase to $722,000, or 5.3 percent; Weld would see a $60,815 increase to $524,000, or 13.1 percent; and Wilton would see a $46,227 increase to $2.82 million, or 1.7 percent.

The Pathways for All Learners program is the district’s proposed response to dysregulated students in the elementary grades. The PALs program, initially presented as impacting grades K-2, would utilize a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, a social worker, a teacher and three Ed Techs to teach a cohort of eight students from across the district. Principals have said they believed that students would graduate from the program when possible and return to their regular classrooms, with an additional eight to 10 students entering the program when spots became available.

Directors discussed whether to initially encompass the grades of 3, 4 and 5 in PALs first year. Directors expressed concern that making the program too big might impact its development, while others cited the needs at the higher grade levels. The extra $138,000 would fund one teacher and three Ed Techs, plus some material and professional development costs. The BCBA and social worker would split their time between the K-2 and 3-5 programs; the second program could be located in Wilton, due the needs of students at those grade levels.

The vote on whether to include the grades 3 through 5 in PALs passed with nine directors in favor and seven opposed, with a weighted vote of 581 in favor and 420 opposed.

Directors also approved the inclusion of $33,000 to cover increases in health insurance costs. The new budget had included a 5 percent increase for those costs, a typical placeholder figure in the RSU 9 budget process, but the actual costs outstripped it by the $33,000.

Directors unanimously approved adding a Cascade Brook School teacher for Grade 3. Funding for that position had already been included in the preliminary draft budget prior to Tuesday’s meeting. The teacher, bringing the Grade 3 to five teachers total in an effort to reduce class sizes from the 25- or 26-student level. The district previously provided out of contingency for two Ed Techs to assist those large classes; funding for those positions was not included in this budget.

Director Betsey Hyde of Temple questioned the size of the $750,000 increase, after accounting for extra funding provided by the state, MaineCare and the Bjorn donation.

“I personally feel that we’re out of step asking for this much more from our taxpayers right now,” Hyde said.

Director Irving Faunce of Wilton said that he felt the budget represented the needs of the district. “This is a budget that has the maximum impact on students,” Faunce said.

Other directors said that the town assessment impact would be similar to the one in 2015-16. Town assessments due to RSU 9, calculated across the entire district, have decreased roughly 2 percent in each of the two previous fiscal years.

The vote to approve the $35.5 million budget passed with 13 directors in favor and 3 directors – Driector Craig Stickney of Chesterville, Director Jesse Sillanpaa of Industry and Director Jeff Harris of New Sharon – opposed.

The vote to approve the adult education budget at $398,254 was unanimous. That represents a $22,000 increase over the current fiscal year. Of that budget, $174,000 is raised through the local allocation, an increase of $6,000 over the previous fiscal year.

Directors set the annual, district-wide budget meeting for Monday, May 7, at 7 p.m. at the Mt. Blue Campus. The referendum would be held the following week on Tuesday, May 15 in all 10 towns. The budget will be set at the May 7 meeting, while the May 15 referendum asks if voters either approve or reject that budget.

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55 Comments

  1. Could someone explain why the school budget increase is 6.25% but Chesterville’s increase is 12.4% whereas Farmington’s increase is only 5.5%?

  2. Assessment increases in excess of 6% on average and as high as 12% and 13% will have a very difficult time at the polls. This budget may mark the beginning of the end of RSU 9 as it’s currently configured. The smaller outlying towns may start some serious exploration of withdrawal from the district. They might be better off tuitioning students and paying transportation to neighboring school districts. School choice could also come with withdrawal, which is also a powerful motivator for some parents

  3. Hi Linda,

    The actual budget increase is 5.68 percent. The 6.25 percent figure refers to the increase in town assessments (i.e. the amount the towns pay for the school budget).

    The answer to your question lies in the state valuation numbers for each town–the $13.5 million in locally raised funds are divided among the 10 towns in accordance with their state valuations (basically how much the state thinks each town is worth). For the purposes of this budget process, Chesterville’s valuation increased by 7.15 percent to roughly $99 million, while Farmington’s increased 1 percent to $449 million.

    Despite the change in valuations, of course, Farmington’s state valuation is still higher than Chesterville. If the budget was approved as presented, Farmington would pay $4.77 million of the $13.5 million local assessment, or 35 percent. Chesterville would pay $1.1 million, or 8 percent.

    I hope this helps!

    Ben Hanstein

  4. Can we please stop saying dysregulated students! These are children in OUR community who happen to have significant emotional-social support needs. Acceptance and belonging would go a long way for these children!

  5. Thank you for asking, Captain Planet. I voted in favor of the budget, despite the increase, because I do believe it is what is needed. The additional funds are in place to support our most vulnerable students, yet in strengthening programming for these youth, we are in fact having a positive influence upon hundreds of students throughout the District, a ripple effect that will continue to have an undeniable influence for decades to come. Early intervention is key, and the additional funding in these younger grades is a necessary investment in the future of many children in our District, and in turn, an investment in our community and society as a whole. It is a program that truly should have been in place for several years now, it is overdue. In choosing to support this budget, I did what I knew to be best for children, they are ultimately who I serve to advocate for – I chose to send forth the correct budget, what is truly needed at this time.

  6. How about we vote our senior citizens a 6% increase so they can keep up with living expenses and pay for these higher taxes on social security income?

  7. Well, here we go again. As in the past ten years, anyone that opposes the budget as proposed, have been called, uninformed, uneducated, uninterested in the kids, and the list goes on.

    So, I have to ask the obvious question of the three members that, given they have the best possible insight to all the information available. What information was not made available to them, that led them to their no vote?

    They obviously know something us voters don’t know, or they just fall into the category of my first paragraph.

    Whatever it is, I agree with their no vote.

  8. Captain Planet, I too ask that same question of Director Hyde. Her response was that she “did what I knew to be best for the children”. If she truely wants to do whats best for the children then perhaps we should have a teacher for each student. Wouldn’t that be best? Certainly so but we, the taxpayer can’t afford that, now can we? With this absurd increase I see parents having to get second jobs or working longer thus being away from the home and the children even more. And we know what that means, the children will be on their own without parental support or a positive home influence. Therefore our students will be alone at home more, on the streets more, into trouble more. So along with the 2 million for schools we should also throw in another million for the anticipated increases in the police, judicial, correctional and drug abuse system. Now we’re doing what is best for our children aren’t we? Perhaps we should go about this from a different angle. If we can’t control these increases at the district or state level we could erect a wall like Trump to keep families from moving in and then we could put birth control in the public water supply. Eventually we will decrease the enrollment numbers.

    Betsy, this is not specifically aimed at you. I think you are passionate about your work but we just can’t do this.

  9. @ Dulles , I voted no on this because the original PALs program was intended for K-2. Some other board members felt it necessary to include grades 3-5 which brought a $138,000 increase to the cost of the program. My concern with this is it will be an ever increasing cost to future budgets and we have no evidence that this will work for any involved as this will be the first program of its kind in the state. Some logistics of the program also cause some concern as well but those will hopefully be addressed as we go forward with this budget process. I have the same information that you can obtain by contacting the superintendents office or your town office or even your towns board member. There emails are on the districts website.

  10. @ Binny…. I am sorry you feel this way. But I also know that there are several programs out there that supplement those on social security or low income. These are paid through my tax dollars as well as others who pay taxes. Yet you do not see us on here saying to get rid or cut those programs. Why? because they do make a difference. Just as a well funded school budget makes a difference. I support the school budget just like I support the programs that help the low or fixed income. Just saying

  11. Craig Stickney

    @ Dulles:

    Please send me an email with your telephone number and I will return your call. My email is on the district web site. There is not enough space for a comment in this forum as to why I voted no.

  12. I am SO glad I moved out of that already over-taxed district!

    How do the other schools do it? We moved to a neighboring town and we pay a LOT less taxes for 40 acres of land & WAY nicer house than we did for ONE acre there!

    And yes, it all starts in the home. I am not a perfect parent but the way I see some kids being raised (or lack thereof) nowadays, working with the public for 18 years, makes me cringe. It’s no wonder they need extra supervision & special needs. I like the idea of putting birth control in the public water supply!!

  13. Craig Stickney

    @ Dulles

    If it works better for you, send me an email and I will send you my telephone number, whichever works best for you.

  14. We seem to be missing some information in this article. “Directors approved two increases…bringing it to $35547403” which represents $1.9 million increase over the current year. $138,000 to expand PAL and $33,000 for Health Insurance increases only totals $171,000…where does the remaining $1.7+ million in proposed increases stem from???

  15. Had enough of the increases? You need to keep voting this down every time it goes back to a vote.

  16. Thanks Betsey, but that was a very political response. Tom S help you with that? :)
    I respect you and your intentions but if you question something a no vote would be in order until a satisfactory answer is given.

  17. @Kim there were faculty and admin increases that are not negotiable. The $33,000 for health insurance would have ended up having contingency fund making that fall short. The PAL program was initially about $320k and having expanded it to K-5 it added another $138k bringing that amount to just over $461k. Not being at home right now other increases are eluding me but I will look if you want.

  18. These increases that get passed down to us really need to stop. We are on a fixed income, social security does not give us raises to cover all of these out of control increases. I am all for kids and especially special education, I worked in the field for 35 + years, but for the love of God we just can’t keep on giving year after year to the school and the increases they demand every year. I also don’t think it’s right to have all these college kids (like last year) come in to vote, they don’t pay taxes in this town so why would they care? They are doing what the college is asking them to do. It more than likely would have failed the last time again if they did not vote. We moved here because we loved the little town, our taxes have gone up so much in the last 10 years and we have retired. Can you not think of creative ways to run your school with out taking it from people who are trying to survive?

  19. At some point, in say 8~10 years and beyond, when the budget has grown to 50 plus million dollars along with the cost of everything else, the people now voting for these increases will be ready to ” retire “. I wish you the best of success.
    No matter how you sell these students as the areas future, this district just will not be able to sustain the tax burden without some sort of restructuring of the financing. I sure hope that these current students will let you move in with them and take care of you.

  20. All normal thinking folks would agree that this may be the end of the district. However, there are too many non normal thinking folks in the district. Prediction, this will pass on the first vote.

  21. Jesse,as a new board member you seem to fit right in.Instead of finding ways to control the budget you give us reasons why it’s going up.Hopefully you are not a Mr.Erb want a be.I realize speaking in this manner that the possibility of getting posted is slim to none.We’ll see.Thank you DBD.

  22. Our property is for sale in Farmington-According to Zillow the High School has a 2 out of a possible 10 for a ranking.10 being the highest! “Good Luck” to us. Let the Exodus begin.

  23. I’m tired of hearing that there are faculty and administrative salaries that are not negotiable.
    These increases were negotiable at some time, but unfortunately no one on the school board understood what they were voting on.
    At some point 6% increases cannot be sustained by the taxpayers. How many votes will it take to get this budget passed??

  24. @taxed enough Sorry you feel that way. I did vote against this budget, and being new to the board its a learning experience. I’m not giving excuses Im answering the questions people are asking. In time I do hope to find ways to save people money. You can also vote No if you want and we will go over it again.

  25. I often wonder if while arriving at a budget to present to the public, especially a budget with a large increase to be paid by the taxpayers, if the administration and school directors ever look at or consider other programs that might be reduced or even cut in order to put new, necessary programs in place. There are certainly areas that could and should be swapped off so that more important ones can be implemented.Setting priorities is in order! It is not sound financially to keep every program and person in place.There must be trade-offs. It must be remembered what a school is supposed to be and what its purpose .As has been mentioned, RSU9 is on the verge of self-destruct.People will leave these communities faster than those moving in because of such “good” programs. The Budget meeting and Referendum on May 7 and May 15 should prove very interesting. Record numbers of voters will turn out. The outcome…..??? Certain towns exploring the possibility of something different???

  26. Simple solution to the tax increase debate. Everyone who votes yes on the budget pays an extra one third of their taxes. That will help supplement those who struggle to pay their increases. Not fair, you say? It’s not fair to those who who don’t vote Yes to be saddled with increases they don’t support.

  27. Same as it ever was…. In my opinion it’s a unreasonable amount of new funding for the same old sinking test scores, and no accountability. If this was truly about the kids the sinking scores would not be tolerated, here it is just accepted, never even mentioned. Where can we show any measurable improvement since this juggernaut was created 10 years ago? This 6% is about feeding the machine that is our school district, not the kids, and 10 years of dropping scores prove it.

  28. Are these outrageous increases never going to end ? Someone posted a picture on Facebook last week of five houses in a row that are up “FOR SALE” in their neighborhood . What does thiat tell you ??

  29. Administrator…. please correct the spelling in that post to read “ What does that tell you”? Thanks

  30. Seriously. The pathway for learners program. 315,383.00 bus not included. To teach 8 kids at a time to behave in class. Somthing the parents should be doing. This is not education its an expensive babysitting service.

  31. Im a home owner in farmington. Already struggling to pay taxes. I fear our house will be taxed out from under us. I just got married and want to have kids. How can my kids have a bright future with no home? Kids need to live in homes, not schools, to grow up healthy and happy and stable. Emotional stability begins in a home. Lets make it easier for people to LIVE. thank you.

  32. SO many right comments about this problem and here are my thoughts. FIRST, there is a group that supposedly manages this school district that won’t listen to the people who are concerned over large increases year after year. They won’t be told or entertain suggestion because they are “smarter” and above the rest! This has been shown year after year and it is a well- known characteristic of this profession and part of our society. SECOND, you have collected a group of citizens to serve as directors who obey and follow the leader without being the individual that dares question and stand alone on issues. Director Hyde exemplifies this of late. Concerned citizens should run for the school board. Third,the weighted vote and system of contributing money to the school coffers is “NOT FAIR”. If the cost per pupil is $9,000 each year, then each town should pay the same, not $15,000, $13,000 for some towns and $ 5,000 for others! If I pay part of your share to educate your student, my vote should at least be equal to yours. Lastly, whether you agree with me or not, if you are seriously concerned about increases to the school budget, “a runaway train”, you shall pick yourself up and with others attend the May 7 Budget Meeting and then follow up on the May 15 referendum vote at each town’s place of voting.

  33. Bob Millay….
    You are exactly right. However, what happened last year? The “yes” voters said if the budget wasn’t approved, the district wouldn’t be able to offer school sports and everyone freaked out. It’s a sad day when people are so easily manipulated by fear.

  34. I won’t get into a particular defense of this budget yet, but I do want to address the “cost per pupil” claiim.

    Property taxes are based on total population. Cost per pupil depends on the number of school age kids. Weld seems to have fewer school aged children.

    But any given property tax payer in Weld who does not have children pays no more than someone in Wilton or Farmington who does not have children (not exactly because there are some town tax differences). Someone in Weld with a child pays no more than people in other towns. Moreover, Weld’s voice on the school board reflects the total population, not just the number of pupils.

    So comparing cost per pupil shows only that Weld doesn’t have many kids in the school system. Their property tax payers, as well as their voice on the board, reflects the total population, as it does in every town. Any individual in Weld is no more burdened than they would be in any other town.

  35. Last year? Taxes went down for most towns. The year before? Taxes went down for some towns.

    Mr Millay: could you explain the way the state uses real estate values of the towns to set tax rates? Are real estate values going up in some towns because of growth? Sales at higher prices? or the evil empire?

  36. What we do have to look forward to is at an increase of around 2 million a year is a school budget of 45 million in 5 years. Fyi

  37. @ Mr. Erb:

    I am one person who signed the citizens petition for reapportionment of the board of directors. The main reason was there is an opinion from the schools attorney that says all representatives represent all students and not necessarily the town they are from. Would you care to tell me why you feel your vote is worth more than welds?
    That is what I am getting reading your post above.

  38. Mr. Millay, I must respectfully disagree with your statement about me, “directors who obey and follow the leader without being the individual that dares question and stand alone on issues.” I did question, I did stand apart from much of the Board, and ultimately, I chose to vote in favor of the Proposed Budget based on the many presentations we have had over the past few years regarding these students needing additional supports. My vote was also based on the dozens of testimonies we have heard this Budget Season from concerned parents, teachers, and even students, pleading with the Board to do something to help this out of control situation. I feel that this is a necessary addition to the budget – no one intimidated me to vote this way, and frankly – to read my partial quote in the DB and know that I still voted to support this Budget should bear witness to the fact that I am willing to stand up and ask questions, and still choose what I think will be best for students. It is now up to this community to come out and vote as they see fit. I will be voting in favor of this Budget on May 7th and May 15th – it is a Budget that takes care of our most vulnerable students, and in doing so helps a multitude of others.

  39. Jason, you miss the point. Even though all board members represent the interests of the students, people in different towns interpret those interests differently. A town of 500 people should have as much say as a town of 7000.

    The votes are weighted to assure it is in line with the state’s one person one vote law. I get the impression that there are many people in Farmington who have a different perspective on what bests serves the interests of all students than, say, people in Chesterville. That’s why communities vote for who is their board member – someone they think reflects their beliefs on what is best for all students.

  40. Yeah, I don’t see anyone simply following what the Superintendent wants. We do take his expertise seriously, but we also investigate and dig on our own. I know there will be tomatos hurled at me for saying this, but the last two budgets I fought for items that were not what the Superintendent asked for (needs he suggested could wait). I’ve never seen him try to push board members to a view he wants, quite the opposite, he’s a good listener.

    So I have to second what Betsey says. I’ve learned a lot on the board, and I’ve seen that we have some strong willed and smart people who would never simply follow a party line. I do think the budget is a good one, and won’t burden the tax payers – but I certainly understand there is skepticism about some of the programs. I’m sure those discussions will ensue.

    I’d ask everyone to NOT just look at the bottom line – that includes new revenues like the Bjorn gift, more money from the state, and a lot of reimbursement money for mandated spending. Spending hasn’t gone up in very many places at all in this budget – the big ones (beyond the Bjorn grant positions) are a third grade teacher for CBS, full time ASL instead of half time, the hiring of an accountant, and the PALs program K-5. I suspect in coming weeks there will be a lot of discussion about those.

  41. Thank you Scott Erb for clarifying that the budget isn’t going up in very many places at all, except the big ones.

  42. Scott Erb, does the $15,600 that Weld pays for each student it sends to RSU9schools help keep several town’s cost per pupil down around the $5,000 mark? If only one student attends in RSU9 from WELD, is it going to cost them $500,000+ for that student each year? Director Hyde, by advocating for a little bit lower budget in regards to your concern for taxpayers and sticking to it would have sent a more favorable message. Sorry to single you out, but that is the record and message received.

  43. With all the negative posts here I’d say the budget has no chance of passing this time around.

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