We are writing in support of the RSU 9 School Board of Directors, and Superintendent and staff, who have worked so diligently on the current budget. We were disappointed the original budget did not pass with voters. We believe the vote caught many potential ‘Yes’ voters off guard. Many busy parents we talked to were unaware that the vote was happening! In addition, we believe the shortened voting hours, and the minimal time to acquire an absentee ballot impacted working people’s ability to get to the polls.
Given this situation, and the low turnout on election day, we personally believe more people are ‘pro school budget’ than the turnout and margin suggested. We implore the school committee to allow the next vote to proceed without cuts that go beyond the current mark. We understand approximately $200,000 has been cut since Vote #1. That’s more than enough! We shudder to think of the consequences to our students and schools if any more cuts take place.
Those who are familiar with the budget will attest to the fact that our school budget is already a ‘lean ship’. We ‘make do’ with a significantly smaller per-pupil expenditure in RSU 9, compared to other Maine school districts. This is a testament to careful stewardship by those who prepare and administer our school budget items. It also is a testament to our strong, invested community and teachers’ amazing commitment to our children’s education. We believe any penny invested into our children’s education makes our community, and Maine’s future, stronger. Along with our teachers and administrators, we believe wholeheartedly in investing in the next generation. Our parents and grandparents did it for us: we owe the same commitment to our children and their classmates.
Thank you, RSU 9 School Board Directors, Dr. Tom Ward, and valued staff members, for your diligence and trustworthiness throughout this process. Please allow a more informed, and more alert electorate the chance to vote YES on a reasonable (not gutted!) budget.
Karol Maybury & Eric McIntosh
Wilton
I can’t believe that after we voted down a 32 million budget because it is too heavy of a tax burden, and after many hours of review, we are hearing that it should now pass because a miniscule 200,000 has been dropped off. I say let the tax-payers turn out and decline it again until we get a budget that has had several million dropped off. Even a 10% cut would put it under 29 million – let’s make that a goal, which is much more realistic than the 0.6% that has been cut so far. None of us can survive doing a family budget in this manner.
Thanks Karol and Eric for putting it so well! We need to do right for the children in our community, a quality education is essential. I agree that nothing more should be cut. I also will do all I can to make sure people get out and vote this time. I’ve been impressed by what our schools do with what they have – but without the resources, education quality suffers, as do future prospects for community children. We can’t let that happen!
I completely agree, Karol! Our school system does the best they can with what they have but they definitely need more. I know I will be voting yes, as I believe that our students, staff, and community deserve more. The children, whether ours or not, are the future– investing in them is worth the increase!
Are you kidding me? I agree that much more needs to be cut. Does any of the “all for it group” have elderly parents trying to keep their home, pay for their meds, not to mention pay for their heat? Yet you want them to pay more for taxes? I’m sorry but enough is enough. You cannot continue to reap from the elderly and those just getting by. Enough!
The proposed budget was voted down for common sense reasons by people who are really feeling the squeeze. I am happy to say that they were not caught off guard.
This budget must not be approved and I encourage voters opposed, to turn out for the next vote.
Thank you Karol and Eric. So many of us appreciate people such as yourselves who care so deeply about the students.
Interesting that some people apparently don’t want their name to appear with their opinions. In any event, this has nothing to do with “elderly parents.” This has to do with making sure our children have the knowledge and skills to succeed, and thereby be able to take care of their parents! It’s sort of weird to make it sound like this is about taxing the elderly who can’t pay for their meds. Huh?
There appears to be several dedicated school budget supporters out there. I believe there is nothing stopping any of you from donating your OWN money to the school district to support a belief that you feel so strongly about. If you have this deep rooted belief that the budget is already “bare bones ” and CAN afford more money out of your OWN pocket, then by all means donate to the district to help resolve this problem. Don’t just sit back and complain that things didn’t go your way. Check with Dr. Tom Ward or your local school board director to see if there are any restrictions on the district accepting donations, then repost on the Bull Dog to let people know how they can help. Thank you
Thank you for the support Karol and Eric. Education, along with good and constant parenting, is the way to ensure good career choices for our children.
Thank you for the letter supporting the RSU 9 Board of Directors in their current budget proposal. I know the Board and Administrators have put many long hours into analyzing and balancing the needs of the students of our schools and the funds available. I believe they have worked on a very difficult job, and have arrived at a workable budget for balancing the funds available and the needs of our schools.
I believe in public schools, and in funding them adequately. I believe in electing school board representatives to work diligently in leading a school district in providing a quality education at an affordable cost. I believe our board has done so, and have seen the board split in trying to balance funding and affordability because of the difficulty of the budget process. As the state reduces funding for local schools, the job of our Directors and Administrators gets more and more challenging. Thank you for doing this difficult task!
I believe we should pass the proposed budget and then work with our legislators to broaden the State of Maine’s support of education by increasing the State’s contribution, and increasing the homestead exemption for property owners.
To say people should donate is ridiculously silly. This is a community issue and budget.
It is interesting that the people opposed to the budget don’t have any argument against the budget. They claim their taxes are too high, but the tax difference isn’t that much. They don’t counter the argument that this is needed to give our children — many of whom come from very poor circumstances and need a decent education in order to have a chance to make a quality life for themselves — a good education. This is an issue where we as community have to decide. Is it our priority to have a few extra dollars in our pockets at the expense of our childrens’ future, or is it our priority to do everything we can to make sure our community’s youth have the opportunity to succeed and thrive.
Wonderfully and thoughtfully written! Thank you Karol and Eric! We cannot be complacent when it comes to our children’s education. A no vote on this budget would be devastating indeed.
Thank you Karol and Eric, and all here supporting the budget passing. As far as people donating, that’s not the way these things actually work, but feel free to volunteer your time, as I know many of the people above do, some a lot of time, to help the children, and help fill in holes which will be created by cutting more and more and more. And for those who have a ‘deep rooted belief’ that you should not have to pay taxes to help our children prepare educationally for the world, to improve their lot in life, to take the helm, please contact your legislators and especially your governor and request the municipal revenue sharing levels be brought back to the level they were in a few years ago, before they were cut, when your taxes went up. As the state cuts its funding, it falls more on us, so I hope you are actively telling the governor to stop those cuts, not just here at the local level.
We are a community. We all benefit when our children get the education they need. We all need to pay our share.
Calling our new campus( what used to be the high school) a lean ship, is like calling the titanic a lean ship.
In most of the developed world the cost of education is not borne by the communities, but there are national funds designed to make sure places with less money can offer as good an education as those with more. While I don’t think there is anything to cut (and the physical campus is a very different thing than the annual budget), and urge support for this budget, I do agree that those who feel pinched by taxes have a point. They put us in the unenviable position of having to pay higher taxes or give our children a lower quality education than wealthy districts provide (thereby meaning our children are at a disadvantage). Worse still, many of our children are already disadvantaged economically – this reinforces those splits. Our poor kids are just as smart as Scarborough’s rich kids – but they might not get the same opportunities. So yes, this is a tough issue. Yes, we supporters of the budget have to understand the dismay of many taxpayers. Let’s all agree not to be knee jerk about this and listen to each other, as a community.
I moved into this school district thirty years ago. In every one of those years, I heard the same tired nonsense: We must cough up more money for the children! I have never heard an answer to one simple question: How much is enough? And I never will, for an honest answer would bring the entire system to a halt.
We all know who the extra money is for. All this high moral outrage is just disingenuous hogwash,
Why don’t we start cutting pay raises and paying your own health benefits. Get rid of useless unions out for their own pockets . why don’t we ask every parent ,who’s had a 3% pay raise every year?bet most ALL would say no.
To Frostproof: Please enlighten us on ‘who the extra money is for.’
Obviously the employees higher up on the RSU9 payroll. Administrators, teachers, etc.