Voters will go to the polls Tuesday in most local school districts to approve or reject proposed budgets for the 2014-15 school year.
Many of the budgets propose to add teachers and technology as districts look to restore cuts made in previous years.
AUGUSTA
The proposed school budget is $27.7 million. The district would spend $282,787 more than this year, an increase of 1 percent.
Additions to the budget include a new elementary math curriculum and a half-time nursing position and half-time guidance position for Hussey Elementary School, which will have many more students next year. Augusta’s four elementary schools are being “rebalanced” next year to equalize class sizes and eliminate the need to hire more teachers.
Reductions in the budget include the drafting program at Capital Area Technical Center, laptop purchases and education technicians to staff elementary school libraries and support teachers with large classes.
The local tax appropriation for the school department would be $12.2 million, up by 3.4 percent.
The combined municipal and school budget would increase taxes by $52 on a $100,000 home if voters approve the bond proposal that’s also on the ballot. The bond would refinance pension debt, reducing the school department’s payment by about $146,000 next year.
RSU 2
Regional School Unit 2, which comprises Dresden, Farmingdale, Hallowell, Monmouth and Richmond seeks a $25.4 million budget that would add teachers and technology. It’s $941,574 higher than the current budget, or 3.8 percent more.
The budget adds four new teachers to maintain reasonable class sizes at Hall-Dale Elementary School, expand foreign language offerings and provide additional math instruction at Richmond middle and high schools.
The district also would hire a behavior support specialist to work in all the RSU schools and a family liaison to address truancy problems and connect families to local, state and private support services.
The budget also includes $150,000 for initial planning for a capital improvement project the state has committed to funding to fix various problems at Monmouth Middle School and $100,000 for laptops for two high school grades and elementary school teachers.
Local contributions to the budget would rise by 7.1 percent for Dresden, 8 percent for Farmingdale, 8 percent for Hallowell, 7.1 percent for Monmouth and 9.5 percent for Richmond.
According the RSU, the annual tax increase on a $100,000 home would be $70 in Dresden, $80 in Farmingdale, $70 in Hallowell, $70 in Monmouth and $90 in Richmond.
RSU 2 voters will also decide another ballot question: a $1.52 million capital improvement bond.
Payments would be about $169,000 per year on the bond, which would pay for projects including natural gas boilers in Farmingdale and Richmond, a new oil burner at Monmouth Academy, new roofs for three buildings and nearly $200,000 in improvements at the central office. School officials expect the energy savings from the work to offset most of the expense for the bond payments.
RSU 4
The school board of Regional School Unit 4, which comprises Litchfield, Sabbatus and Wales, did not make any major cuts because eliminating jobs in recent years has penalized the district in the state’s funding formula.
The $18.2 million budget is $494,373 higher than this year’s, an increase of 2.8 percent.
The rise in spending is due mostly to the hiring of an additional special education teacher and education technician for Oak Hill High School, a 9.5 percent increase in health insurance premiums and a $120,000 MaineCare seed payment necessary for the RSU to be reimbursed for the behavioral and health services it has to provide to certain students.
The RSU also budgeted $169,555 for the first payment on a 15-year loan that funded energy efficiency upgrades in all schools, but most of that cost should be offset by an anticipated $120,000 in savings on utilities.
Litchfield’s assessment would rise 8.7 percent, an estimated $90 annual tax increase on a $100,000 home. Sabattus would pay 10.9 percent more to the RSU, raising taxes by $114 on a $100,000 home. And a 7.7 percent increase in Wales translates to a tax increase of $78 on a $100,000 home.
RSU 11
The $22.4 million proposed budget for the district that comprises Gardiner, Randloph, Pittston and West Gardiner includes three additional teachers, new curriculum materials and a hefty increase in health insurance costs. It’s up by $946,000, or 4.4 percent, higher than this year’s.
A 9.5 percent hike in health insurance premiums will cost RSU 11 an additional $284,000. A middle school social studies curriculum and a K-8 math curriculum will cost about $92,000 total.
The three additional teachers would ease class sizes at Pittston Consolidated School, offer more foreign language classes at Gardiner Area High School and expand programming for gifted and talented students.
The budget would increase the local contribution by 4.7 percent for Gardiner, 4.3 percent for Pittston, 3.4 percent for Randolph and 5.9 percent for West Gardiner. For a $100,000 home, that translates to a tax increase of $32 in Gardiner, $33 in Pittston, $23 in Randolph and $44 in West Gardiner.
RSU 12
This will be the first post-Wiscasset budget for RSU 12, which includes Alna, Chelsea, Palermo, Somerville, Westport Island, Whitefield and Windsor.
Wiscasset’s withdrawal, effective July 1, will leave the RSU with about 560 fewer students and three fewer schools. Wiscasset’s schools are expensive to run, so RSU 12’s per-pupil costs will be considerably less.
The proposed $19.7 million budget would require $64,374 less in local taxes, a decrease of 0.65 percent.
Because of the continuing phase — in of a new cost allocation method, however, only four of the remaining seven towns will pay less in school taxes, while the other three will still owe more.
Alna’s contribution would decrease by 2.1 percent, Chelsea’s by 1.7 percent, Westport Island’s by 12.1 percent and Whitefield’s by 2 percent. Palermo would pay 5 percent more, Somerville 5.3 percent more and Windsor 6.8 percent more.
The RSU did not have figures available last week for the estimated impact on each town’s tax rate.
The budget adds a teacher at Windsor Elementary and reduces one at Whitefield Elementary because of changes in enrollment. The hours for art and music teachers are being cut back, but that should not affect instructional time for students.
The central office staff is being pared back to complement RSU 12’s smaller size.
The full-time director of technology position and half-time assistant superintendent would be combined into one full-time position for a director of curriculum and technology. The director of operations and transportation would work for the RSU only two days a week, instead of five, and a human resources position and the adult education director position would be eliminated.
RSU 38
The proposed $15.6 million budget for RSU 38 actually reduces spending by $110,207, or 0.7 percent. The district includes Manchester, Readfield, Mount Vernon and Wayne.
The district would save money by eliminating a high school teacher, a middle school teacher, two education technicians at the middle school, one day of music instruction and a half-day of art instruction.
The hours of a receptionist at the high school would be reduced, and student fees would rise for middle school and high school activities.
RSU 38 was also helped by receiving no increase in health insurance premiums.
The amount to be contributed by each town would rise by 1.4 percent for Manchester, 0.8 percent for Mount Vernon, 1.6 percent for Readfield and 3.9 percent for Wayne.
The RSU did not have figures available last week for the estimated impact on each town’s tax rate. Readfield Town Manager Stefan Pakulski said the school budget would potentially increase taxes in his town by 0.2 mills, or $20 for a $100,000 home.
WINTHROP
The budget approval process was far more cordial between school officials and Town Council this year. Councilors voted unanimously in favor of the school budget last week, unlike last year, when disputes between the school board and Town Council delayed the final adoption of the 2013-14 budget until February, more than halfway through the school year.
Superintendent Gary Rosenthal said he appreciates the councilors’ support, and he’s cautiously optimistic that voters also will approve the budget.
The $10.3 million budget is up $331,452, or 3.3 percent.
The contribution by local taxpayers would rise by 5.3 percent, amounting to a tax increase of $50 on a $100,000 home.
Since initially presenting the school budget to Town Council, school officials have made a few reductions.
The budget calls for the district to ad one education technician instead of two to assist struggling students at Winthrop Middle School. Rosenthal said they will try to find someone who can work with students on both math and English language arts or hire two half-time people to address both subjects.
After an additional review of this year’s spending, Rosenthal said, officials also found ways to save small amounts in transportation and special education.
New staff spending in the proposed budget includes an additional kindergarten teacher, five more education technicians in special education, more time for the Winthrop Grade School guidance counselor and the middle school physical education teacher and stipends for teachers who become instructional coaches assisting with the teacher evaluation system Winthrop will pilot next year.
The district will also buy new textbooks, both print and digital, and must pay higher health insurance premiums.
There are no major cuts in the budget. Rosenthal said he considers it a catch-up budget because the district has kept spending essentially flat for two years.
Susan McMillan — 621-5645
Twitter: @s_e_mcmillan
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