AUGUSTA — Potential cuts to close the remaining $331,000 gap in the Augusta school budget could include all middle school sports and clubs, instrumental music classes at the elementary schools, one of two security guards at Cony High School, education technicians at elementary schools, two high school and two elementary school teachers, and money to cover the cost of renting ice and pool time for athletic teams.

Officials are also looking into other ways to close the budget gap that could make fewer of those potential cuts necessary, including possibly leasing, instead of purchasing, new laptops or other technology for students.

The gap between revenues and expenses school officials are trying to close is more than $1 million, but a majority of school board members informally agreed last week to use $400,000 from the schools’ fund balance account, for a total of $2 million from that account, to help balance the budget. School board members, also last week and also informally, agreed to $340,000 worth of cuts proposed previously by administrators, reducing the gap they still need to close to just over $331,000.

Board members are scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss cuts recommended by administrators to close that gap.

They include eliminating education technicians from elementary schools, saving $105,000; eliminating instrumental music classes, but not the entire music program, from elementary schools, saving $83,000; eliminating Project Pride education technicians at Gilbert Elementary School and Farrington Elementary School who work with students who need extra help, saving $70,000; and asking parents or boosters to pick up the cost of renting ice and pool time for athletic teams that need to rent facilities, saving $31,000.

Other options include cutting one first grade and one second grade teacher, saving $120,000; cutting one social studies and one English teacher at Cony, saving $120,000; cutting a secretary at the high school, saving $30,000; cutting an education technician focused on career training at the high school, saving $30,000; delaying the removal of underground oil tanks from school buildings for a year, saving $30,000, and cutting all middle school after-school sports and clubs, saving $38,000.

Superintendent James Anastasio said the recommended cuts come from a team of administrators, though he noted, “nobody wants to do these.” The cuts were recommended only as potential ways to help close the budget gap left because Augusta is projected to receive about $1 million less in state funding than was initially budgeted. Some of the cuts, Anastasio noted, “go right to the core” of the school system.

Last week board members also asked Anastasio and other administrators to look into other ways to save funds and balance the budget, including potentially lease-purchasing, instead of outright purchasing, technology for student use, which could spread the cost out over multiple years. Administrators had proposed cutting $200,000 from the technology budget, which was budgeted to help purchase a total of 800 laptops or similar technology used by students, but board members asked them to look into a lease-purchase deal to spread out the cost of acquiring new technology to replace student devices that are seven or more years old. Anastasio expects to report back to board members at their 7 p.m. Wednesday meeting in council chambers at Augusta City Center.

Last week board members discussed, but by an informal straw vote rejected, recommended cuts including the Latin program at Cony, which could have saved $60,000, and the currently unstaffed drafting program at Capital Area Technical Center, which could have saved $75,000.

Cuts agreed to last week, informally, include two half-time secretaries at elementary schools, saving $30,000; a study hall monitor at Cony, saving $22,000; a half-time middle school literacy mentor, saving $30,000; $160,000 worth of buildings and grounds projects; replacing three of the system’s six school nurses with licensed practical nurses, saving $60,000; and cutting $38,000 from the supplies budget system-wide.

The proposed budget, written before administrators learned Augusta’s state subsidy would be more than $1 million less than last year, is up about $1.5 million, or 5.5 percent, and would require about $800,000 from property taxpayers, which is up by 7 percent compared to last year’s school budget.

Board members meet for their regular meeting Wednesday before their budget workshop. Among the items on their regular agenda is the resignation of Amanda Bartlett from her at-large board position to be effective after the June elections. Bartlett, executive director of Augusta Housing Authority, said in her resignation letter the time demands of that job and her other volunteer commitments in addition to school board meetings have made it hard to find time to spend with her family. Bartlett’s resignation now, Anastasio noted, should allow the school board to fill the remaining months of her term with another person in the June elections.

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @kedwardskj

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