WINSLOW — The school board started working on the budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year at a special meeting at the junior high school Monday evening.
In a work session, officials presented budget proposals for several cost centers, including the junior high school, high school, technology, transportation, English Language Learners, health services and certification.
The proposed junior high budget totaled $2,568,779, which is an increase of $157,327 or 6.52 percent from the 2017-18 fiscal year.
Some of the larger increases for the junior high’s budget included tuition reimbursement for teacher’s graduate courses, contracted services, new classroom chairs, new science textbooks and addition of security cameras.
The English department is asking for $622 to try creative seating for students who have trouble sitting still for long periods of time. Some of those alternative seating choices would include a bean bag chair recliner, two standing desks, backless stools and video rockers.
The school is proposing a $2,600 increase for contracted services for a program called EdYouSched, which helps tag students who need extra help on which subject they need to focus more time.
The budget also includes the installation of new security cameras at several of the school’s entrances, which would cost $3,400. These cameras would be able to be moved if the junior high closes and students are moved either to the high school or the elementary school.
The high school budget proposal comes in at $4,264,663, which is an increase of $297,476 or 7.50 percent from the previous fiscal year.
One of the large increases from last year’s budget would be for new chemistry textbooks. The school is asking for $4,000 to replace the 10-year-old books that students are now using. New chemistry textbooks were cut from last year’s budget in an effort to shave costs across the board.
One pricey project that is not currently in the budget, but the board believes they should start planning for, is replacement of two ballasted roofs above the fine arts wing of the high school. The budget states that within the next 2 to five years, those roofs will need to be replaced and will cost about $95,000.
The $420,452 proposed techonology budget for all three schools is up by $60,465 or 16.8 percent.
The elementary school needs new wireless networking, which could cost $30,000. New computers make up the majority of the other larger expenses.
The proposed transportation budget for the next fiscal years total $720,899, which is an increase of $71,543 or 11 percent.
Two new buses will be needed next year, for which the principal payments would total $33,663.
The $103,705 proposed budget for English Language Learners, a program for students who do not speak English as a first language, is up quite a bit from last year with an increase of $41,306 or 66 percent.
The program saw an increased need for these services, so the teacher charged with helping these students will be working five days a week rather than only three days a week. Subsequently, the teacher’s salary has been increased by $6,336.
The proposed health services budget is also up for the next fiscal year. It currently totals $253,983, which is an increase of $14,92 or 6.24 percent.
The only cost center that saw a decrease in its budget for the next fiscal year is district certification. The district is expects to need $5,133, which down by $2,159 or 29.6 percent.
The board will go over the rest of the cost centers for the budget during another special meeting at the end of February.
Emily Higginbotham — 861-9239
ehigginbotham@centralmaine.com
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