Spring has come early to the coast of Southern Maine – only one snow day had to be called this year, so students are looking forward to their final day on Friday, June 18 – barring any unforeseen spring storms.
The Administrative Team and the Board of School Directors have been working to develop a budget for Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) under extremely difficult circumstances. We began this year with a commitment from the State of Maine to provide just over $6.2M in General Purpose Aid (GPA) to our schools. Midway through the year, the Governor issued a curtailment order which caused our GPA to drop by approximately $900,000. For next year, the state has lowered our GPA further, to $4.9M. Essentially, from the beginning of this school year to the beginning of next, RSU 21 will have seen GPA reduced by $1.3M. When you consider the increase in salaries, benefits, and other non-controllable lines such as fuel, heating oil, and electricity, it is clear that we will have to reduce programming and staffing in order to avoid significant increases in local taxes.
At its March 15 meeting, the Board adopted a budget of just over $35M for K-12 education. This is a reduction from the current year’s budget, which started at $36.1M. In order to reach this mandate, the administrative team has proposed eliminating 16 positions and reducing 34 others, including several teaching appointments, one administrator, and several support staff (drivers, custodians, secretaries, and educational technicians). These were not easy decisions, but the administrative team put forth a great effort to maintain the quality programming that most directly impacts our students.
Over the course of the next week or so, we will be releasing information on the budget approval process, which culminates with a district-wide vote in early May. I look forward to seeing a supportive turnout at the polls on that day.
