HOULTON, Maine — After four hours of debate, which included the elimination of several positions and creation of some new ones, the RSU 29 school board was unable to come up with a final budget for the 2014-15 school year.
The board will tentatively gather again on Monday, May 12 at 6 p.m. in the superintendent’s conference room to finalize the budget. A district budget hearing is set for Tuesday, May 20 at 6 p.m. at the high school auditorium. Members of the public will be able to ask questions and increase or decrease line items at that time. The district referendum for the spending plan will be Tuesday, June 10.
As originally presented Monday evening, next year’s spending plan of $12,891,176 is an increase of $211,918 (1.67 percent) over the previous year. Those figures changed as a result of the board’s actions.
About 50 people attended Monday night’s meeting. No members of the audience were able to speak to the board, as RSU 29 does not have a general public comments section for its meetings.
“The budget process, again this year, has been a daunting task,” said board chairman Fred Grant. “We take the process of building the budget for the district very seriously. There are a lot of things in this budget that are difficult. The (suggested) cuts were determined to have the least impact to our programs.”
Grant explained the process of putting the budget together begins with Superintendent Mike Hammer meeting with his administrative team to put together the district’s wants and needs for the next school year. The budget committee then makes additions or deletions to the plan, before the budget is presented to the full board.
Among the cuts made during Monday night’s meeting were the elimination of one social studies position at Houlton High School and one middle school English-language arts position, saving the district $95,765. One of the positions involved a retiring teacher, whose position would not be filled, while the other individual would be reallocated to a different position in the district.
“This (budget) was a daunting task,” added board member Jeremiah Crockett. “There have been a lot of tough choices made, including the closing of a facility and the cutting of positions.”
A proposal to eliminate one music position in the district met with considerable resistance from the board. The plan called for the elimination of a music teacher at Houlton Elementary School. That position is currently being filled by a long-term substitute after Sharyn Walker resigned mid-year to take a similar position in the Hodgdon school system.
“This was not an easy cut (to recommend),” Hammer said. “We took a look at the enrollment figures in all of our programs. We have a little bit of declining enrollment in music. We think this cut could work.”
Hammer said the district was not eliminating music from the elementary school level. Instead, the four remaining music teachers on staff would be used to provide the service to the elementary school.
The motion failed by a vote of 5-6. Voting in favor of the reduction were board members Liz Anderson, Jim Quirk, Bruce Clark, Sandra Wilkins and Grant. Board members David Loendorf, Sandra Henderson, Heather Johnston, Lori Holmes, Tammy Goetsch and Crockett opposed the cut.
An elementary school nurse position, currently vacant, was also eliminated from next year’s budget.
A new art position at the elementary level also generated some discussion. The board voted 7-4 to approve the creation of a new K-6 art position.
“I don’t think we can afford it (art position) at this time,” Henderson said. “The teachers always had a little bit of art with their students. I just don’t think we can afford it. If we are cutting other teachers, why would we add a new position?”
Hammer said he felt the addition of art at the elementary level would provide all of the students with a broader educational experience. Currently, art is not offered until the seventh grade.
“We all have our personal preferences on what is important,” Crockett added. “Art has an importance, but I think it would be more important to build upon the programs we have been successful with, such as music, as opposed to branching out with something new.”
The board also unanimously agreed to combine the positions of maintenance director and transportation director under one job title for a one-year basis. The district has been without a maintenance director following the dismissal of long-time district employee Paul Prosser last month.
Under the new proposal, transportation director Joseph Schneider will assume both job responsibilities and starting next year, will receive a $10,531 increase in salary, bringing his total to $45,908. The maintenance director position was a full-time salaried position at $40,330.
Additionally, two new teaching positions — kindergarten and third grade — were added at Houlton Elementary School due to increased class sizes and a technology position was upgraded from an Ed Tech III level to a full teaching position.
Some of the reasons cited for the increased budget were rising costs associated with health insurance, negotiated contract increases, and a jump in the transportation account to accommodate for leasing three new buses for the district.
RSU 29 is continuing forward with its plan to close Wellington Elementary School and plans to transition those students to Houlton Elementary School starting next year. A public hearing on the closure is scheduled for Thursday, May 29 in Monticello. That town’s residents are the only ones that get to vote on whether the school is closed.
The closure of that school was estimated to save the district about $200,000. However, in order for the closure to take place, additional expenses will be incurred as two modular classrooms will be erected at Houlton Elementary School and a reconfiguration of classrooms in the building will be done.
In other agenda items, the board accepted the resignations of Tiffany Karnes as the Houlton Southside School principal and Jordan Clark (pre-kindergarten teacher). Karnes has been with the district for three years, while Clark was completing her first year at HES.
The following staff retirements were also announced: Bonnie Tidd, an art teacher at Houlton High School, 22 years; Anne Wilson, a kindergarten teacher, 40 years; Shawn Snell, foreign language instructor, 41 years; Rhonda Shaw, grade four ELA/Social Studies, 22 years; Sandra McGary, eighth grade social studies, 21 years; Lynn Brown, math, 24 year; Joanne Peabody, grade seven social studies, 24 years; and Mary Murray, adult education, 21 years.
