STACYVILLE, Maine — The RSU 50 budget hearing was held in Stacyville last Tuesday night at Katahdin High School. More than 100 residents turned out for the meeting that lasted nearly four hours as they went through 14 articles on the budget. Each article was discussed and then voted on separately by written ballot.
In the end, the budget was reduced by $289,225, which translates into a budget of $9,264,722 to be voted on by townspeople at the local polls on Thursday, Aug. 7 in each of the communities of RSU 50.
Although residents can reduce the total budget, how those reductions are made will be decided by the school board, which could be in programs, services and personnel. A total of four articles were amended to reach the new total to be voted on.
The budget presented at last Tuesday’s district budget meeting was $9,553,947, which represented a 2.28 percent increase over last year and a reduction of $217,000 ($77,500 to regular instruction; $32,500 from special education; $7,000 from the contingency fund and $100,000 to facilities and maintenance) from the first budget ($9,770,947) defeated at the June 17 validation meeting.
Articles reduced included:
Article 1— $3,285,788 recommended by RSU 50 board for regular instruction (salaries/benefits for teachers, along with classroom supplies and equipment) — reduction of $77,500 from June 17 — amount of increase $24,454 for addition of After-School Program. Voters reduced the article by $24,454 by a 52-49 vote.
Article 5 — $779,533 recommended by RSU 50 board for student and staff support (educational programming; library; health services; guidance and technology services) — reduction of $158,254 by a 57-47 vote to bring the total to the 2013 budget expenditure.
Article 6 — $431,619 recommended by RSU 50 board for system administration (central office functions including salaries/benefits, property and liability insurances; legal fees; auditing expense; supplies for board of directors; dues and fees and advertising) — reduced by $43,162 by 55-43 vote.
Article 7 — $633,549 recommended by RSU 50 board for school administration (administrative offices of both buildings, salaries/benefits for principals, school secretaries; equipment and repairs; supplies; dues and fees; and contractual services. Reduced by $63,355 by a 53-41 vote.
The factions colliding were those who wanted to hold the line on taxes and those who wanted to make sure students were getting a quality education.
Superintendent Larry Malone explained to those in attendance that forthcoming cuts would directly impact a “carryover” to offset many of the expenses next year. If there is no carryover, subsequent budgets would be affected, he said.
“I want people to realize if you cut this budget too much, like Mr. Malone said, we will have nothing to begin with next year,” said Kristi Brannen of Smyrna. “So, if there is any overruns, insurances, any expenses that the school board has no control of, there is going to be no money to cover it. So, we are going to start in a hole next year, which means we will have a much larger increase than this year.”
David Robinson of Sherman added that the central administrative office, which falls under the system administration was supposed to keep costs down.
Rae Bates of Patten noted that when SAD 25 made significant cuts within the budget, the taxpayers shouldered a heavier burden the next year.
“The only way you are going to get the cuts you want, is by closing a high school and combining,” she said. “We have to come together as a group, sit and solve problems, instead of reacting to something we don’t like. You are going to significantly change the education of kids in this district with this cut.”
Board member Larry Greenlaw of Oakfield agreed.
“We are getting into a spot where you are hurting kids,” he said. “This is not a little adjustment. I don’t think this is in the best interest of the school. I think it will be detrimental to the school. Our kids are the best investment we’ve got. We want them coming out of here able and ready to take the next step. We don’t want them falling down. We want to give them every chance we can give them to have a good life.”
Others, such as Robinson, were concerned about the tax line.
“We are asking for a reduction because you are charging too much money,” he said. “Our taxes have gone up every year since we joined the RSU and they were supposed to go down.
“We forget, though we are asking for a reduction, we are still talking about several hundred thousand dollars, which is several hundred thousand more than it cost before we were an RSU,” Robinson added. “Though I appreciate these cuts hurt, I am not overly concerned about the pay for some of these people because it is so far past the average pay of the people working that pay taxes in this community it would scare you to death.”
Allison Roy explained, “I don’t think any of us here want to see programs cut for the kids. The whole idea of our school board is to make programs available for the children. The point of the RSU was also, first and foremost, supposed to cut administrative costs. Until we start at the top, I don’t think tax payers are going to be happy.”
Others spoke on behalf of the elderly in their communities who were on fixed budgets.
“I am a retired social worker and I have worked substitute teaching in these buildings for 10 years. There is not a person who is more pro-education and pro-children than my husband and I are,” said Judy Bishevsky. “However, we live on a fixed income and we cannot afford the bottomless taking of our limited resources. You must hold the line. This budget was voted down. If you don’t reduce the budget here in this time and place, I dare say, it will be voted down on Aug. 7. So, we are attempting to reduce wherever is possible and I think that it is not unreasonable to go back to 2013 when my taxes were $400 to $500 less than they were last year.
“I love children. I work for children. I work at the library. Please make this affordable,” she added.
The RSU 50 school board’s next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 11 at Katahdin Elementary School.
