SAD 1 residents to vote on $24 million budget
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The proposed 2015-16 SAD 1 budget, according to Superintendent Gehrig Johnson, instills the ideals that define the district.
“The overall summary of this budget is defined by slightly reduced state funding with sustained enrollment,” he said. “The key choices represented in this budget were to sustain current staffing and service levels, and to review options that would enhance educational opportunities.”
The proposed budget of $24,138,091 is an increase of $129,228 over last year’s budget. Registered voters in Castle Hill, Chapman, Mapleton, Presque Isle and Westfield will vote during the first step of a two-step process at the district budget meeting, which will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 20 in the Presque Isle High School cafeteria. The budget validation referendum will be held at municipal polls Tuesday, June 9.
Overall the district’s expense budget is up 0.5 percent. The changes to revenues and expenses to make this happen include:
• State funding decreased $74,618.
• The required local is up $260,743, a mandated .38 mils; however, municipal year impact to budgets are .41 percent total ($163,320), ranging from 0.04 percent to 1.53 percent increases. For example, the amount to be passed onto taxpayers in Presque Isle during the municipal budget year is $6,152,769, an increase of $2,473 (0.04 percent) over last year.
• Debt service and local additional were decreased $97,423.
• Miscellaneous revenue is up $15,000 to offset revenue loses to service provider fees and donations.
• Use of cash balance was increased by $46,433 to a total of $3,620,985 to lessen the overall impact on local taxes.
• Energy savings continue to meet goals and lessen costs.
• Retirements have allowed salary expenses to remain flat.
• Lower than expected health insurance increases reduced health benefit expenses by $103,811.
• The state’s shift of Maine State Retirement costs to the local budget increased expenses by $69,818.
“Our intention going into this budget [season] was to have it maintain all programming that we presently offer without adding or cutting at all,” said Johnson. “It’s a status quo budget; it gives us what we need to move forward one year without adding or subtracting to it.”
The superintendent said the largest change in the proposed budget is the implementation of one-to-one computing at PIHS.
“Technology has been a mainstay of SAD 1, but in recent years, the budget realities have required technology to maintain or decrease expenses,” he said. “One-to-one computing has grown in Maine and the nation. This budget would place a computer in every high school student’s hands. In addition, staff would be supported with training and a curriculum that maximizes the investment.”
The budget for 2015-16 exemplifies the history of fiscal responsibility that SAD 1 has followed without sacrificing the quality of education, Johnson said.
“Declining and flat state subsidy — combined with increased pay and benefit costs — will continue to present challenges to the district budget,” he said. “Careful planning will be the necessity of all budgets. Budget increases, in the future, for SAD 1 will in all likelihood resemble what is happening statewide with increases in the 3-5 percent range.
“The reality is that these will be confronted annually, and although we can plan, it is impossible to be certain of changes in funding that will impact taxes to our member communities,” said Johnson.
The warrant for the district budget meeting, which includes the amounts recommended by the board of school directors, is as follows:
• (Article 1) To elect a moderator to preside at said meeting.
• (Article 2) $8,393,731 for Regular Instruction.
• (Article 3) $2,736,408 for Special Education.
• (Article 4) $1,631,227 for Career & Technical Education.
• (Article 5) $951,952 for Other Instruction.
• (Article 6) $2,099,556 for Student & Staff Support.
• (Article 7) $718,209 for System Administration.
• (Article 8) $1,176,237 for School Administration.
• (Article 9) $2,032,456 for Transportation and Buses.
• (Article 10) $2,989,134 for Facilities Maintenance.
• (Article 11) $881,967 for Debt Service and Other Commitments.
• (Article 12) $280,000 for All Other Expenditures including School Lunch.
• (Article 13) $6,654,680 in local tax dollars to receive all of the available state support for education.
• (Article 14) $881,967 for the annual payments on debt service previously approved by the legislative body for non-state funded school construction projects, non-state-funded portions of school construction projects and minor capital projects, in addition to the funds appropriated as the local share of the school administrative unit’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from pre-kindergarten to grade 12.
• (Article 15) $820,120.50 in additional local funds, which exceeds the state’s Essential Programs and Services allocation model by $423,867.83. A written ballot will be required for this article.
• (Article 16) To see if the Regional School Unit will increase the amount of the total school budget and the amounts the school board is authorized to expend under the previous articles, to the extent of any unanticipated increase in the adjusted state contribution under the Essential Programs and Services funding model.
• (Article 17) $23,890,877 for the board of school directors to expend for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015 and ending June 30, 2016 from the school administrative unit’s contribution to the total cost of funding public education from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act, unexpended balances, tuition receipts, state subsidy, and other receipts for the support of schools.
• (Article 18) Appropriate $247,214 for Adult Education and raise $94,990 as the local share, with authorization to expend any additional, incidental, or miscellaneous receipts in and for the well being of the adult education program.
The warrant and budget articles were approved and signed by the board of directors at an April 30 meeting. Also at the meeting, directors:
• Were notified that Angela Bernier, keyboarding instructor at Zippel Elementary School, will be transferring to grade 5 at Mapleton Elementary School next school year. In addition, Kellie Wood, grade 3 teacher at Mapleton, has been granted a one-year leave of absence.
• Accepted the retirement of Linda Palmer, science teacher at PIHS.
• Approved the appointments of Charlotte Ala as a first grade teacher at Pine Street Elementary School; Maranda Donovan as a second grade teacher at Pine Street; Erika McKay as a science teacher at PIHS; and Sharmon Clark as a third grade teacher at Mapleton (one year only).
The next regular SAD 1 board meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 20 in the board conference room at PIHS. The district budget meeting will follow at 7 p.m. in the PIHS cafeteria.
