Plans to oversee Washburn district
As the Maine School Administrative District 1 board and administration look to resolve a budget impasse, the district’s leaders are also starting a collaboration effort with a two-year agreement to share central office services with SAD 45 in Washburn.
The SAD 1 board of directors met Aug. 3, 2016 at Presque Isle High School, now re-opened following an asbestos abatement project, to discuss how to move forward after two budgets with spending increases were rejected by voters.
Meeting just a few weeks before students return from summer break, crafting a new budget poses a dilemma, as a number of board members expressed concerns about cutting spending at the same time they acknowledged the frustration among property tax payers they’ve heard from.
“I think we’ve cut almost as much as we should. We’ll probably have to cut some more,” said board member Paul Saija of Presque Isle. “I’ve had community members and business people tell me they’d like to see the same budget as last year – a flat budget. I think we’re really near the bottom and I’m disturbed about the amount of cutting we’ve already done.”
The second budget that voters in SAD 1’s five member communities rejected would have brought a 4.8 percent increase in the district’s annual tax assessment and set aside funds to adopt all-day kindergarten in the coming years. The overall budget would have spent $24.8 million, an increase of 2.7 percent from the previous budget, with $8.8 million coming from the district’s communities.
The initial budget that voters rejected in June would have raised the district’s annual tax assessment by 9 percent and adopted all-day kindergarten this fall.
Saija said that board members need to communicate to concerned taxpayers that the district is working on long-term efforts to meet goals of offering an affordable, quality education.
“A lot of the goals that we set over the next five years will address the budget. Right-sizing schools and all-day K, these are things in the long term that are going to save money,” Saija said. He was referring to a right-sizing initiative that was launched to consider ways to consolidate or better use the district’s buildings that are operating under-capacity amid declining enrollment.
Saija added later in the meeting the board’s building and grounds committee will be holding meetings this fall for faculty, staff and the public to discuss ideas and options.
SAD 1’s Superintendent Brian Carpenter and Assistant Superintendent Clinton Deschene are working on developing new budget proposals with a variety of spending reductions in different areas. The timeline for approving the budget will stretch into early September.
On Wednesday, Aug. 10, the board has scheduled a workshop and Q&A session at 6:30 p.m. at Presque Isle Middle School, followed by another budget workshop on Monday, Aug. 15, at 5:30, also at the middle school.
On Aug. 17, the board would approve a budget, followed by a district budget meeting Sept. 1 at the Presque Isle High School cafeteria and a validation vote by the five communities on Sept. 13.
Meanwhile, SAD 1 is set to start collaborating in a new way in SAD 45, a nearby school district serving the towns of Wade, Washburn and Perham.
The board of SAD 45, whose most recent superintendent left because of a serious illness, is hiring SAD 1’s superintendent and assistant superintendent to serve as a shared part-time administrators.
The two districts have crafted a two-year agreement in which SAD 45 will pay SAD 1 $63,000 per year for services such as budget and regulatory oversight and service contracting.
Carpenter will be working for SAD 45 for the equivalent of 1.5 days per week, he said. The agreement was approved by the two boards and will still need to be okayed by the Maine Department of Education.
“I don’t see them turning it down. They are all for cooperation and consolidation,” Carpenter said.
Deschene, who will also be handling business functions for SAD 45, added that “the state of Maine wants to see more in cooperative efforts, and the only way to do it is to take a leap of faith.
“It is extra work,” but will lead to “efficiency in the long term,” Deschene said.
