CARIBOU, Maine — RSU 39, which includes students from Caribou, Limestone and Stockholm, will be receiving a $357,554 cut for the 2016-17 year.
The state looks to several variables before making a final funding decision for a community, including student population, town evaluation, and the essential programs and services funding model, or EPS. Areas that lose students or gain a higher valuation will receive less state money.
“The first big hit to us is that we lost 70 students from last year,” said Superintendent Tim Doak during Monday night’s RSU 39 board meeting. “There are also some areas on the EPS formula that we are below that we may need to bring in line.”
Another factor for the budget cut is that all three communities in RSU 39 received higher property valuations. Caribou went up by $3.7 million, Limestone went up by $400,000 and Stockholm went up by $300,000.
“This is a three-year evaluation,” said Doak, “it used to be just two years, which was a little more accurate, because that third year could’ve been your best year.”
Doak’s educational career includes over a decade of experience. He was principal of Fort Kent Community High School and Superintendent of SAD 27 for 12 years, and uses this experience to back his assertion that there are serious issues with the funding formula.
“My issue with this formula is that there are winners and losers,” said Doak. “I’ve worked in three different school systems, and all three had different needs. The culture of all three is very different, but the formula wants us all to be generic. If we had one school building, it may work for us. But when you’re rural and you have buildings that are miles apart, it doesn’t work in our favor.”
Since schools across the state of Maine are losing out on funding, the superintendent is hoping that it will bring more attention to the serious issue.
“The one thing that really surprised me is the number of downstate schools that lost money,” said Doak. “Portland lost $2.7 million and Bangor lost about double what we lost. When those bigger communities lose money they can shake the walls a bit more than we can.”
RSU 39 Business Manager Mark Bouchard gave a second quarter financial presentation at the meeting, which made RSU 39’s current and future financial situation more clear.
“When I compare the revenues from last year, we’re down about $311,000 from a year ago, and that when I look at specific line items it is primarily in the area of tuition. The only thing that was worth noting was the production on the tuition line. Expenditures, all lines but one, look really good. I look at the percent remaining and that means we’re in good shape.
“The one line that is below is the system administration. Coincidentally a year ago it was in the same position and we were able to come out of it. We generally try to run on the conservative side as we approach the third and fourth quarters, because then we are able to make purchases if they come up later in the year,” Bouchard added.
“It’s a good idea because you never know when something can go wrong in the future,” said Doak.
Director Clifford Rhome agreed that this budget was comparable to prior years and that there should be minimal issues moving ahead.
