Dear M.S.A.D. No. 75 Resident,
In April, the M.S.A.D. No. 75 Board of Directors completed a budget for the 2006-2007 school year, subject to approval by voters at referendum on June 13. As in previous years, finalizing a budget was complicated by uncertainties in state funding and changes in state and federal mandates related to special education, the No Child Left Behind Act and the Maine Learning Results. In addition, the rising costs of electricity, natural gas, motor and heating fuels have impacted the District in much the same way they have each of your families.
The
2005-2006 budget was the first funded under
In
response to these conditions, the Finance Committee asked District
administrators to prepare a budget that maintained existing programs and took
into account the adjustments necessary to meet contractual obligations, changes
in student enrollment and energy costs, and comply with state and federal
regulations. First, potential budget reductions were identified through a
systematic and thorough examination of the current year’s budget. These reductions included decreased
expenditures on construction interest, roof maintenance costs, health insurance
buy-outs and savings resulting from teacher retirements. Reduced enrollments resulted in budget
savings due to the reduction of five classroom positions and one guidance
position, but this was offset somewhat by news that federal Title I funds would
no longer pay for elementary literacy teachers.
As a result, those positions have been included in the budget to
maintain current programming. All told,
budget reductions of $267,000 were made.
Next, known increases in fixed costs such as salaries, insurance, electricity
and motor and heating fuels were determined.
These totaled nearly $1.65 million.
Finally, the Finance Committee considered a list of proposed additional
expenditures not included in the current year’s budget but deemed necessary to
support or expand essential services. Of
the $353,000 in requests, the Finance Committee funded $263,000 for three
educational technicians to support students with special needs, building
renovations to provide space for programs to reduce costly out-of-district
Special Education placements, secretarial support to document student
achievement of the Maine Learning Results, and materials and technology for a
new reading program at the middle school.
At
the time the Legislature implemented EPS funding, it also made provisions to
fund 100% of special education costs in each municipality. An unintended consequence of this legislation
was that towns, like Harpswell, that were part of a school administrative
district and did not receive State subsidy under EPS, were also left with no
funding for special education. In
response to this inequity, the Legislature passed stopgap funding that paid 25%
of Harpswell’s special education costs for the current year. Last fall, M.S.A.D. No. 75 Directors met with
local legislators to seek a permanent solution.
LD 1953, recently enacted by the State Legislature, provides just under
$300,000 in subsidy to Harpswell for 2006-2007, representing 35% of special
education costs. In 2007-2008, that
figure will rise to 95% and then to 100% for 2008-2009.
The
proposed budget, approved by the full Board on April 13, is 4.91% higher than
the current one, but increases the overall local contribution from property
taxes by just 1.39%. Because of the
