SALEM — More than fifty people were in the audience for the MSAD 58 Budget Meeting on Tuesday, March 5. The meeting opened with public comment and a half dozen individuals, including teachers, parents, and students spoke, asking the board not to cut the strings teacher position in the district music program. Speakers shared concerns about cutting other programs and positions in the district.
“We planted roots here with the expectation that our children would get the education they deserve,” said Brian LeBlanc of Salem Township.
“We have already made the biggest round of cuts to student programs and staff that this district has ever made,” said Adam Masterman, a parent from Kingfield Elementary School. He said that adjusted for inflation, the budget proposed was the cheapest budget in five years. It had also cut the most from students that had ever been cut, so he questioned why the board was looking to cut more.
Erin Demshar, a mathematics teacher at Mount Abram High School and a parent of students at Kingfield, expressed her concerns about the lack of long-term vision for the district. She said that over the last year, teachers had spent hours outside of their contracts to secure grants, expand programs, and fund experiences outside of the school’s budget.
“Most teachers here would bend over backwards to meet the needs of the students,” Demshar said.
Demshar asked if the board had polled the communities about what they wanted for their students for the future. “Have you asked your residents, or are we just tax dollars?”
Mike Pond, of Strong, said that when he was on the MSAD 58 school board he voted to remove the music program. “It was the biggest mistake I ever made,” he said.
Maggie Adams, president of the Teachers Association, spoke. “You don’t know what it is like to be a teacher right now in SAD 58.” She was concerned about the idea of cutting higher trained educational technicians given the behavioral challenges faced in the classrooms. Adams said that students are suffering from mental illness, they are violent, and in cases, they are on ‘severe medications’. Ed techs provide support for both students and teachers.
“My concern is that we’re not going to have a safe place to send the kids,” Adams said.
Sare Masterman, a KES student, said that it is already hard to focus in classes, and musical education is a way she can deal with the problem. She said that if the board cut the music program, it would be hard on both students and teachers.
After public comment the board discussed the budget revision.
Superintendent Todd Sanders said that neither the administrators or himself supported cutting the positions that were discussed during public comment, and that those cuts were not included in the budget revision in front of the board.
Board member Julie Talmage of Kingfield said that the idea of cutting the music position was a surprised to her, and guessed it was a surprise to most of the board as well.
The board had asked the administrators to find ways to reduce the budget by $200,000, and different ideas were proposed; ultimately, the cuts that were talked about were not implemented in the budget. Sanders mentioned that someone ‘jumped the gun’.
The district had a substantial carry-forward, more than was projected. The auditors recommended only using half of the carry-forward in the budget planning process, leaving the other half for emergencies.
In the previous budget revisions, $250,000 were included from carry-forward. With the new information from the auditors that the carry-forward account had approximately $977,000, Sanders and business manager Lynne Cary increased the amount in the budget to $450,000.
The district has been without a social worker at the high school for some time. In addition, they have not had a guidance counselor. Last year, the position was advertised as a half-time social worker and a half-time guidance counselor.
Special Ed Director Laureen Olson is finalizing the details for a contracted, licensed clinical social worker service to provide services in the school. The district would pay some for the program, but MaineCare would cover costs for eligible students, and students could receive services at the school that would be covered through their private insurance. Students without any insurance would be able to receive support, and that is where the district would pick up some of the cost, Olson said. The program would be open for all students. The details were still being worked out but she was hopeful the program would start this school year and carry over into next year.
Sanders recommended making the guidance counselor position a full-time position as it could be more attractive than the half-time that was advertised. The board voted to increase it to a full-time position with benefits and to take the increase from the carry-forward.
Jess Cain, a board member from Phillips, advocated strongly for a four-day Pre-K program at both Kingfield and Phillips. There will not be a Pre-K program at Strong, as Strong will become the district middle school.
Increasing the Pre-K program to four days would require an additional teacher position and an additional ed tech position. Cain had previously proposed a five day program but was told the cost would be about $100,000 extra. By creating a four day program, the teachers would have the fifth week day for planning and prep, and the ed techs would only work for the four student days.
Sanders said the savings would be minimal.
Offering a four day Pre-K program would likely increase enrollment, said Brenda Dwiggins, principal at Strong Elementary. Typically, student enrollment doubles at the Kindergarten level. This is partially because it is offered for the full week, making it less challenging for parents to find child care.
Increasing student enrollment would increase state funding, potentially helping to mitigate the budget impacts of the extra positions. In addition, Cain felt that a stronger Pre-K program would benefit students.
The board voted to expand the program.
Sue Pratt, one of the board members representing Strong, proposed using an additional $100,000 from the carry-forward to fund the Pre-K program and other changes for the upcoming year. The board voted to approve the extra funds.
Overall, the next budget revision, which is expected to be the revision the board will adopt, should remain about the same in terms of cost. There is an anticipated increase of around 8% over last year.
The board is expected to adopt the budget on April 12. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at MTA in the library.
