FARMINGTON – The state Department of Education has informed superintendents that education funding will likely be reduced again this year, as the state grapples with another budgetary shortfall.
In an expected move, DOE Commissioner Susan Gendron sent a memo to school districts to inform them that the initial education budget reduction target was $38.1 million, statewide, for the current fiscal year. Another reduction, of $36 million, is anticipated in the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
Mt. Blue Regional School District Superintendent Michael Cormier noted that all financial numbers were estimates at this point, but that the district could anticipate a reduction in subsidy of $310,000 to $320,000 for the fiscal year ending in June 2010. If accurate, that reduction would be $100,000 larger than the subsidy curtailment in the previous fiscal year. That curtailment was later reimbursed with federal funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“We have some dark days ahead,” Cormier said at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
He said the district’s initial steps would include a meeting with the finance committee and a meeting of the administrators to consider cost cutting ideas. Last year’s funding reduction was covered through supply and staffing freezes, reductions in the sports program budget, cancellation of workshops and a reduction in facility temperature from 70 degrees to 68 degrees, as well as through the use of contingency funds.
In a more positive portion of the meeting, W.G. Mallet School’s Special Education Teacher Mardie Porter presented a digital tour of the self-contained services project at the school. A district-wide effort aimed at students with a “combination of cognitive, social, behavioral and physical disabilities,” the four-year program offers individualized classes for students with a wide range of diagnoses.
Students use specialized devices to help them walk, communicate and learn, and have access to a number of teachers and education technicians. The program currently serves seven children, with each student having his or her own “office space” to learn privately, but Porter noted that she tried to encourage group activities as well, both among the program’s students and throughout the school as a whole.
“Many people who meet our students are struck by how strong they are,” Porter said. “They may be really strong at music or have a great sense of humor or have a developed artistic ability. We try to tap into that.”
The challenges are immense. Some students, Porter noted, are non-verbal. Her program’s teachers use pictures and shapes, leading into the use of words. She introduces physical activity, skiing at Titcomb Ski Mountain or swimming at the University of Maine at Farmington’s recreation center, to students who may have physical disabilities. Field trips into the community, Porter said, are designed to ease students with social disabilities into a community-like setting.
“She has tremendous tenacity and belief in the kids,” Mallett School Principal Tracy Williams said. “I tell her that she should videotape the students at the beginning and end of the four years, because the progress they make is startling.”
“These students are amazing,” Cormier said, “but they are also facing incredible challenges. [Porter has] a remarkable staff and they are making a difference at the school and the community.”
The program, Cormier said, allowed parents to keep students in the community’s school rather than sending them to another institution.
In other business, the school board approved sending the Mt. Blue High School girls cross-country team to Connecticut to participate in New England championships. The trip sparked some debate over covering the $1,739 operational cost of transporting students and providing lodging, but MBHS Athletic Director Todd Demmons pointed out that funds remained left over from the football season, which ended earlier than anticipated.
“In my mind, it was a wash,” he said.
The sports boosters will be holding a meeting this week to see if funds could be allotted to cover the entrance fee. Part of the issue was simply timing, with the team learning only after Saturday’s strong performance that they had made the New England championships for the first time.
After some debate to ensure funds were available, directors unanimously approved sending the team, asking Coach Kelley Cullenberg to convey their congratulations.
Way to Go Mardie Porter! You certainly are the best Advocate for the kids who come through your school! I will always be grateful for what you did for my son!