Directors unanimously approve $7.36M budget

Increase of 1.6 percent partially due to state cutback

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    GUILFORD — The School Administrative District 4 Board of Directors unanimously approved a $7.36 million annual budget at their May 13 meeting, a 1.6 percent increase over last year.
    While Superintendent Ann Kirkpatrick said that several cuts were made from the originally-proposed budget, the district needed to add two teaching positions due to an increase in the kindergarten and sixth-grade population. “We also put money back in the budget for a pre-K teaching position with the thought that if we get a big influx of kids in August, we better be prepared,” said Kirkpatrick.

    The superintendent said that the district has already locked in prices for gasoline, fuel and wood pellets for next season “so we had real numbers to work with. We also got a definite number on our insurance costs.”
    Kirkpatrick added that she wished the 1.6 percent increase would translate into the actual increased cost to the taxpayers “but it’s not.” One of the reasons is that the state’s General Purpose Aid (GPA) to SAD 4 decreased by $174,031 this year. On the plus side, “We came in as close to last year’s figures as possible,” she added.
    For example, the PCHS instructional account went from $756,801 to $764,638 or 1.1 percent more than last year; the special education director’s account is up 2.2 percent, from $144,368 to $147,439; and the district’s total athletic budget decreased from $124,253 to $120,374, a 3 percent drop.
    Director Joe Chadbourne said that while there were some things proposed in the budget that didn’t get added “one of our big goals was to try and get the student-teacher ratio back to where we felt it should be.” Chadbourne also said that special education and health care cost increases were also anticipated. “We probably cut a little too aggressively last year,” he added.
    The board also approved a $40,826 adult education budget, an increase of $1,600 over last year; and a transfer of up to $50,000 into the capital reserve funds for “maintenance and remodeling purposes.”
    Director Jimmy Bell explained that during the budget deliberations, some maintenance projects were eliminated including repairs for the student lockers. “It’s getting to the point where we have to start taking care of our facilities,” Bell said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be for the lockers — it could be for floors, ceilings, windows or whatever.”
    Board Chair Cindy Hoak said that locker replacement and repair “has been in the budget for years but always taken out.” Kirkpatrick said that she has heard students complain about the lockers several times. “Their backpacks don’t fit into them, for one thing,” said the superintendent. 
    She also backed the fund transfer. “It just makes good business sense to prepare for things you don’t expect to happen — but do,” she said.
    There are 663 students in the six SAD 4 communities: 189 each in Guilford and Sangerville; 94 in Abbot, 61 in Cambridge, 105 in Parkman and 25 in Wellington.
    The district budget meeting will be held on Thursday, May 29 at Piscataquis Community Elementary School at 6 p.m. and the budget validation referendum will be held on Tuesday, June 10 — the same date as the statewide primary election.