RSU 68 voters give their approval to $9.97M budget

District-wide referendumon Tuesday

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — Voters from the four RSU 68 communities attending the annual district budget meeting May 27 at the SeDoMoCha School gave their approval to a budget totaling $9,972,119 for the 2014-15 academic year. The spending plan — which is made up of a little more than $4,853,000 in local revenue sources and over $5,118,000 in state contributions — represents an increase of $179,652 or 1.8 percent from the current year’s budget of $9,792,467.

    In the proposed 2015 budget a sum of nearly $4,077,000 needs to be raised by the four municipalities for the total cost of funding public education for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 as described in the Essential Programs and Services Funding Act. Along with approximately $61,700 in additional local funds and over $54,400 in adult education monies, this figure then breaks down to over $2.5 million for Dover-Foxcroft, slightly more than $585,000 for Sebec, over $553,000 for Charleston and about $545,800 for Monson.
    “I think it’s a good budget,” School Board Chair Rick Johnston said. “I think we are keeping the costs reasonable,” he said, adding unlike other regional school units the RSU 68 student population is increasing.
    “Al is leaving us, he’s moving on to another endeavor,” Johnson said. Superintendent Alan Smith who, after five years in RSU 68, is departing to take the superintendent’s position in SAD 61, the Lake Region School District in northern Cumberland County which is comprised of the towns of Bridgton, Casco, Naples and Sebago.
    “I think he’s done a wonderful job for the district,” Johnston said. He said Robert Lucy, a former assistant superintendent in Bangor as well as middle school principal in Orono, has been nominated to succeed Smith, and the school board was scheduled to vote on Lucy’s nomination during the June 3 meeting.
    “I do feel good about what we are going to do, turning funds back to the communities,” Smith said. Due to the district receiving a slight increase in its state contribution and adjustment in state valuations, each RSU 68 community saw a decrease in the proposed assessments from the 2014 fiscal year.
    “I have to warn you though, it’s nice to have a pot of gold but a pot of gold doesn’t happen every year,” Smith said.
    All 20 warrant articles making up the 2014-15 budget passed as written. One question from the audience asked about the over $100,000 increase in Foxcroft Academy programs, to over $3.4 million from $3.3 million-plus, which was part of the regular instruction article.
    Smith said early in this tenure a multiple-month study was done to look into the various secondary education options for RSU 68 “and Foxcroft Academy is absolutely the best option for our students.” He said the increase stems from having more students entering the secondary school at the present than are graduating, and said the approximate tuition rate the district pays is $9,500 per pupil
    Foxcroft Academy Head of School Arnold Shorey said this figure is less than it would be at other area school districts. “With the opportunities we offer at the Academy, I think it’s a pretty good deal,” he said.
    Another question concerned the article asking if $100,000 from the ending balance of school general operating funds from 2013-14 year would be appropriated to establish a reserve for educational needs. Smith said this would be money in the bank that could be used for unanticipated expenditures, such as to fund another teacher or cover a rise in costs associated with Foxcroft Academy.
    He said this is an existing account, but the word establish needs to legally be included in the article wording. Johnston added that voter approval would be needed to use funds from this reserve account.
    The final article concerned authorizing the school board to use $25,000 from the already established capital improvement reserve account during the next fiscal year. When asked, Smith said these monies would be used on the furnace and HVAC system at the SeDoMoCha complex, as well as to fix up the metal facade on the middle school side of the building.
    The budget now will go out to the four district communities of Charleston, Dover-Foxcroft, Monson and Sebec for a referendum vote on Tuesday, June 10. Voting will be at the Charleston Community Center, Morton Avenue Municipal Building in Dover-Foxcroft, Monson Town Hall meeting room and Harland Ladd Municipal Building in Sebec respectively.