Budget realities require careful consideration

To the Editor;

Thanks to your support at our town meetings, we serve on your School Board, and we need to explain some of the tough choices we’ve had to make in another difficult budget season.

To summarize the budget situation of the past two years, we have had a steep decrease in our state funding as our district’s enrollment declines.

This fall SAD 4 will have approximately 600 students. As our numbers have dropped, many of our fixed costs have remained steady, or even increased in the case of health insurance. The state’s contribution has been so drastically reduced that the district has had to seek more funding from the local towns. We literally have had to ask the towns for more money in order to pay for our “smaller” schools.

While that seems extremely unfair, know that as a voter you do have an option to change this in November. A “Yes” vote on the Stand Up for Students ballot question will fully fund the state’s obligation of 55 percent of school spending, a target the state has never met. Small, rural districts like ours need the state to fulfill its share of school funding, since our aging population cannot afford double digit increases to its property taxes. As board members we live and pay taxes here, and while we see the need for quality local schools, we too feel the financial strain of these increases.

Last summer three budgets were proposed, and the third attempt passed once the increase to taxpayers lowered to about 7 percent. The earlier budgets had been educationally sound, with programs such as summer school sessions to help struggling students meet standards, but both administration and the board realized that the district simply couldn’t afford it, and it was cut.

This year we have had to look at the overall enrollment, class rosters, and the student-to- teacher ratios in classes, and we found some clear impact areas. Foreign language, health and physical education were all cut to half-time. That no single position was entirely eliminated was partially in hope of retaining good teachers. In the meantime we hope other work in the district, such as substitute teaching, could be offered to the impacted staff. It is not the situation any of us wanted, but it is what we face.

We would like to thank the concerned parents who recently circulated a petition on social media in an effort to restore two of the positions that have been cut to half-time. The organizers of that effort brought their work to a Budget Committee meeting, and while the outpouring of emotion and support for these teachers is appreciated, it alone has not been enough to convince the taxpayers who overwhelmingly defeated this first round of budget cuts.

Consequently, another position that had been trimmed to half-time is now completely gone from the budget. Again, the decision came down to numbers. Since the Alternative Ed program would only serve four students this fall, we can no longer afford the “Learning-4-Life” class. Your “Yes” vote could help protect the remaining half-time positions from also becoming full-time cuts.

Our custodians have re-worked their shifts in order to eliminate a position. PCSS science teachers have taken on extra classes in order to still offer the full curriculum to our students, and to spare further cuts. Our administration has foregone a raise, and three administrative positions will now be part-time. The majority of the board has agreed to cut its stipends in half, or forego them all together.

Some of these sacrifices are significant, and some are small, but commitment to our students and schools has been the collective force that guided many of these actions. We now have $6.8 million budget, down from the $7.1 million proposed in June.

Please join us at the District Budget Meeting on Tuesday, July 19th at 6 p.m. in the PCES cafeteria. More information will be shared, and there will be a chance to ask questions about these and other decisions the board has had to make. Your “Yes” vote will help provide a quality education for our students. Your “Yes” vote will also be more manageable for taxpayers, who will face a more reasonable 6 percent average increase, rather than the double-digit hikes rejected in June.

Just as you gave us your support at town meeting to do this work, we once again need your help. If you value quality schools in your local district, please support this budget. If you want to maintain local control of our schools, then please vote “Yes” for the SAD 4 budget. Remember that a “Yes” vote on the November Stand Up for Students ballot question will also help ease our district’s funding crisis in coming years. It is now up to you, the voters.

SAD 4 Board of Directors
Michael Chase, Guilford
Niki Fortier, Guilford
Brenda Gourley, Guilford
Richard Hunt, Guilford
Trisha White, Guilford
Cindy Hoak, Cambridge
Holly Gifford, Cambridge
Sue Griffith, Parkman
Jim Bell, Sangerville
Bill Rowe, Sangerville
Sarah Brown, Wellington