SAD 4 district meeting set for May 29

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    GUILFORD — Voters in the six member towns of SAD 4 will have a chance to comment, ask questions and cast their first ballots on the new school budget on Thursday, May 29 at Piscataquis Community Elementary School starting at 7 p.m.
    As in most school units, the Guilford area district also requires a second vote on the budget by secret ballot. That will take place on Tuesday, June 10, the same day as the statewide primary election.

    The new $7.36 million budget, which was approved by the SAD 4 Board of Directors on May 13, is 1.6 percent higher than last year.
    According to a joint message to residents from Board Chair Cinthia Hoak and Superintendent Ann Kirkpatrick, the district received an extra $96,437 in state general purpose aid (GAP) after the budget was passed last year. “This helped offset the lower amount we had anticipated to be able to bring as carry forward from this year’s budget,” they wrote. “We also have less to use as carry forward from the FY 2013 budget’s audited fund balance.”
    The biggest financial hit came when this year’s GPA was reduced by 5 percent, costing the district $174,031. The board chair and superintendent added that the towns’ overall valuations were also down 22 percent. “These two factors caused the local share of the cost of education to the taxpayers to increase,” she said.
    The major increases in the new budget are the addition of two full-time and one half-time teachers “to keep the elementary classrooms under 20 students ($131,400); increasing speech and language services to full time and personnel to fulfill the mandates to allow all students a free and appropriate education ($97,300); and moving the central office to (the former) Guilford Primary School and transforming the office back to two classrooms ($40,000).” The two classrooms are slated to be used for kindergarten and pre-K students.
    Budget cuts included a technology integrationist ($62,000); upgraded and increased camera coverage for safety at PCSS ($22,000); a gifted and talented teacher ($62,000); new lockers at PCSS ($20,000); storage in the wood shop/furniture ($10,500); and refinishing the gym floor at PCSS ($32,000).
    On the budget allocation, Guilford will pick up about 33 percent of the cost; Sangerville, 21 percent; Abbot, 20 percent, Parkman, 15 percent, Cambridge, six percent; and Wellington, five percent.