District budget meeting set for Oct. 26

Referendum will be on Nov. 8 ballot

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

GUILFORD — Earlier in the month a proposed 2016-17 school budget of $6,989,331 was voted down by residents of the six SAD 4 communities, 482-292. The spending plan was the third brought to voters in several months as SAD 4 citizens had earlier not approved 2017 academic year budgets of a little more than $7.1 million and nearly $6,878,000.

During a Sept. 13 meeting of the SAD 4 school board at Piscataquis Community High School, the directors approved a meeting schedule to develop and bring a fourth budget to the voters.

“We do need to get another budget cycle up and running,” Superintendent Ann Kirkpatrick said, adding the school board’s budget committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. at Piscataquis Community Elementary School, with the attendance of the full contingent of directors requested.

“We will talk about what we want it to look like going forward,” Kirkpatrick said. She said a second budget committee meeting would be on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m.

During the regular board meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11, “We would hope to have a budget ready for that meeting,” Kirkpatrick said. The district budget meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 26, as the proceedings will start with an information session at 6 p.m.

The superintendent said she reached out to officials in the six district communities and those in Guilford and Sangerville both said they would favor holding the budget referendum on Tuesday, Nov. 8 when residents across the state and nation go to the polls for the respective Maine and presidential ballots.

“Tuesday, Nov. 8 we would vote at the polls and Wednesday, Nov. 9 is the board meeting,” Kirkpatrick said, as the directors would be scheduled to certify the votes and set the town assessments.

During the Sept. 13 meeting, the directors certified the 482-292 results of the $6,989,331 budget. Kirkpatrick said the assessments are based on the most budget approved, with the near-$6.99 million spending plan OKed at the district budget meeting.

“We keep doing this until we have one that passed at the district meeting and the polls,” she said. Later in the meeting Kirkpatrick said that all the SAD 4 communities have been paying bills owed to the district.

“I think part of our uphill battle we are fighting against is called social media,” Kirkpatrick said. “The garbage that goes back and forth on social media, I don’t have enough hours in the day.” The superintendent said all the online lies, such as eliminating one of the two school principals via a drawing of straws, cannot be defended by the district.

Board Chair Cindy Hoak said she understands district residents are frustrated, “but when you put things on Facebook, people believe what’s on Facebook.” She said should citizens have questions, then they can ask district officials

“I know it’s freedom of speech and you can write what you want, but it’s damaging,” Hoak said.

In her report, Hoak said the most recent proposed budget is down from the 2015-16’s total of $7,162,270 and the state is giving SAD 4 less money than before. “We are not going to bring forward a budget with a 0 percent increase with the state giving us less money, we are going to have to do some increases,” she said as the third budget brought to the polls represented a larger sum than the second proposed spending plan.

“There is nothing to cut,” Hoak said. “The budget is not the same as a household budget, you have too many things in and out.”