RICHMOND
Voters in Regional School Unit 2 get their chance to speak up about the proposed $25.3 million school budget for 2014-15 during hearings scheduled across the district this week.
Today a public budget hearing will start at 6 p.m. at Richmond High School, followed by a hearing at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Monmouth Academy and an informational meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Dresden Elementary School.
The proposed $25,381,325 budget will go to a regional budget meeting at 6 p.m. June 2 at Monmouth Academy and then to a validation referendum at local polling locations on June 10. Voters on June 10 will also consider approving a capital improvements bond. RSU 2 encompasses the communities of Richmond, Dresden, Hallowell, Monmouth and Farmingdale.
The total proposed budget represents a 3.8 percent increase from the current spending plan. During the last four years, the RSU has eliminated 35 positions — therefore, Superintendent Virgel Hammonds said, the school board found it difficult to consider any additional position cuts this year.
There were “huge” class sizes at two of the elementary schools, he said, so two new teachers are proposed for Hall-Dale Elementary School in Hallowell and one teacher at Henry L. Cottrell Elementary School in Monmouth.
In Richmond, Hammonds said, “We need to provide additional supports, programs and offerings,” so school officials plan to add a third math teacher and a foreign language teacher at the middle and high school.
With only two (math) teachers qualified to teach up to the high school level, Hammonds said, it provides limitations. Students can’t participate in dual enrollment and take courses through the University of Maine at Augusta and Thomas College. The additional teachers will allow for more intervention, higher math courses and more options with foreign languages.
There is also a behavior specialist position proposed that would serve all five communities and make sure RSU 2 is meeting student’s academic, social and behavior needs. The RSU 2 has never had a behavioral specialist, Hammonds said, and it has some kids with needs that would benefit from the services provided by the specialist.
RSU 2 also plans to institute a family liaison position. It would be the responsibility of this person to make connections with the RSU and students and their families, as well as state agencies, that could benefit families.
One example is that of students that are truant for long periods of times, which isn’t tied to any academic issue, Hammonds said, but due rather to a severe family socioeconomic issue dictated by other service areas. The RSU needs to help those families make connections with private and public organizations to make sure their needs are being met. Sometimes in the extreme case, he said, it is a legitimate challenge for families to get their child to the nearest bus stop.
Other things driving the budget increase are employee contracts, as well as the requirement the RSU pay $150,000 upfront for the new Monmouth middle school design costs — though the unit will eventually be reimbursed for that by the state. Another $100,000 is budgeted for technology, to provide elementary staff with new laptops, and “the newest laptop technology” to all middle school and high school students, Hammonds said.
Since 2009, Hammonds said, RSU 2 communities have had to raise $2.5 million more locally in order to qualify for $3.3 million less in state subsidy,
“which is huge.” The state sets a “foundation allocation” for how much the RSU must raise locally to qualify for state aid, and then anything beyond the state’s Essential Programs and Services must be funded locally.
The total local contribution for Richmond under the proposed 2014- 15 budget is $2,887,425 — which would result in a 0.9 tax rate increase, or $90 more for a property valued at $100,000. Dresden faces a $1,585,855 local contribution and a 0.7 tax rate increase, or $70 more for a property valued at $100,000.
Also proposed is a 15-year, $1.5 million bond with annual payments of $160,000, which Hammonds said should be largely if not completely offset alone by savings from converting from oil to natural gas heat at Hall-Dale Middle and High School. That building alone uses 300 gallons of oil a day in the winter to heat it. The bond will allow the RSU to replace multiple boiler systems with new, efficient boiler and heat disbursement systems, at Richmond Middle and High School, Monmouth Academy and the central office; and to replace a portion of roofing on RSU 2 buildings that have gone neglected since the RSU formed to get the RSU 2 back on a roof maintenance schedule.
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