By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

When Phil Shane first took a seat at the school board table, he saw a budget proposal of $8 million dollars.

Monday, the longtime Casco director saw a much bigger number on the bottom line — $31, million plus.

“Holy mackerel,” said Shane, who has served as a school board member for 27 years. “If I stay on for another four to five years, we’ll be at $40 million.”

“Times have changed,” SAD 61 Superintendent of Schools Al Smith said of the proposed budget, which is a 5.25% increase ($1,565,317) over the previous year.

Finance Coordinator Sherri Proctor walked the school board through the proposal Monday night at Lake Region Vocational Center.

Original requests from administrators and leadership team members totaled just under $32 million, or a 7% hike. New staff requests were initially at $455,000, but the budget committee pared that figure down to $311,000. Requests included:

• Add, Grade 7/8 Social Studies teacher at Lake Region Middle School, $58,303

• Add, Grade 1 teacher at Songo Locks School (to keep class sizes below 20–21), $58,303

• Add, Resource Officer (full-time, 175 days) at Lake Region High School, $75,200

• Add, Resource Officer at Lake Region Middle School, $58,303 (this position was initially cut, but put back into the budget pending further research)

• Cut, Behavioral Specialist for Songo Locks/Stevens Brook, $58,303

• Cut, Elementary IEP Coordinator for special education, $68,336.

Proctor noted that of the $31,281,633, 80% of that figure covers salaries and benefits. The figure is $24,925,918. SAD 61 has approximately 400 regular employees, not including substitutes.

On the contract front, the union representing the ed techs and secretaries (total, 88) will soon be negotiating a new deal with SAD 61, effective June 30. Proctor said “estimates” were used to budget for these workers.

In other highlights:

• SAD 61 will likely see a boost in state subsidy, about $600,000. The majority of this amount is due to the mil rate decreasing from 8.28 to 8.8, which put Naples and Casco in the position of receiving some state support, Proctor said.

There was also an increase due to the minimum receiver special education support going from 45% to 50%, and a slight increase due to SAD 61’s economically disadvantaged population.

• Health insurance increases were budgeted at 6% since that is the cap in most of the negotiated agreements, and 10% where there is no cap.

• SAD 61 received a VW Grant for two new full-size buses totaling $138,000. Since the district was unable to lease, it budgeted $40,000 for a cash purchase.

• $148,500 in reductions were made to the Facilities budget line. The items reduced were:

Central Office — driveway paving, $20,000

Stevens Brook — second door entrance, upgrades, $15,000

Songo Locks — metal door replacements, window upgrades, carpet/tile replacement, lower parking lights, cement column repairs, $$22,500

Middle School — bathroom upgrades, pave sidewalks/field entrance, relocate freezer, window hardware repairs, clinic renovations, $36,000

High School — shower room upgrades, hallway lighting upgrades, office renovations, $$50,000

Vocational Center — Law Enforcement, Diversified Occupations upgrades, $5,000.

Just a few questions followed from directors. One was why the firefighting program was discontinued at the Vocational Center at a time when many area fire departments are desperate for help.

LRVC Director David Morse pointed out that despite aggressive efforts to entice students to enroll, only three signed up.

“The trades are hurting. We need welders, plumbers, electricians. We need to let the kids know they can make damn good money in these fields, and not everyone needs to go to college,” Director Shane said.

“Amen,” Morse responded.

The school board did not finalize the proposed budget Monday, and planned to meet Wednesday night, A public hearing is set for Monday, March 23, at 6 p.m. in the Lake Region Vocational Center’s Great Room.

The board is scheduled to vote on the budget on April 6; the district budget meeting is May 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school gym; and the budget validation referendum vote is May 19.

If the numbers presented Monday hold, the projected town assessments would be:

• Bridgton: $9,905,527, an increase of $273,864 (2.84%)

• Casco: $6,692,616, an increase of $147,141 (2.25%)

• Naples: $7,990,390, an increase of $187,946 (2.41%).