Edgecomb School Committee proposes 2.4 percent budget increase

BILL PEARSON, Staff Reporter
Fri, 05/01/2015 - 12:30pm
School teacher Nancy Rowe shows Edgecomb School Committee Chairman Sarah Clifford the eight year budget summary during the April 27 budget hearing. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register

    Former member Mike Smith told the Edgecomb School Committee the sparsely attended April 27 budget hearing showed that the public must think they’re doing a good job. Smith and two other residents were the only ones who attended the annual school budget hearing.

    Smith also praised the committee for receiving recognition by the Maine Department of Eduction as a High Performance Rewards School.

    “I want to thank you for doing such a great job,” Smith said. “I think the lack of a big crowd shows you must be doing something right. If you weren’t, they’d be banging down the doors.”

    AOS 98 Superintendent Eileen King explained the $2,539,182 budget for 2015-16. The proposed budget increased $58,967 or 2.4 percent. The budget’s only major change is how the state identifies special education students. The change resulted in the regular education tuition increasing by $197,009. While the special education tuition decreased by $134,240.

    The total tuition increase is $54,588. King explained the increase as due to the number of students increasing from 70 to 74 and a change in tuition rates. The Edgecomb School Committee is expecting to pay $21,458 tuition costs for two kindergarten through grade two students, $184,841 for 18 grade 7 and 8 students, and $550,715 for 54 grade 9-12 students.

    Edgecomb is expecting to receive $262,789 from the state. The subsidy is a $5,789 increase. But over the past eight years, the town has seen a drastic reduction in state monies. In 2008-09, the school budget was $2,644,367 and received $603,135.

    Edgecomb Eddy School teacher Nancy Rowe said the eight-year budget summary showed the Edgecomb Eddy remains a high performing school despite a substantial loss of state funding.

    “The eight-year summary is my favorite part,” said Rowe, who teaches grades 4-6. “It shows the educational quality remains high despite not spending much more than we did eight years ago.”

    The town assessment is $2,151,393 for 2015-16. This is a $53,178 increase or 2.5 percent.

    Residents will vote on the budget during the May 16 town meeting.

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