All but two members of the Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 Board of Directors voted in favor of next school year’s Adult Education budget during a brief meeting in Chelsea on May 23. The Adult Education budget is separate from and smaller than the kindergarten through grade 12 education budget shared among RSU member towns.

Residents will be asked to pay the same amount for Adult Education for the upcoming school year as they paid for the current year ($391,020). The local share divided among the RSU towns (Alna, Palermo, Windsor, Chelsea, Whitefield, Wiscasset and Westport Island) is $147,467.

Despite the flat budget, board members had questions about the number of students enrolled versus the amount of money that goes into the adult education budget. They also discussed the use of technology and how certain hardware and software enhances the learning experience.

“I think we’re spending far too much money in the north for the number of people we’re actually serving,” Chelsea board representative John Begin said. He wanted to know why the RSU is being asked to spend $128,500 for a smaller number of students in the northern region.

Adult Education directors Anne Fensie and Debra Randall responded to Begin’s concerns and to questions posed by other board members. Each program provides a variety of courses for a diverse student population ages 16 and older. Defining cost per student may not be as clear as it is for K through 12 education, but the discussion revealed that higher student counts in the southern region help to fund the overall budget.

Fensie indicated it was difficult to break down costs for exact number of students in each program. She said some students meet state funding requirements, but there are a certain number of people in the program for whom the state does not provide funding. Therefore, the enrollment numbers do not reflect actual cost. Also, some students take multiple courses.

Local contributions from RSU member towns and state subsidy are not enough to fund Adult Education, Fensie said. So, directors recover the rest of needed funds through grants and registration fees.

“Another factor that goes into this is the critical mass that is needed,” she said. “We have a population density along the coast that allows us to collect a lot more students.” The adult education program in Wiscasset also provides education services for inmates at Two Bridges Regional Jail.

Fensie said there is a large, untapped population in the more rural areas in the northern region, a comment that steered the conversation toward the use of technology in adult education.

Each adult education area has Promethean boards (interactive white boards) that can record lessons and interact with students using iPads, according to Fensie. They also use “Google Hangout” that enables students to log in at home and work with instructors through their computers.

Each regional adult education office in the RSU also shares courses with other Adult Education programs around the state using video conferencing equipment.

Randall said the northern adult education region office received its Promethean board through grant funding. However, they have not turned the board on since last fall, she said, as they are waiting to move their office from the Whitefield Elementary School to the former superintendent’s office on Route 17 in Whitefield.

Once they do move, the interactive white board will help people engage in programs as those enrolled in Wiscasset. Randall said the Whitefield adult education connects with other area programs to expand course offerings to students.

Adult Education directors said the programs bring in more state subsidy to the RSU than they can collect. A report showing state calculation for funding RSU schools (pre-K through 12) shows $214,745 in state subsidy to be provided through adult education for fiscal year 2014.

The RSU Board of Directors will meet again for a regional budget meeting to vote on the 11 cost centers and articles of the proposed education budget for the upcoming school year. This regional meeting will include the approval of the adult education budget. It will take place at the Whitefield Elementary School, starting at 9 a.m. on June 8.