Voters OK more local money for school district > SAD 68 board, Foxcroft Academy trustees to get additional $120,000

DOVER-FOXCROFT — SAD 68 school board members and Foxcroft Academy trustees will have a little more money to work with next year as a result of voter action Monday night at the annual district meeting.

Voters approved about $120,000 more in local option money for the operation of the district next year. The local school board had recommended that voters approve $533,000 as the local option at the meeting, but voters vetoed the suggestion and passed a motion for $654,000 for local option money.

There was considerable discussion and several amendments to Charleston resident Chris Almy’s motion to increase the elementary instruction account from $1,990,000 to $2,390,000. Although the SAD 68 school board will have the final say on how this additional money is spent, Almy suggested that the increase be used to restore the elementary music program and the keyboarding class in the junior high school.

In making his motion, Almy asked the voters to consider the education of the district’s children as their motive for supporting the increase.

“As we debate tonight about how much worth we put in our schools, ask yourself, `How worthy are they of our support? Are we worthy of their dedication, their commitment? How worthy are we all?’ I ask you to put your money where your heart is and then you can look in our heart and say, `I did the right thing.’ ”

The second increase that voters approved was for secondary instruction. Voters approved the sum of $2,102,000 for the account, an increase from $2,059,000. Voters suggested that the extra money be used to restore the athletic and co-curricular programs to this year’s levels and to restore cuts in instructional programs.

Voters did not agree to increase the special education, gifted and talented, guidance, and speech services account. A motion to increase the account to $742,000 was voted down, with the audience going along with the school board’s recommendation of $698,000.

A motion to increase the co-curricular and athletic account from $5,000 to $33,500 was also met with approval. All other budget articles passed as recommended.

The final budget for the district now stands at $6,384,000, an increase of $121,000 over the amount requested of the board. Last year, the budget for the district was $6,448,000. Last year, $509,000 was approved in local option money, with the amount approved by voters Monday night now standing at $654,000.