Towns review proposed SAD 28 budget

ROCKPORT — Selectmen in this town seem satisfied with SAD 28’s proposed budget, but their counterparts in Camden are withholding judgment until next week.

The SAD 28 board invited the selectmen of both towns Thursday night to share their views on the proposed school budget of $7.9 million, up 9.7 percent from this year. Only Roger Jones of Rockport and Barbara Dyer of Camden took them up on the invitation.

The Rockport selectmen had sent word to the School Board earlier this week that the budget, which includes increased spending for deferred building repairs and supply purchases, was one they could live with.

Although Dyer expressed reservations about the higher spending, the chairman of Camden’s selectmen, Mort Strom, said later Thursday that he would meet with school Superintendent Tom Marx today to learn the reasons for the increase, which he will present to his board next Tuesday.

The proposed budget is about $700,000 more than this year’s. The school budget combined with the proposed municipal budgets of each town would increase the taxes on a $100,000 home in Rockport by $50 and in Camden by $77. During its work sessions on the budget, the School Board cut more than $250,000 from the requests made by administrators and department heads.

A major part of the increase is $130,000 for the first-year debt service on a $900,000 bond issue to carry out capital improvements and repairs that have been put off for several years at all four district school buildings. The budget also includes stepped-up purchases of textbooks and other supplies, an area where spending has been virtually frozen for several years.

New personnel proposed are a half-time math teacher at the high school, a half-time math and science teacher at the middle school and a half-time nurse. The position of director for the Horizons program for gifted students will be increased from half to full time. Teachers and staff are in line for raises of 5.4 percent and administrators for 5 percent.

Dyer said the budget “appears to me to be too high, and most of it is in administration and instruction. Three percent is your average cost-of-living increase.”

School Board Chairman Ann Cole responded that SAD 28’s administration costs as a percentage of the total budget are considerably below the state average. “Administration and teacher pay is one area we cannot afford to be skimpy,” she said. “We have to be competitive, but we are not above other districts.”

Contacted at home after the meeting, Strom said he has polled the Camden selectmen, “and there is a feeling that this is quite an increase and we’re wondering about the reasons, so I will meet with the superintendent and get the information to present to our board next week. We haven’t met on this yet, so I’d like to reserve comment until we have a thorough explanation.”