Pay raises at School Union 113 axed

EAST MILLINOCKET – For the first time in seven years, administrative personnel shared by School Union 113 – East Millinocket, Medway and Woodville – won’t be receiving pay increases next year.

Members of the joint board said they weren’t acting like Scrooge when they voted to keep pay rates and benefits at current levels during their annual December meeting last week.

Administrative personnel include the superintendent, the administrative assistant, the director of special education, the curriculum coordinator and the school nurse and central office clerical staff.

Board members said they did not feel comfortable giving out pay raises when the economic future of the state and the area remained uncertain.

“The concern obviously is the shambles the state is in,” said Steve Federico of the projected $1 billion revenue shortfall the state faces for the next biennium. “General purpose aid for education is in serious trouble. We took a hit this year, losing more than $100,000 in subsidy.”

Federico, chairman of the joint board, said officials are concerned about the effects the new two-year state budget could have on education subsidy. “Where is the state going to come up with the money,” he said. “How are going to fund it [education subsidy] at the level they are, let alone add to it?” He said cuts in subsidy translate into higher local property taxes or budget cuts.

School officials also expressed concern about the economic future of Great Northern. The company has temporarily shut down one paper machine in each of its two paper mills, which affects more than 130 employees. “It has made everyone stop and think about what is going on,” said Federico.

Don Hendsbee, a joint board member and chairman of the East Millinocket School Board, said members were granted no pay increases because of the economic situation in the community.

Hendsbee said officials wanted to hold the line until they had a better picture of the economic future of the area. He said officials did not think they should grant pay increases, which would increase the coming budget and could mean an even higher tax rate in East Millinocket, which went up by $4.80 per $1,000 of assessed property value this year. He said two tax disputes between the town and Great Northern Paper Inc. are still pending.

“Everybody is having a hard time,” said Hendsbee. “We can’t see down the road a year or two so we can’t just go out and start giving a lot of raises.”

Federico said the board’s action had nothing to do with the work ethic of administrative personnel. “Everyone had a good review,” he said. “The Union 113 school system has improved tremendously during the last four years. We have good people, we just need to find money to pay them.”

In other business, the joint board approved a union cost-sharing plan, where East Millinocket will pay 55 percent, Medway 40 percent and Woodville 5 percent. The three towns in the union share the cost of the superintendent’s office including the director of special services.