More money sought for Baxter victims

AUGUSTA – Money set aside to settle claims made by students abused at the Baxter School for the Deaf has run out, and the Maine Legislature will be asked this week for additional funds.

So far, compensation has been awarded to only one-third of the 240 registered claimants, but the Baxter Compensation Authority already has spent $6 million set aside by lawmakers in the past.

Former students and advocates for the deaf will ask the Appropriations Committee on Wednesday for another $6 million.

The funding request may face an uphill battle because of the state’s tight fiscal situation. Lawmakers last week approved a series of cuts to address a shortfall of more than $100 million in the current budget. And another budget hole is expected in the new fiscal year beginning July 1.

Still, state Sen. Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, sponsor of the bill seeking the additional money to compensate the survivors of Baxter school abuse, said the state must come up with funding.

“We have to recognize that this is unfinished business the state has to take care of,” she said.

Gov. John Baldacci’s spokesman, Lee Umphrey, said there are a lot of valuable programs the governor and lawmakers will try to find money for, and the compensation authority is one. “The governor is hopeful that this will be partially funded,” Umphrey said.

Former students for about a year have come before the three-member compensation panel set up by the authority to present their cases.

Their stories are horrific, according to Sara Treat, a therapist who works with many of the abused students. In addition to “everyday slapping, hitting and punching,” some students tell of being tied up, having their genitals whipped and being suspended naked from a tree, she said.