SAD 67 proposes $11 million budget Figure represents 16 percent increase

LINCOLN – SAD 67’s proposed budget for next year came in at just over $11 million, an increase of $1.5 million, or 16 percent, over last year’s budget.

Presented on Wednesday night by Superintendent Larry Coughlin at a school board meeting, the increase was driven by salary and benefit increases for existing positions along with the creation of nine new positions.

The district would be responsible for $1.3 million of the increase, which would translate to at least a 30 percent increase in local assessments for Chester, Lincoln and Mattawamkeag.

The board on Wednesday directed Coughlin to come up with different scenarios for budget increases of 6 percent, 8 percent, 10 percent and 12 percent. The board will review the information and adopt the budget at the regular meeting on April 7 or during a special meeting on April 14 if more information is needed.

More than half of the budget’s proposed increase comes from salary and benefit increases for existing positions, Coughlin said Friday. SAD 67 teachers are among the lowest paid in the state, and the salary line increase of $535,000 would provide them with more competitive pay, he said.

The budget also calls for the addition of six and a half teaching positions, including high school teachers in English and health and elementary teachers for reading recovery and special education The new positions, along with two and a half education technician positions, will improve the school’s ability to meet the requirements of the Maine Learning Results and No Child Left Behind, Coughlin said.

“These positions could help us reduce some class sizes for some very needy children,” Coughlin said.

Nonsalary increases represented roughly $337,000 of the overall increase, with $60,000 being fixed costs such as heat and electricity, Coughlin said.

Given the number of people out of work because of the January mill closing, the school board is in a tough position in working to achieve equity for the students but also the taxpayers, Coughlin said.

State and federal grants are options that could reduce the local assessment, Coughlin said, as are potential staff reductions throughout the district.

The board also has directed Coughlin to look at the potential operational reduction or closure of the Dr. Carl Troutt School in Mattawamkeag. With low enrollments projected for the kindergarten through grade four elementary school next year, the district potentially could save more than $200,000 a year by shutting down the school and sending pupils to the Ella P. Burr School in Lincoln, he said.

“The folks there feel this is their neighborhood school, and I hope it wouldn’t come to that,” Coughlin said, referring to any potential closure.

Coughlin said he wanted residents to know the school is being looked at as a possibility, where some funding could be made up.

In addition to attending the April 7 meeting at Mattanawcook Academy, interested residents are urged to call their local board members or Coughlin directly to discuss the issue.