School board sets final budget review

EAST MILLINOCKET – New teacher and administrative positions compose a significant part of the 15 percent increase in next year’s proposed $4.1 million school department budget.

The school board has discussed the proposal twice and is expected to take a final look at it during a 7 p.m. meeting Wednesday at Schenck High School before sending it on to voters for consideration in mid-May.

As of Friday morning, the proposed budget represented an increase of roughly $540,000 over last year, according to interim Superintendent Keith Ober. The potential increase for the tax commitment would be $283,000, or 12 percent over last year, Ober said.

The current year’s school budget represents significant cuts made last spring after the Great Northern Paper mill closing, Ober said. The budget proposal for next year will help address the departments or programs that have struggled over the past year, he said.

“The reality is that you have a small school system and you can meet the needs of the students if there’s sufficient funding behind it,” Ober said Friday. “I think [this proposal] meets the needs of the students.”

The proposed budget calls for the creation of a new administrative position to serve as an assistant principal at the high school and elementary levels, Ober said. At a cost of $60,000, the position also would work in curriculum development and likely offer assistance to athletics programs, he said.

The budget would create an additional full-time equivalent of 11/2 positions at the high school level, Ober said. The approximate increase of $60,000 would bring a part-time librarian up to full time and allow for three additional English classes, two additional health classes and two additional science classes, he said.

The budget also called for the creation of an “alternative education” program, Ober said. The $50,000 allotment would be used to hire a certified teacher to work as a “mix of guidance counselor, special education instructor and mentor” for students who aren’t finding fulfillment in a traditional curriculum or may be on the verge of dropping out, he said.

The focus would be on working with students to develop a learning program that could give them some encouragement and promise in areas where they could excel, Ober said.

Other increases include:

. Approximately $42,000 for employee health insurance across the department.

. $30,000 for the superintendent’s office, with $20,000 to replace outdated computers and programming.

. Restoring the annual stipend for board members from the $500 set last year to the previous amount of $1,000.